ABSTRACT
This paper provides guidance to academic librarians for making cost effective and appropriate purchase and networking decisions for electronic bibliographic database products. Products on the market have proliferated in type, coverage, implementation method, pricing, and vendor commitment. Analyzing elements of an institution’s needs for information and the best way to offer it is extremely complex and involves many interrelated variables. The authors propose applying the results of this examination of the institutional environment to a few “rules of thumb” as a reliable guide to decision making. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678, E-mail address: getinfo@hawortlipressinc.com]
