Price and availability are generally established via GOBI searching, Amazon.com searching, and Barnes & Noble.com searching. Price/availability inquiries are generally only done when information isn't found in those sources.Before doing Price/Availability inquires, you should consider the following:* Would a VISA inquiry be more appropriate than a Price/Availability inquiry? The Price/Availability inquiry is suited to orders going to a vendor that we have a blanket order with, such as BNA. In most other cases, a VISA inquiry to decide a method of payment and to get the information we need to establish business with that vendor is more appropriate.

• Will we be ordering from a foreign vendor that is in a better position to verify price and availability than we are? If so, we can do the order without verifying price and availability. If we don't have any price information, we can use an estimated price of $50, with a price note stating "Estimated price." We usually send these estimated price orders to the designated vendors without verifying price and availability:

  • German order going to Harrassowitz.

  • French orders going to Aux Amateur.

  • Spanish orders going to Literal Books.

  • Russian orders going to MIPP or Kubon & Sagnor.

Identify the publisher and locate publisher information

• Identify the publisherusing one of the following sources of information (in order of preference)

  • Try the publisher given on any database printouts first.

  • Try the publisher given on the order itself next.

  • Try to find a record with a publisher in OCLC WorldCat.

  • Ask the Acquisition Librarian for help.

• Locate publisher information using one of the following methods:

  • Do a web search (with a search engine such as Google).

  • Use Gale's Ready Reference Shelf.

  • If you know the location of the publisher, try a online phone directory.

  • Try other publisher and vendor websites given on the Acquisitions website.

Establish Price/Availability

• Find out whether the item is available from that publisher or not, using any of the following methods to get the information we need (given in order of preference):

  • A search of the publisher web site (fast, free, and we get the information instantly).

  • E-mail.(we prefer to use phone over e-mail for rush orders, and we prefer to use phone when there's an 800 number making the call free.) This is fast and free but we don't get the response instantly.

Example:

Subject line: Price/Availability Inquiry

This is not an order. Do not ship goods.

Is the following title available from you:
Lost in space / Joe Robot. ISBN 382432974.

Yes:_____ No:_________

Price:_________

• Phone. (avoid calling if we have to ask about an excessive number of items, or the items are in a language making it difficult to communicate orally.) Calling a publisher costs money unless there's an 800 number but is fast and we get a response instantly. Price/Availability is a is a standard terminology that most publishers will be familiar with, so when you call, you can simply say that you want to find out the price and availability of a title, and they'll either find the information for you or direct you to the right person.

• Fax. This costs money unless there's an 800 number and we don't get the information instantly. You should use letterhead for your fax correspondences. All written correspondences should be professional in the style of a business letter. Full block format works best and is easiest to format on the letterhead:

Example:

August 3, 2004

Michelle Flinchbaugh

Acquisitions Librarian
Facts on File, Inc.
132 West 31st St., 17th Floor
New York, NY 10001

Dear Sir/Madame:
This is not an order. Do not ship goods.

Is the following title available from you:

Lost in space / Joe Robot.

Yes_____ No_______

Price:____________

ISBN:__________________
Thank your for your assistance.
Sincerely,

[Signature]

Michelle Flinchbaugh

• Snail mail. (it's slow, it costs money, and we don't get the information instantly.) You should use letterhead for your mail correspondences. Again, all written correspondences should be professional in the style of a business letter, and full block format works best and is easiest to format on the letterhead. See the above example for a fax inquiry letter.

• If the item is available from that publisher:

  • Find out the price.

  • If we don't have the ISBN, also get it.

  • Attach any documentation, such as a web printout or e-mail to the front of the order.

  • If there's no documentation, write "Available per publisher" on the front of the order.

• If the item is not available:

  • If the item is not yet published or out of stock, find out when it will be available.

  • If it's out-of-print or out-of-stock indefinitely, handle it as an out-of-print.

  • If it's not their publication, find out if they know whose publication it is. If not, refer back to the section on identifying the publisher in order to try to find the correct publisher.