Survey of Library Experiences with Shelf-Ready Vendor Services

• Publication date: March 2012

The report presents data from nearly sixty public and academic libraries, with results broken out by size and type of library, and other variables. The report looks at library spending on shelf ready services, what kinds of materials receive shelf ready services, what types of shelf ready services that libraries are using, and how happy they are with them, among other issues.   Just a few of the report's findings are that:  ...

The report presents data from nearly sixty public and academic libraries, with results broken out by size and type of library, and other variables. The report looks at library spending on shelf ready services, what kinds of materials receive shelf ready services, what types of shelf ready services that libraries are using, and how happy they are with them, among other issues.
 
Just a few of the report's findings are that:
 
-Nearly 15% of libraries in the sample have been deterred from using shelf-ready processing services by the possible delay in receiving ordered materials.
-62.5% of libraries currently using shelf-ready services use spine label shelf-ready service.
-Juvenile materials are excluded from shelf-ready labeling by 14.81% of all libraries in the sample.
-41.18% of libraries report that their vendor charges a uniform fee for all items in a shipment regardless of which items receive particular shelf-ready services.
-Libraries in the sample estimate that a mean of 35.34% of their technical services work is outsourced to shelf-ready service providers.
-Book jobbers, subscription agents, and other major content providers and distributors account for a mean of 59.37% of spending on shelf-ready services among libraries in the sample.
-Upon receiving shelf-ready materials, 59.38% of libraries route them to Cataloging/Processing to complete processing and ensure quality control standards. These include 54.55% of academic libraries.
-91.67% of libraries in the sample, including 93.33% of academic libraries and 88.89% of public libraries, report an average rate of 0-3% of physical processing errors on shipments received by their libraries.

Knowledge Management Industry

Table of Contents

Table of Contents....3
List of Tables ..4
The Questionnaire .16
Summary of Main Findings...23
Survey Participants29
Characteristics of the Sample.31
Chapter 1: General Use .32
Chapter 2: Starting the Workflow for Shelf-Ready 37
Chapter 3: Detailed Use of Shelf-Ready Processing.......42
Chapter 4: Spending on Shelf-Ready Services.......61
Chapter 5: Acquisitions and Shelf-Ready Resources......63
Chapter 6: Quality Control over Shelf-Ready Services ..68
Chapter 7: Library Assessment of Shelf-Ready Services83