FAU Libraries Technical Services Policies and Procedures Monographic Acquisitions Rush Order Policy

Rush orders are currently handled by Monographic Acquisitions in the following manner:

Rush order is identified and given priority.

Purchase order is marked rush by typing PLEASE RUSH in the NV field of the NOTIS order screen.

The purchase order is mailed to Blackwell North America. BNA is the current jobber being used for monographic rush orders. Other jobbers offer similar services, mostly for a fee.

BNA offers two levels of RUSH ordering.

• SUPER RUSH requires phone ordering and/or faxing of purchase orders. BNA calls the publisher, faxes their order, and ships out the book UPS 2nd day air to us. This service costs $13.00 per book. No one at FAU has ever requested a super rush order.
• REGULAR RUSH accepts mailed purchase orders and takes two to three weeks to fill. The books come library rate. The service costs $2.50 per book. The weeks it takes to fill these orders has been time enough to satisfy professor demand in the past. We use the Regular Rush service about 15 times per year, mostly for course reserves.

Not all RUSH orders get filled. About 3 a year never get filled, usually because they are out of print and the publisher keeps replying with a status of out of stock. BNA is very conscientious and will send us the book, if the publisher sends to them.

BNA provides status reports after 30 days and does not charge the $2.50 rush charge if an order takes more than 30 days to fill.

Any rush order not received after 30 days will be claimed.

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The rush order is separated and identified when received from the Collection Development Department by the Assistant Director for Technical Services. The Rush order request is then assigned to the appropriate Acquisitions Librarian to be filled. Once identified, the rush order is given priority treatment.

The order is searched by a cataloging LTA to determine whether or not it is a duplicate or added copy. If the order is duplicate material for the campus indicated on the order request, the request is then returned to the liaison who requested it. If the order is added copy for a different campus, this is noted on the order request and processing continues.

The Acquisitions Librarian assesses all valid rush orders and determines whether they need to be placed direct or through a jobber who offers rush service.

The publisher, distributor and/or jobber is then called to ascertain availability of the requested material and the manner in which the vendor wants the order placed for the fastest service, i.e. by phone or fax.

There are various ways to place a rush order. The Acquisitions Librarian must call each vendor separately to find out how to fill the request in the most timely and efficient manner. If additional charges are to be incurred in the provision of rush service, the liaison will be contacted and informed of the additional expense and given a choice to continue or cancel the order or to place the order without rush order status.

A record is then derived for the order requested, an order is created in NOTIS, and a purchase order is cut. The rush order is then sent out, according to vendor instructions.

Most rush orders placed by phone or fax take a week to fill. The order should be checked after 7 working days if the material has not been received and the vendor should be called for a status report. A second check via telephone or e mail will be made after 14 days, at which time a status report will be provided to the appropriate liaison. A third check will be made after 21 days. Orders that take more than 30 days to fill are no longer considered rush. The appropriate liaison is then informed of non-receipt of material and a request is made of the liaison for a decision to continue or cancel the order.

When the rush order arrives at the library, the acquisitions staff person doing the receiving should immediately notify the appropriate Acquisitions Librarian. The item is then inspected, payment is posted in NOTIS and the invoice is processed and sent to the Office of the Controller for payment.

The appropriate liaison is then informed of the receipt of material. If the material is needed immediately by liaison, faculty or for Reserve, a decision will be made by the Assistant Director for Technical Services as to whether the item is to be given priority in the cataloging process. If not, then the item is released as an uncataloged item. There is no rush cataloging designation.

The liaison is informed that the item is ready to be released and the item is placed on the shelf for pickup by the appropriate liaison who requested the item.

dk/mb 4/23/97