In limited situations, campuses may order items directly. These are called Source Orders. Source Orders may be placed by a campus under the following situations:
- The item must be secured immediately and is available locally. (Ex: An author is having a book signing at a local bookstore, or is speaking on your campus and is selling books.)
- The item must be previewed for acceptance by the library.
- The item may only be purchased directly from a sales person visiting the library (Ex: Polk Directories).
When items are puchased directly by the library, full documentation must be sent immediately to CAST, so that an order can be created, the funds can be encumbered and if necessary, payment made. When the item is received, send invoice or packing slip along with the surrogate to CAST so that we can receive, pay and catalog the item.
IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: While Source Orders may be convenient, there are certain drawbacks that campus librarians should be aware of:
- Previewed items tend to be charged at full price. Quite often CAST is able to obtain the material within its normal workflow and receive substantial discounts, with cheaper shipping and handling charges. Send the information to CAST to order, and return the preview copy.
- If problems occur with the item, CAST may not have the necessary documentation to solve those problems.
- Salesmen may, or may not, be reliable.