1977: Negotiating for Computer Services

14th Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing (1977). Edited by J.L. Divilbiss.

The increasing use of automation in libraries has made many librarians painfully aware of the difficulty of negotiating for computer products and services. This is true for a wide range of situations, such as acquiring a turnkey system, joining a network, subscribing to an information retrieval service and many others. While negotiation should be a give-and-take process between parties on an equal footing, librarians often see themselves as being at a disadvantage. The product or service is technically complex, the legal instruments are mysterious, and the other party has greater experience with the technology, the law and the art of negotiating. The purpose of the 1977 clinic was to enable librarians to be stronger, more knowledgeable negotiators.

The complete text of the proceedings is available here as well as the individual papers. The papers included here are:

• Negotiating For Computer Services: Must The Librarian Be Underdog? - Ronald W. Brady
• Regional Network Contracts With Libraries For OCLC Services - Glyn T. Evans
• Negotiating For Innovative Service - Bruce D. Bajema
• Data Processing Contracts: A Tutorial - Charles Dyer
• Negotiating An Automated Circulation System: The Librarian's Viewpoint - Richard W. Boss
• Negotiating A Turnkey System: The Vendor's Viewpoint - G.E. Gurr
• Negotiating Computer Services Within An Organization - James F. Corey
• Negotiating For Data Base Sharing - Lois Upham And Alice Wilcox
• Negotiating For On-Line Data Base Services: The Vendor's Viewpoint - Janet Egeland

The Proceedings of the Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing have been digitized through the Open Content Alliance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.