THE RUSH ORDER PROCESS
Search Order Sort Group, October 1999
Prepared by:Mary Alyce Fields

Rush Orders, requests for titles that are needed ASAP for course presentation, arrive in Acquisitions from several major sources. Media needs are among the more numerous requests. Faculty requested "Reserve" titles are especially voluminous at the start of new semesters. Typically funneled through the Collection Management group, these requests are hand delivered, telephoned, e-mailed and/or faxed to Search/Order.

An Acquisition form, the Rush Slip (assembled in the spring of 1999 in conjunction with the Circulation Department's procedures and the needs of cataloging groups), is attached to the order request. (Other groups, e.g. Collection Management, employ a local rush notice to accompany some order requests.) The Acquisition Rush Slip displays a list of recommended check-off items: search/order process, directives for cataloging groups, faculty name and course #, customer notification information, etc.

These special orders are processed within 24 hours. They are telephoned, e-mailed, faxed or mailed to suppliers (Yankee Book Peddler is not a recommended vendor for Rush orders). Several suppliers particularly in the audiovisual field have proven consistently reliable and are preferred by Search/Order.

Composition of the Order:
Rush requests often arrive with deficient information; costs may be omitted, titles may be inexact. SOS provides Acquisitions with the necessary information to produce a completed order. Through the search procedure, cost, complete titles and publishers, etc. are defined and the bibliographic record added to the database. The Rush Order is prepared according to special directives, including special customer notification procedures (also known as "Patron Notify," this method was worked out in conjunction with Circulation; the customer is notified as soon as the title becomes available for use).

Item Payment and Receipt:
The usage of charge accounts with suppliers is fast gaining ground on the traditional invoice method of billing. At present, this group charge card is kept by the AV/Reserves staff specialist. Telephoned orders are recorded via e-mail request or phone call notation and attached to the Rush Slip.