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Acquisitions

What is PIP?

PIP = Patron Initiated Purchasing.

PIP is a partnership between Inter-Library Loan and Acquisitions to purchase materials requested through ILLiad. If the requested book meets the PIP criteria, it can be just as fast to order the book as to borrow it.

In FY21, the Library established a separate User Request fund code (ILLPODF) which is used for any user request submitted through ILLiad. Users can place requests directly, or subject librarians can submit requests on behalf of users.

Processes for User Requests Ordering

Based on discussion at the Liaisions’ meeting on July 25, 2023, ILLPODF (User Request Fund) may be applied to any purchase initiated by a User, no matter the source or immediacy of the request.  CRA will allow Liaisons to use ILLPODF as a fund code in GOBI, like their usual ordering processes, rather than requiring Liaisons to enter user requests into Illiad.

  • ILLPODF requests will be processed at least twice a day in GOBI and in Illiad.
  • If the User needs to be notified, Liaisons should use the “Notes for Technical Services” field to indicate that a notification is needed and the email address to notify when a print book is available for pickup or an ebook is available for use. For example, “NOTIFY xx@olemiss.edu WHEN AVAILABLE”. 
  • Print materials ordered through Gobi can take weeks to arrive.
  • Liaisons should include the note “RUSH” in print orders with the User’s email, if the material is needed within a limited timeframe. Print materials needed quickly will still be ordered via Amazon or other direct vendors (even if entered into Gobi).
  • Liaisons can still use Illiad to enter user requests. Requests entered into Illiad by Liaisons or by Users will always be treated as “Rush.”
  • If the User does not need to be notified, Liaisons should still indicate which department the User is associated with for reporting/tracking purposes, ie. Faculty/Library or Student/Art.
  • PIP criteria (included on this guide) will be applied to requests coming directly from Users through Illiad, but not to Liaison-entered requests.

Criteria for Auto-Ordering of User Initiated Purchase

  • User must request the title for purchase in the ILLiad request form. General requests are routed to borrowing.
  • Cost of the book must be under $200.
  • Vendor must be able to supply the book in under two weeks, unless coming from a foreign country.
  • Purchasing duplicates is discouraged. Any access such as ebook access or DDA/EBA availability are considered held by the library. If an item is "verified missing" or "lost and paid", it will be purchased.
  • After ten requests from the same user, the requests will be routed to the subject librarian for firm ordering or for sending back to borrowing.
  • Types of materials the Library will not auto-purchase: popular titles, dissertations or theses, textbooks, self-help, how-to manuals, children's or young adult books.
  • Textbooks may be purchased if an unlimited ebook version is available.
  • Library will not purchase parts of multi-volume sets. Complete multi-volume sets will be purchased if the total cost for all volumes in under $200.

Created Aug 2012; updated July 2019; updated Nov. 2021

User Request funding

Beginning in March 2020, a specific fund code was created for User Requests (ILLPODF). This fund code is part of the one-time purchasing budget and is available to be used by all subject areas in order to fulfill specific user requests.

Updated 2021

 

Previously, for historical information,

PIP was funded by firm order allocations based on the department of the requestor. If no matching department was given, the subject of the material was matched to a fund using LC classification.

Updated 2014