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Patron Expectations and Internet Booksellers: It’s All Good --William P. Kane May 13, 2004

Patron Expectations and Internet Booksellers: It’s All Good --William P. Kane May 13, 2004. About Alibris. E-commerce bookseller, specializing in: Hard-to-find books Out-of-Print Out-of-Stock Out-of-Stock Indefinitely In-Print Foreign Language

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Patron Expectations and Internet Booksellers: It’s All Good --William P. Kane May 13, 2004

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  1. Patron Expectations and Internet Booksellers: It’s All Good --William P. Kane May 13, 2004

  2. About Alibris • E-commerce bookseller, specializing in: • Hard-to-find books • Out-of-Print • Out-of-Stock • Out-of-Stock Indefinitely • In-Print • Foreign Language • New and used titles available • Real-time, in-stock inventory • Music and movies too

  3. More About Alibris (and where it came from) • Formed in the early 1990s as InterLoc • Richard Weatherford, Founder • Listing service for OP dealers • Became Alibris in 1998 • Marty Manley, CEO • Headquarters in Emeryville, California • Distribution center and warehouse in Sparks, Nevada • IPO in 2004?

  4. The Books (and where they come from) • Over 40 million used books (and growing) • Over 1.5 million books in-stock at warehouse • Over 39 million books in-stock at network of thousands of professional booksellers • Over 600,000 new book titles • New book wholesalers • Master catalog records from: • LOC • British Library • OCLC • Sellers

  5. About Alibris Customers (and where they come from) • Retail consumers • Hundreds of thousands of individuals • Libraries • 6,000+ academic, public, k-12, special • Approximately 300 international libraries • Other Booksellers • Wholesalers • Ingram, Blackwell’s Book Services, YBP Library Services, Coutts Information Services, Eastern Books, Franklin Book Company, Dawson Books, Baker and Taylor, The Bookhouse, Brodart, Ebsco Books • eCommerce retailers • Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Books-A-Million.com, Chapters.ca, Borders

  6. About Bill (and where he came from) • Librarian • MLS from Univ of Pittsburgh • Systems Librarian at Detroit Area Library Network • Asst Director for Public Services at Univ of Detroit Mercy • Blackwell’s Book Services • with Alibris since Y2K • moving this summer from Detroit, MI to Winston-Salem, NC • (see http://www.wfu.edu/wfunews/2004/042804s.html)

  7. Patron Expectations (and where they come from) • All about now (not then (and not when)): • fax machines = microfiche readers (if not the telegraph) • even email kinda slow • spam, viruses, mailbox maintenance, etc. • even cellphones kinda slow • voicemailbox maintenance, teeny-tiny keyboards, etc. • even fast food kinda slow • rule of thumb: if wait at drive-thru longer than 3 cars, bolt • even Internet kinda slow • dial-up = pile-up • even “next-day” delivery kinda slow • ever hear of “same day” there, pumpkin?

  8. Learned Patron Behaviors (and where they come from) • Instant messaging • g2g, ttyl, lol • Text messages • where u @? • Hi-speed Internet • wireless hotspots • Online/updated/unedited nooz

  9. We got game, says the library. • Online catalog = real-time inventory • Full-text online journals • Plenty o’ search-able, print-able, download-able, save as-able data • Patron-initiated services • self-checkout (RFID?) • reserve requests • ILLs shipped to home • mylibrary.com • Ask a librarian = real-time chat

  10. Us too, says the book vendor. • Print-on-demand facsimiles • E-books • EDI orders • “Reachable” customer service • Approval plans • Expedited, rush, “super rush” shipping options • In-stock inventory online

  11. Ch, ch, ch, changes… • Headed out: claiming; headed in: fill or kill • Headed out: book-in-hand profile editing; headed in: reliance on pre-pub (e.g., publisher-supplied) bibliographic, subject data • E-notification “slips” • Flexible, ad hoc profiles, easy “what-if” scenarios • “Tell a friend!” becomes “Notify a colleague”; (shameless) retail “WishLists” become useful collection development tools

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  23. Biggest Change? • Books’ (metaphysical?) status • changing from: • “in-print” or “OP (out-of-print)” or “OS (out-of-stock)” or “OSI out-of-stock indefinitely” • to: • “available” or “not available”

  24. Thank you • For more information: • Bill Kane • billk@alibris.com • 877-893-9102 (toll-free) • http://www.alibris.com/library

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