Acquisitions -- Extended Approval Plan Interface question

["Mary Ellen Kenreich" <kenreichm@xxxxxxxxxx>]

We’ve been using the Extended Approval Plan Interface for processing our
weekly shipments of approval books for a month or so now.  I’d like to ask
someone more experienced with it how they are handling serial volumes that
may come in an approval shipment.  The bibliographic copy that comes from
our vendor (Midwest) for these serial volumes is monographic copy.  That
means the duplicate checking done through the Interface isn’t catching these
as potential duplicates.  I understand why they're not picked up as
potential duplicates -- the titles are not exact duplicates because the
monog copy includes the volume in the title field.  But then we have to
identify them manually as serials, checking to make sure that we are
supposed to get them on the approval plan rather then on a standing order
and that we haven't already received them (on a standing order).  Then we
have to transfer the order that was created by the Interface to the existing
serial record.  Then we have to delete the monograph record for that
particular volume.

We think this is a little cumbersome.  Does anyone else have to deal with
this, and have you streamlined it in any way?

Thanks.

Mary Ellen Kenreich
Acquisitions Librarian
Portland State Univ
(503) 725-5780
(503) 725-5799 fax
kenreichm@xxxxxxxxxx