dreams of perfect programs : managing the acquisition of electronic resources

for more than a decade, academic libraries have been wrestling with the thorny issue of managing the acquisition of electronic resources. where are we in the continuum from paper lists to vendor-designed management systems? this paper takes a look at several in-house initiatives around the country, commenting on the successes and failures of the homegrown programs built to track. update and manage the acquisition and behind-the-scenes maintenance of electronic resources. realizing that libraries are now well equipped to identify what dream programs should entail, this paper also comments on how we can prepare for the future of electronic resource management.