Duplicate exchange has come up for discussion recently at my library. Our
current practice consists of gathering our unwanted issues after
withdrawal, preparing a shipment (with shipment spreadsheet), and sending
out the spreadsheet list to vendors for bids.

Lately, we've found that the vendors aren't offering nearly as much money
for these shipments as in the past. The concern centers upon the amount of
staff time taken up by this process as compared to the amount of money
received from vendors for each shipment--in other words, the question has
been asked: "Is this still worth doing?" We currently do not supply any
issues to cooperative exchanges.

I've searched the SERIALST archives and found information about duplicate
exchanges that focuses primarily on sources for cooperative exchanges and
missing issue banks.

I would like to know what practices are in effect at your libraries and
how much staff time (regular staff and student staff) is devoted to this
process.  I am interested not only in workflow concerning interactions
with vendors, but also in any cooperative exchange practices. Pros and
cons of each are welcome.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Marcia S. Trauernicht
Wallace Library
Rochester Institute of Technology
mstwml@rit.edu
(716) 475-7292