An interesting side bar appears in the latest issue of College & Research
Libraries News, v.53:no.10 (1992:Nov.), p.630.  It describes how the
University of Massachusetts Medical Center Library distributed their
serial orders to maximize discounts and minimize service charges.
Through the combination of redirecting their serial orders and obtaining
more funding from the revenue-generating activities of the Center, they
were able to increase the number of subscriptions by 20% in the past four
years.