Libraries in the United States in the '90s must intensify their examination of how they do things if they are going to serve their patron communities more effectively and economically. The changing nature of the publishing industry, rising costs for library materials and staff, mean that better ways must be found to get books more quickly and cheaply. One way is to automate many procedures done manually in the past. The library acquisitions process may seem a highly complex operation, but in fact it is only a long series of extremely simple procedures. Virtually every step can be done more efficiently and more cost‐effectively on an automated system.