Purchasing with plastic: Using a credit card for procurement in information services

Abstract

With the rapid development of the Internet and Worldwide Web over the last 10 years, shopping online is no longer a novelty. Virtually (excuse the pun) anything can be bought online these days. From serious scientific information to ready made “degrees”. Librarians have a long history of electronic ordering. Most of them have been placing orders electronically for years: downloading orders from library management systems and transmitting them to main suppliers either as e-mail attachments or in a variety of other electronic ways. Even easier is the option to search large suppliers’ databases online and placing orders by merely marking what one wants and voila, the order is processed without having to type the bibliographic information or add personal details. This has certainly expedited the ordering process and made it easy to keep track of what is on order, what has been chased and, generally where in the process each order is. So, if procedure can be so streamlined and seamless why the need for a credit card