THE BLLD'S MACHINE‐READABLE ISBN ORDER FILE FOR CURRENT UK MONOGRAPHS Available to Purchase

This article contains a brief account of why the BLLD has been using experimentally a machine‐readable order file, a description of the book selection and order systems employing it, and a comparison of costs with (a) the same selection procedures but using a manual file, and (b) a hypothetical bookseller‐operated approval system. The conclusions are that the system employing the ISBN file is cheaper than both and uses less staff than (a).