Managing with technology: automating budgeting from acquisitions

Librarians can harness technology to the behind‐the‐scenes labor of essential library operations. In acquisitions, technology can save hours by providing shortcuts for materials selection, budgeting, and ordering. Careful planning and the use of computer macros can eliminate duplication of effort, reduce mistakes, and keep the budget under complete control at the same time. By applying macros to acquisitions and budgeting, librarians can compress the acquisitions process to three types of documents: the purchase order, the budget‐line materials approval sheet, and the master budget. Purchase considerations are keyed into individual purchase orders, which become both planning and purchase documents. Single keystrokes copy tentative order items and total amounts into approvals sheet and master budget. Macros written for use with Excel are provided in the text and may be copied to set up the automated system described.