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Guidelines for Requesting New Equipment

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Departmental Procedures | LSO Procedures | Purchasing Office Requirements

LSO normally prepares ALL orders for PC hardware and peripherals librarywide. This simplifies the process of acquiring equipment, insures that the supplier is provided with and follows correct specifications, and allows for economies of scale.

NB: This procedure does not apply to replacements for equipment that has been deemed unrepairable. It applies only to purchases of new equipment..

Departmental or Divisional Equipment Request

  1. Determine the specific equipment requirement, consulting LSO's recommendations on SWIFT at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/inside/lso/recommend/index.html, and LSO staff as needed. Note that models and prices change weekly, and the information in SWIFT will sometimes be out of date.
  2. For non-CLIO purchases, verify the amount of funding available and the account from which it is to be paid. If the equipment relates to CLIO, consult with the Director of Library Systems about feasibility of funding the purchase.
  3. Complete the LSO Site Planning Guide indicating the equipment to be purchased, the location at which it will be installed, and the fund that the equipment should be charged to. Please do NOT prepare an A50; all A50s for new or replacement equipment are prepared by LSO to insure correct specifications, suppliers and purchasing office procedures. Also, there is no need to prepare a "Request for New Microcomputer Support" form for new equipment; the site planning form is sufficient.
  4. Make sure to note on the site planning form any urgent timing issues, e.g., "drop-dead" dates for new staff arrivals.
  5. Forward the site planning form to Director, Library Systems; keep a copy of the form for your records.

LSO Procedures

  1. LSO reviews the request and determines specific make, model, and price of equipment to be ordered.
  2. When feasible, LSO batches similar orders together to obtain discounts and to reduce paperwork.
  3. LSO prepares composite A50s, attaching specifications and preparing sole-source request forms, as required by the Purchasing Office.
  4. At the time the A50 is forwarded to Financial Services, LSO posts a note to the lso-orders notesfile on cunix, documenting that the order has been initiated.
  5. Financial Serivces forwards a copy of the completed purchase requisition to LSO; when received, the lso-orders notesfile is updated to indicate the PO number and the date forwarded by Financial Services.
  6. After the equipment is received, the lso-orders notesfile is again updated to indicate this fact;
  7. LSO notifies the Controller's Office that the equipment is available to inventory.
  8. After inventory, equipment is installed according to the priorities established by Management Committee and the Director of Library Systems.
  9. Any urgent priorities should be brought to the attention of the Director of Library Systems.

Purchasing Office & Financial Services Requirements

Normally Library Systems will take care of the paperwork below for computer-related equipment, but in some cases other library staff may need to be involved.
Last revision: 02/27/99
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