Wednesday, 19 August 2009

Management methodologies

If you’re moving to a new flat you probably hire a van or get a couple of friends with cars to help shift your books. If you’re moving a lot of books, things get more complicated. In the Guardian this week there’s a job ad for a ‘book move manager’ in Oxford: ‘The postholder will be responsible for the OULS Book Moving Team, together with agency staff . . . Candidates should have experience managing large scale strategic projects including budgets of over £1 million using standard project management methodologies, a good working knowledge of library storage systems, shelving methods and equipment as well as an understanding of relevant Health and Safety principles and practices.’

(The job pays up to £43,622 p.a. Go for it.)

The number of books shifted by most small presses is usually at the friend-with-a-car end of the scale. But Amazon and the chain bookstores deal in mass quantities, and they have systems and ‘management methodologies’ to cope with these – systems that interlock neatly with the big publishers’ systems but which disadvantage the small presses.

For the record, how to buy a CBe book . . . From the website (financially, best for us). From a local independent bookstore (which may have to get the book from the distributor, but these stores need support). From a chain bookstore (if it has to order the book in, this time a more elaborate system kicks in and time and money are lost). If you must buy online, instead of Amazon try bookdepository.co.uk – which not only is more likely to have the book in stock but offers discounts and free worldwide delivery.

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