Recommendations for creating vendor records

Recommendations for creating shared vendor records

We have received several questions in the vein of,  "What are your recommendations for creating vendor records?"
  1. First, we recommend searching for an NZ-shared vendor 
    1. Remember to check your Vendor list filter because it defaults to "Active." 
  2. If an NZ vendor exists, you should use it 
    1. Add your institution-specific information to the vendor account and non-global fields. 
    2. Make sure to activate it. 
  3. If an NZ vendor does not exist, you can create and "Contribute" your new vendor to the NZ. 
    1. Use a Vendor code that is not already in use. 
      1. Do not use your vendor account codes as the vendor code 
    2. Do not add institution-specific information to global fields 
    3. Once you create the vendor, "Contribute" it to the NZ 
  4. If, for some reason, you do not want to use a shared vendor or share your vendor, remember: 
    1. You manually "Contribute" vendor records, and there is no automated process that finds your new vendors and shares them 
    2. To prevent your vendor from being matched and merged with an NZ vendor, make a unique vendor code that contains your institution's Alma code at the beginning of the code - or the end.