Firm Order -

An order for a one-time purchase. Firm orders are placed with vendors, specializing in certain kinds of materials, to supply items at a cost not to exceed a stated amount. See also Books-in-Hand.

Firm prices -

Duke made the decision in 1993 not to pay subscriptions until exact prices, not estimates, were available so that Subject Librarians could make informed decisions to cancel titles with drastic price increases.

Flowers Fund -

The income of the George Washington Flowers Memorial Endowment Fund, one of the major endowment funds, supports collection development purchases relating to Southern Americana.

Folio -

A designation for the size of a book, usually 30 cm. Foliobooks are shelved in a separate area of the Library (oversize).

FOLIO -

Formerly the on-line database of Yankee Book Peddler (later became YBP), a major vendor of approval plans. See GOBI.

Ford Library at the Fuqua School of Business-

One of the four professional Duke libraries. The library maintains a current working collection of business resources with reliance on Perkins Library for the historical research collection.

Franklin, John Hope Research Center for African and African American Documentation -

The Center is located within the Rubenstein Library.

Friends of the Library -

An organization of people who, through annual membership contributions, provide support for building the collections and for the operation of the Library.