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Unsolicited materials letter (2 messages) Marcia Tuttle 01 May 2001 20:56 UTC

----------(1)
Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 14:41:52 -0600
From: Dan Lester <dan@riverofdata.com>
Subject: Re: Unsolicited materials letter (Any Percival)

If the materials are unsolicited, why return them?  You're not legally
obligated to do so if they were genuinely unsolicited.  File them in
the location of your choice. Round files work well.

Feel free to check with your resident lawyers on this.

dan

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 09:49:10 -0700
From: Amy Percival <apercival@UOP.EDU>
Subject: unsolicited materials letter

Can anyone provide an example of a letter to vendors for the return of
unsolicited materials, that they have found effective.

thank you,

Amy Percival
apercival@uop.edu
Serials LTA
UOP McGeorge School of Law Library

--
Dan Lester, Data Wrangler  dan@RiverOfData.com
3577 East Pecan, Boise, Idaho  83716-7115 USA
www.riverofdata.com  www.postcard.org  www.gailndan.com

---------(2)
Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 16:36:29 -0400
From: Timothy Gatti <tgatti@CSC.ALBANY.EDU>
Subject: Re: Unsolicited materials letter (Any Percival)

Here's one from the SERIALST archives.

-Timothy

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: The letter I use for unsolicited materials
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 09:26:31 -0800
From: Rick Anderson <rickand@unr.edu>

I've had a number of requests from SERIALST subscribers asking for a copy
of the form letter I use when publishers send unsolicited material.
Enough requests, in fact, that instead of responding to them directly I'm
going to post the text of that letter below. Obviously, I assert no
copyright -- use or alter it as you wish.
By the way, I use this letter both in response to unsolicited monographs
and when publishers treat our firm orders as if they were standing
orders, automatically sending us "updates" that we had not specifically
requested (law publishers, ironically, are especially prone to this sort
of thing). If you're going to use a letter like this for the latter type
of situation, make sure that your firm orders state clearly that they are
not intended as standing orders; if your orders aren't clear and the
publication is serial in nature, you can't necessarily blame the
publisher for assuming a standing order.

One more "by the way": in the letter I refer to U.S. Code Title 39,
Section 3009. If you'd like to see the exact language, go here:
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/unframed/39/3009.html

Here's the text I use:

"Dear Sir/Madam,
We have received from you a book which we did not order, along with an
invoice; please find a copy enclosed. As far as we can tell, it was
sent to us in hopes that we would wish to purchase.  This marketing
approach is illegal. In accordance with Title 39 of the U.S.
Code, Section 3009, we will consider this book to be a gift, and we will
either keep or dispose of it as we see fit. We will do the same with
any unsolicited materials you send us in the future; this includes
unsolicited
updates of books we have purchased in earlier editions. You may feel free
to continue sending us free books if you wish. Be advised, however, that
we will not pay for books we have not ordered, nor will we invest the
staff time necessary to return them to you, even if
you provide postpaid shipping labels. You would probably do best to cease
sending us unsolicitied materials and to desist from establishing
standing orders for us without our consent.If you have any questions or
concerns, please feel free to contact me.
Best regards,"
-------------
Rick Anderson
Electronic Resources/Serials Coordinator
The University Libraries
University of Nevada, Reno
1664 No. Virginia St.
Reno, NV 89557
PH (775) 784-6500 x273
FX (775) 784-1328rickand@unr.edu

***************************************************************
Timothy H. Gatti
Head, Cataloging Services
University at Albany, State University of New York
University Libraries B-35
1400 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12222
518-442-3889 (phone)
518-442-3630 (fax)
E-mail: tgatti@csc.albany.edu