Re: Direct subscriptions Martin, Heath 25 May 2004 19:47 UTC
We get the vast majority, 172, of our titles through EBSCO, a number at least roughly comparable to what you're talking about. When I stepped into this position, we had moved many of our titles to EBSCO (initially spurred largely by our need to quickly find a new home for our erstwhile Divine subscriptions), and I've continued doing so as much as possible. I can't imagine handling all of our subscriptions direct (at least with the number of staff available these days). In fact, it often strikes me what a disproportionate amount of time we spend managing the handful of direct subscriptions we still do have. (There will always be at least a few.) Even with this few titles, I believe any premium we pay for EBSCO's services is more than made up in savings in staff time/money, as well as less potential for collection gaps (from occasionally dropping one of those subscriptions you're juggling) that need to be filled. I've also been pleased by EBSCO's ability to make arrangements with specialized publishers. We're able to get many of our maritime-related titles through them. Other benefits I think have already been mentioned. One potentially (though not necessarily) offsetting thing, though, about going with a vendor like EBSCO. You'll still get a lot of renewal notices from the publishers for titles you get through the vendor. To handle these as efficiently as possible, our procedure is to check the renewal notice's titles against our always-at-hand list of current subscriptions from EBSCO, and if our subscription through EBSCO is current, throw away the renewal notice from the publisher and pretend you never saw it. If you don't put in place a clear and streamlined procedure for handling these very frequent false alarms, your savings in staff time can start to dwindle. Even worse, depending on your workflow in other areas, you can end up with duplicate subscriptions (and payments), one to the publisher and one to EBSCO. And again, that savings in staff time dwindles further. Best of luck, Heath Heath Martin Acquisitions/Collection Development Librarian SUNY Maritime College Library 6 Pennyfield Avenue, Fort Schuyler Bronx, NY 10465 USA (718) 409-7229 hmartin@sunymaritime.edu -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Mays, Allison Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 3:28 PM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: Re: [SERIALST] Direct subscriptions I don't know about the literature but the practical experiences of other librarians is probably more useful to you. You just have to balance out the extra work in processing 164 more invoices. We have about 550 current subscriptions, plus some direct. I have to say that the direct ones are a pain, mainly because we HAVE a mix. I have to remember which ones are direct. The other thing you have to remember is the claiming. I have just this year started using EBSCONET to process claims and it's great. You'll have to call every single publisher yourself when claiming. This alone would keep me from going direct on everything. I don't have the staff to handle this extra work load. I tend to go direct on local newspapers and standing orders. You may save money going direct on your serial subscriptions, but you'll spend more on staff time processing the invoices. It's just up to you. You might also talk to your business office or whoever writes the checks. Find other small libraries with the same number of subs and see what they're doing. Good luck. Allison Allison P. Mays Acquisitions Librarian Millsaps College 1701 N. State Street Jackson, MS 39210 601-974-1083 maysap@millsaps.edu -----Original Message----- From: Laura Milliman [mailto:lmilliman@VW.VCCS.EDU] Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 1:41 PM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: [SERIALST] Direct subscriptions Hello, I am new to this list. Would like to know about feasibility of direct subscriptions. I have searched the archives, but without standard subject headings it is difficult to gather all the information in one place. Are there any published articles or chapters that deal with this issue? I understand that direct subscriptions would not be practical for larger libraries. However, we only have 165 current subscriptions. Would dealing with this small amount of titles make a difference? Are there types of titles, such as monographs or newspapers for which ordering direct might make a difference? Thank you. Laura Milliman Brown Library Virginia Western Community College PO Box 40012 Roanoke, VA 24022-0012