Re: ACS online journals Mays, Allison 15 Feb 2007 21:44 UTC
I had a call from Adam Chesler of the ACS and we had a nice chat. He said, "I heard you." We talked about various ways they might improve things - and they are looking at their pricing structure but if they can't make big changes there, then the pay-per-view is the next obvious choice. Because that gives us an option - and that's what we need when it comes to these big, expensive databases. The more options we have, the better, because no one solution works for everyone. If they do rework their pay-per-view, I implore Adam and the ACS to make it as user-friendly as possible!! Thanks for the call, Adam. And thanks to the people who replied off-list. Allison Allison P. Mays Coordinator of Acquisitions & Cataloging Millsaps College 1701 N. State Street Jackson, MS 39210 601-974-1083 maysap@millsaps.edu -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Hutchens, Chad Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2007 11:41 AM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: Re: [SERIALST] ACS online journals How about approaching the Chemistry Dept. and asking them to contribute since it's technically only necessary for their accreditation? Or perhaps take the issue up with other school administrators. They might be able to contribute to offset the cost. We get a great bang for the buck here with our ACS package, but we've got a large Chemistry Dept that uses these journals all the time. As was already said, the ACS has this one locked up very well and unless you forego accreditation, you have to subscribe to these journals. Conflict of interest for sure but not much you can do about it. Chad E. Hutchens Electronic Resources Librarian Montana State University Libraries P.O. Box 173320 Bozeman, MT 59717-3320 (406) 994-4313 phone (406) 994-2851 fax chutchens@montana.edu -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Mays, Allison Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2007 8:58 AM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: [SERIALST] ACS online journals Hello all, Concerning the American Chemical Society online journal packages. We have this and it's killing our budget, especially given that we are a small liberal arts college and it's just not used that much. We would like to go with the pay-per-view option but they require you to use a credit card for each article. There is no "shopping cart" feature to expedite the payment process, nor do they let you set up an account that could be invoiced. This would make research for our faculty rather laborious, not to mention the hassle of using a personal credit card and being reimbursed. Here's the conundrum: we have to have these journals for our chemistry department's accreditation. And the ACS is the accrediting body. AND the publisher of these journals. Is it just me or is there a conflict of interest here? Talk about guaranteed employment/sales! What bugs me is that the ACS has no incentive to make the pay-per-view option easier to use. There is apparently no competition - or is there?? Is anyone out there using a different source for chemistry journals? Or do you have any ideas for me about the pay-per-view option? If my information about the pay-per-view is incorrect or things have changed, please let me know. Thanks. Allison P. Mays Coordinator of Acquisitions & Cataloging Millsaps College 1701 N. State Street Jackson, MS 39210 601-974-1083 maysap@millsaps.edu