Re: Handling of Sample Issues Stokes, Judith 16 Nov 2007 00:38 UTC
THANK YOU! for not sending unsolicited samples. I really appreciate that. Every time our check-in clerk gets one, she has to pass it along to me, because it might be a title change, or a new title included in an old subscription, or some faculty member's subscription that is being misdelivered to the library, or a sample some misguided soul requested but it never got addressed to him by name. It is not so time-consuming when there is a letter enclosed stating that it is a sample. In that case, I just drop it in the recycling bin. Our library is not over-staffed, but the administration would gladly reallocate one of our positions elsewhere if they thought I spent time giving any journal that arrives due consideration simply because a publisher chose to send us a sample issue. An electronic sample issue is entirely different -- there's no need to store it or look at it unless we have a good reason to consider that title just then. Some science publishers open one free issue every few years, or allow free access to older issues as a regular policy. Just having free access to tables of contents and abstracts online is sometimes all I need to approve a faculty request to order a particular journal. One publisher allows open access to any faculty who register with them, then they send me an e-mail with the prof's name and the journal information every time one of our faculty downloads an article. Of course, if I get a few requests for the same title, I contact the faculty member and ask whether there will be on-going demand for that e-journal. I have purchased two titles that way. Thanks again! Judith E. Stokes, Serials Librarian Rhode Island College 600 Mount Pleasant Avenue Providence, RI 02908 (401)456-8165 jstokes@ric.edu -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum on behalf of Zac Rolnik Sent: Thu 11/15/2007 3:59 PM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: Re: [SERIALST] Handling of Sample Issues This may seem like sacrilege to the publishers on this list, but I am actually surprised that publishers send out unsolicited sample copies. In my more than 20 years of publishing, I have never sent an unsolicited sample copy to a library. I have always been under the impression that if a library were interested, or if a faculty member or student recommended a journal, they would request a sample copy from the publisher or subscribe if there were sufficient demand and budget. Further to Bill's question, I do provide librarians with links to a free "electronic" sample copy if requested or if I think there may be some interest but not in any wholesale manner. As a matter of fact, we no longer send out print sample copies unless the print is explicitly requested. If I have been too modest in my distribution of unsolicited sample copies, please let me know. Thanks. Zac Zac Rolnik Publisher now -- the essence of knowledge PO Box 1024 Hanover, MA 02339 USA t: +1-781-871-0245 f: +1-781-871-6172 m: +1-781-985-4510 em. zac.rolnik@nowpublishers.com www.nowpublishers.com