Don’t fear the directs….

We have gone direct for years and years for Newsweek (and for most other “popular” titles, especially when we subscribe to more than one copy).  We renew with a business credit card and the publisher renewal form.

We found that the NEODATA-type fulfillment houses handle this type of renewal much better than a batch renewal through agents.  The minimal time we spend on the annual renewal being separate from our big accounts is more than made up by the lack of any problems—no more duplicate copies, merged accounts and variations in subscription periods!

It also makes for easy claiming (with almost instant resolution)--the publisher always has an 800 phone number for claiming and they can always find our order (‘cause we always put the first line of the address in our records since they track on that---we also always do variations on the first line of the address for multiple copies ‘cause that keeps them from getting merged).  

Stacy C. Nelson

Head, Serials & Electronic Resources

Acquisitions Dept, Geisel Library

Univ of Calif San Diego

9500 Gilman Dr 0175A

La Jolla, CA 92093-0175

scnelson@ucsd.edu

From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Kim Maxwell
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 11:20 AM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] Newsweek no longer working with subscription agents?

Has anyone else received a message from his or her subscription agent explaining that "as of June 30, 2009, Newsweek has ended all agent authorizations for the US and Canada?"

This means that our agent has canceled our two subscriptions to Newsweek at the end of their respective expiration dates, and they say they will no longer be able to order the title on our behalf.  This happened recently with Ski Magazine as well.  We were willing to give up our subscription to Ski Magazine, but I'm not sure we'll be so willing to give up Newsweek.

Ordering directly from the publisher / fulfillment house wouldn't be so bad for one title, but this could get out of hand quickly if more titles follow suit.

What has everyone else heard, and how are you planning to handle the situation?

Kim

_________________________________________________
Kim Maxwell
Serials Acquisitions Librarian
Associate Head, Acquisitions & Licensing Services
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT Libraries, Room 14E-210
77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
phone: 1-617-253-7028
fax:   1-617-253-2464
email: kmaxwell@mit.edu