I would also have to concur with Jennifer and Judith. I can see maybe ordering some of the popular titles from them i.e. Sports Illustrated, but can’t fathom dealing with them in regards to scholarly journals from a publisher like Taylor and Francis. I also can’t fathom having to keep tracks of hundreds of individual subscriptions myself. Ebsco services make my job so much smoother, and I use Ebsconet all of the time. I’ve always found Ebsco very easy to deal with, and I can’t imagine Amazon would be quite as personable. Ebsco sends a rep around every few months to do a visit and talk to us about our service and what needs improved. I can also call or email her any time and she always gets back to me within the day. Our customer service rep is also excellent when it comes to claiming, dealing with publishers, and keeping me updated. However, I have had a bad customer service rep once before. It wasn’t Ebsco itself that was the problem, and that person was not around for long.
Abbigail Gregg
Library Technician
Geneva College - McCartney Library
acgregg@geneva.edu
724-847-6693
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of van Sickle, Jennifer
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2012 11:42 AM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: Re: [SERIALST] Using AMAZON as a subscription service?
I agree with Judith, I can’t imagine trying to manage our subscriptions one by one. I also don’t have the means to pay Amazon with a credit card, etc. Caitlin, have you spoken with EBSCO if you are not satisfied with them?
Jennifer L. van Sickle M.L.S.
Serials Librarian & Sciences Coordinator
Trinity College Library
300 Summit St.
Hartford, CT USA 06106
860-297-2250 phone
I was wondering about claims for missing or damaged issues? Also what about Print+Online subscriptions and peer reviewed journals? Most of our print has different pricing for institutions. This might be great for popular magazines but for me EBSCO provides a number of services that I could not live without.
Judith Koveleskie
Sent from my iPad
I have order some titles through Amazon and have had very good luck. What is even better is their magazine Subscription Management area. You can print off invoices, check approximate expiration dates and email magazines through that area if you are having a problem and Amazon will assist if there is a problem. I have ordered there for several years. Reminders come from there for renewals and it is easy to renew there if you so desire.
Kathy Renner
Hi All –
A library administrator came across the following (below) and wanting more information. Have any of you considered using Amazon as a source for purchasing your library subscriptions (instead a subscription service like Cox or EBSCO?) Either for all or part of your subscription list?
Hi,
We’re dissatisfied with EBSCO’s service for our print periodicals. I learned that Amazon offers magazine subscriptions and I looked at some titles and the price difference is very attractive. I called Amazon Magazine Subscriptions customer service to ask if the subscription rate listed (for example, Scientific American is $24.97/year from Amazon vs. $69/year through EBSCO) is a personal rate and/or if they have an institutional subscription rate. The answer: Amazon provides the one rate to anyone who wants to subscribe. And, yes, a library can subscribe. Has anyone tried to use Amazon for some/all periodical subscriptions? Thanks.
(Sent by a Librarian at a Community College)
Thanks for any feedback you can give us. Much appreciated.
Caitlin Downing
Library - Periodicals
Santa Rosa Jr. College
1501 Mendocino Ave.
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
(707) 527-4543
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