Editor's note: Interested readers might also wish to peruse related
discussion, in the SERIALST archives for Jan. 2000, re. subject line:
"EBSCO free magazines" (cf. http://list.uvm.edu/archives/serialst.html)
-- bml
17 messages, 316 lines:
(1)-------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 11:25:36 -0500
From: Karen Chobot <chobot@PLAINS.NODAK.EDU>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
Hi Tracey - We had quite a discussion about this around the first of the
year, when I asked others on the list the same question. Our library
started receiving several titles with a note from EBSCO that this was a
freebie to "thank" us for our patronage. Most of the academic libraries
didn't feel this was an appropriate way to thank us although several of
the public libraries had no objection. My letters to Ebsco did manage to
get the titles cancelled after a bit, but I was told that the publishers
themselves had asked to start it. Like you, I was worried that these
would appear on my annual renewal list, but that hasn't happened.
However, I AM now getting renewal notices from the publishers. I thought
then, and still do, that this was NOT a thank you and was a particularly
sneaky way to increase their mailing list. Someone mentioned that it
would help their advertising rates to have a higher number of mailed
subscriptions, although I have no idea if this is true or not. At the
moment, I doubt that this will continue beyond the annual subscription,
but who knows? The general feeling of most of the list was to catalog if
you find them useful and recognize you will probably have to pay to keep
the subscription when the current free one expires.
Hope this answers at least some of your questions! Karen
Karen M. Chobot, MS, MLS
Reference/Serials Librarian
Mildred Johnson Library
North Dakota State College of Science
800 N. 6th St.
Wahpeton ND 58076
701/671-2385
"I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and
outside the conventions and humdrum routine of daily life." Sherlock
Holmes, in "The Red-Headed League."
(2)-----------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 12:06:40 -0400
From: Pam Wells <pam@UTSVA.EDU>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
Yes, Tracy, we are getting issues of ESPN too, without a subscription. I
think it's definitely a marketing ploy. We just put it on our "free" shelf
and when the bill arrives, we will not pay it.
Pam Wells
Union-PSCE
3401 Brook Rd.
Richmond, VA 23227
(3)-----------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 11:56:09 -0400
From: Wendy Slader <wslader@BRYANT.EDU>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
ESPN is a gift subscription from EBSCO. I'm assuming EBSCO is your
library's subscription service?? I believe the gift sub. is only for a
year.... There are a couple of other titles that are gift subs. from
EBSCO. Another is "Fitness" and I believe "YM" as well.
Wendy Slader
Periodicals
Bryant College
(4)-----------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 09:55:33 -0600
From: Julia Franklin <JFRANK@ISL.STATE.ID.US>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
ISL, also started receiving ESPN the magazine, we got it as a free
subscription from EBSCO, for being such great customers.
ESPN the magazine, does not fit into our collection development plan so we
do nothing with this magazine, except send it down to the breakroom. I
expect that when this year is over, so too will be our subscription.
Julia Franklin
Serials LA I
Idaho State Library
Boise, ID
jfrank@isl.state.id.us
The opinions are my own, and not the opinions
of anyone, anywhere else...in the world.
(5)-----------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 12:06:33 -0400
From: Deej Baker <dbc@virginia.edu>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
It is a freebie from EBSCO.
**********************************************************
Deej Baker voice: 804-924-4958
Periodicals Coordinator fax: 804-982-4579
Alderman Library e: dbc@virginia.edu
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22903-2498
(6)------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 12:09:34 -0400
From: Sharon Tilley <stilley@CUMBERLAND.LIB.NC.US>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
We are getting 3 copies - they are complimentary subscriptions from Ebsco.
We received notification last fall from Ebsco in the form of a postcard.
If you wish to continue it after the complimentary subscription is up,
you'll have to pay for it.
Sharon Tilley <stilley@CUMBERLAND.LIB.NC.US>
(7)------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 10:07:47 -0600
From: Marilyn M. Haskell <mhaskell@TAZ.SDSMT.EDU>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
We are also receiving it but we got a card from EBSCO that they were
sending us a free 1 year subscription. They have done this with other
magazines as well.
Marilyn Haskell
marilyn.haskell@sdsmt.edu
(8)------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 11:07:26 -0500
From: "Sheila Hufeld" <Sheila@EXCHANGE1.MLB.ILSTU.EDU>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
Tracey
Our library has also begun"mysteriously" receiving ESPN. Since it was
addressed to one of our former directors we have decided that it is indeed
a marketing ploy and has been sent unsolicited. We do NOT have an order
for this title nor will we order it at this time. We will treat it as an
uncatalogued newsletter until it ceases arriving. You might consider doing
the same.
Sheila M. Hufeld
LTA II
Milner Library/Illinois State University
smhufel@ilstu.edu
(9)------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 11:17:42 -0500
From: Bonnie Burch <bburch@CARLETON.EDU>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
We also received an unsolicited subscription for _ESPN the magazine_ for 1
year. We received a postcard from the EBSCO that we had been "chosen" at
random to receive this "free" for 1 yr.
Now we have received multiple renewal notices. It's a marketing ploy.
We were "chosen" for subscriptions to _Fitness_ and _YM_ as well. We have
chosen not to add any of them to our collection.
Bonnie Burch
Technical Services assistant
Gould Library
Carleton College
(10)------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 11:19:13 -0500
From: Carrie Ferm <alicf@AUGUSTANA.EDU>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
Hi Tracy,
Yes we receive this magazine along with Detail, and several others that we
did not order. I received a post card after I starated receiving these
titles that said we were receiving a gift subscription from Ebsco. I
called the 800 number on the post card and requested that we be removed
from their mailing list. It took awhile, but several of the titles have
stopped coming. The rest I am just putting on my duplicate/exchange list.
Carrie Ferm
Augustana College Library
Periodical Section
Rock Island, Il 61201
Phone: (309)794-7316 Fax: (309) 794-7230
e-mail: alicf@loki.augustana.edu
(11)----------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 11:17:49 -0500
From: Linda Wilson <lwilson@HSC.UNT.EDU>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
We also have been receiving ESPN the magazine lately. For us, it is a
gift subscription from EBSCO. EBSCO sent us a notice saying they would
send us this gift subscription. You could try calling 1-800-803-6115 to
cancel this subscription. This is the number listed on the EBSCO notice.
Hope this helps,
Linda Boutros-Wilson, M.L.S.
Library Associate-Serials Dept.
Lewis Health Science Library
Univ. of North Texas Health Science Center
3500 Camp Bowie Blvd.
Fort Worth, TX 76107-2699
817-735-2603
lwilson@hsc.unt.edu
(12)-----------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 12:22:53 -0400
From: Joan Cohen <jgcohen@BERGEN.CC.NJ.US>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
This magazine was a freebie from EBSCO. There seem to be a few titles
that we got postcards about including Fitness and YM, and we are
continuing to receive them. I take the ESPN magazine home to my husband
and sons, and return the others to EBSCO as they are not appropriate for
our collection.
Joan Cohen, Bergen Community College
(13)-----------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 11:29:32 -0500
From: Dena Luce <dluce@FAULKNER.EDU>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
We've been receiving the same thing, along with Fitness and a couple of
other titles. Best I can figure they are waiting room preview
subscriptions from the publisher to 'tempt' you into subscribing. I'm
just putting our issues on duplicate exchange.
Dena Luce <dluce@FAULKNER.EDU>
(14)--------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 12:30:20 -0400
From: Karrie Yukon <yukonkar@METRONET.LIB.MI.US>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
Tracey,
If you have Ebsco as your vendor, it could be a free sub. for one year.
There have been several like this since I started here at BTPL. Hope this
helps.
Karrie
Karrie Yukon
Adult Services Librarian
Bloomfield Township Public Library
(248) 642-5800
(15)----------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 11:40:22 -0500
From: Buddy Pennington <buddy.pennington@ROCKHURST.EDU>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
We get them as well. We received a card from EBSCO that said it was a
free gift subscription for 1 year. The odd thing is that we use Faxon for
our serials...
Buddy Pennington
Acquisitions/Serials Librarian
Rockhurst University Greenlease Library
buddy.pennington@rockhurst.edu
#816-501-4143
(16)-----------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 12:52:17 -0400
From: "Anthony R. Mastantuoni" <amastantuoni@IONA.EDU>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
You can write back and tell them that if they use EBSCO as
their Serials vendor then they probably got a one-year free
subscription. We got the same thing but I figured it didn't make
much sense to keep it and catalog it if it was stopping after one
year.
Anthony
"Anthony R. Mastantuoni" <amastantuoni@IONA.EDU>
(17)-----------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 12:53:24 -0400
From: Martha Spicuzza <Martha.Spicuzza@HILLSDALE.EDU>
Subject: Re: ESPN the magazine
EBSCO has sent out this title (among others) as a "gift" for being a
valued customer. We do not catalog or check in the title. It goes to
recycling at our library.
Martha Spicuzza
Technical Services Librarian/Serials
Hillsdale College Mossey Library
On Tue, 6 Jun 2000, tracey delillo wrote:
> Since January, our library has been consistently receiving issues
> of _ESPN the magazine_ (issn 1097-1998). Now, we never subscribed to or
> paid for the magazine, as far as I can tell. I was wondering if anyone
> else has been mysteriously receiving this publication, and if anyone could
> shed any light on WHY i suddenly have this subscription. Possibilities
> that I considered were: (1) that the magazine is somehow affiliated with
> another sports magazine, and the subscription is therefore free, (2) that
> it's a marketing ploy, and the minute i break down and catalog and shelve
> these issues, they'll send me a bill. Does anybody else have this
> problem? Anybody have an answer?
>
> Thanks,
> Tracey DeLillo
> Serials Librarian
> Bell Library
> Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
> tdelillo@falcon.tamucc.edu
