9 messages: 1)______ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 12:08:34 -0400 From: Maria Hawkins <hawkins@MARYVILLECOLLEGE.EDU> Subject: Re: Periodical donations (Karen Bolton) I think you are correct in the doubts you have concerning this system of accepting professor's personal copies in lieu of the library subscriptions. In the case of our Library, we have experienced those problems of timeliness in receiving issues, incomplete volumes, and even issues that have had articles underlined and torn out of individual issues. Also, if an issue is not received, then getting the faculty member to claim that missing issue is difficult. Another problem, especially with technical and scientific journals, is that personal subscriptions are usually much less than institutional subscriptions, and frequently there is a prohibition against or time line concerning when a subscription may be made available for the general public, as in the Library. Maria Hawkins Serials Coordinator Lamar Memorial Library Maryville College Maryville, TN 37804 2)______ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 11:11:05 -0500 From: "Skwor, Jeanette" <skworj@UWGB.EDU> Subject: Re: Periodical donations (Karen Bolton) ***Your concerns are right on. My experience with donated titles has been, overall, a nightmare. People mean well, but they forget, or they don't get an issue, and of course, don't claim, or they put it aside to read "later"; in many cases, then, the issue never finds it's way to the library. Seeking it is a landmine; the subscriber feels, invariably, they are doing the library a Favor and should be treated thusly, and there you sit, without the needed issues, and your hands tied. ***In some cases, at least, this procedure is also illegal. This is why we have differing subscription rates for individuals and libraries. ***Good luck! Jeanette L. Skwor Email:skworj@uwgb.edu Serials Dept., Cofrin Library Phone: (920)465-2670 University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Fax: (920)465-2783 Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 > -----Original Message----- > Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2000 10:57 AM > To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU > Subject: Periodical donations (Karen Bolton) > > > Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 09:34:30 -0500 > From: "Karen S. Bolton" <bolton@MSOE.EDU> > Subject: periodical donations > > Hello All, > We are a small engineering university going through some > budget problems and > personnel changes. We went to our faculty for their input on which > periodical titles they felt strongly we could keep or > eliminate. In the > process, some of these professors volunteered to donate their personal > issues of some titles, thinking this would enable us to drop > our subs to > these titles. My new boss, the acting director, thinks this > would improve > our relations with other departments and save us $. I can > foresee problems > in the timeliness of receiving the issues, getting complete > volumes, etc. I > said I would look into this. > > What experience have others had with donated titles? Am I worried for > nothing? Let me know. > > Thanks! > > Karen Bolton > Serials Librarian > bolton@msoe.edu > 3)______ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 09:14:31 -0700 From: Shirley Graves <sgraves@DWEBB.LLU.EDU> Subject: Re: Periodical donations (Karen Bolton) It is a rare gem of a faculty member who transfers regularly and consistently personal issues to the library. You may end up spending more than the subscription in reminding (claiming) colleagues that an issue has not been received, in buying (at single issue rate) the issues that never arrived, etc. In addition, there is the ethical issue of a personal subscription replacing the library's subscription. Shirley Graves Loma Linda Univ Library Serials Dept Loma Linda, CA 92350 4)_______ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 12:40:59 -0400 From: Lynne Stevens <lstevens@RMWC.EDU> Subject: Re: Periodical donations (Karen Bolton) Karen -- In addition to the problems of getting every issue of every title on time, you may need to look into copyright issues. Some professional organizations specify that the periodicals sent to their members are not to be placed in libraries. Their contention is that the member receives the periodical as a benefit of his/her membership, and that only that person will use it; if it is to be used by a large number of people -- a library's patronage -- then the library needs to pay the higher institutional subscription rate. Many other publishers have a higher rate for institutions for the same reason: one user vs. many users. Lynne N. Stevens Serials Coordinator Lipscomb Library Randolph-Macon Woman's College 2500 Rivermont Avenue Lynchburg, VA 24503 804 947-8133 lstevens@rmwc.edu 5)______ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 12:45:02 -0400 From: Steve Black <blacks@MAIL.STROSE.EDU> Subject: Re: Periodical donations (Karen Bolton) Some comments based on my experience with donations: 1. They may violate the subscription agreement the publisher has with the individual subscriber, and we are ethically bound to avoid violating subscription agreements. Check the terms of the subscriptions before agreeing to any donations. 2. You will not be able to claim missing issues. 3. Some individuals will be good about sending issues along, and some will not. 4. Tracking the origin of donated titles is extra work that becomes critical if the donating individual quits donating for any reason (leaves institution, dies, just forgets). 5. Expect gaps in donated journals, for reasons 2-4. 6. Because of 1-5, don't rely on donations for any core titles. Steve Black Reference,Instruction, and Serials Librarian Neil Hellman Library The College of Saint Rose 392 Western Avenue Albany, NY 12203 blacks@mail.strose.edu (518) 458-5494 6)______ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 12:51:20 -0400 From: Barbara Eastland - Library <eastland@HAL.MUHLBERG.EDU> Subject: Re: Periodical donations (Karen Bolton) Hi- We've had this go-round on the problem of donated subs -- many times! The result of the go-rounds has been to not accept donated subscriptions. the reasoning is clear: some publishers do not allow personal subscriptions to be donated to a library (I'm not certain of the legality in this instance, but we've never wanted to find out); the timeliness of receiving the donated issues is *always* a problem; there is no way to claim missing or damaged issues.... You know the problems. The legal stumbling block is probably the most serious, however. Publishers don't charge libraries more than individuals for no reason at all. Hope our experience is helpful to you. Best, Barb Barbara B. Eastland VOICE: 484-664-3561 Serials Manager FAX: 484-664-3511 Trexler Library eastland@hal.muhlberg.edu Muhlenberg College 2400 Chew St. Allentown PA 18104 7)______ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 13:00:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Deborah Harrell <dharrell@westga.edu> Subject: Re: Periodical donations (Karen Bolton) You are smart to be concerned. We have a number of 'donations' from staff both in-house and on campus. It gets to be really ticklish reminding donors that we haven't received issues. I think the best situation is where faculty/staff simply have all issues delivered to us directly from the publisher. Then we can add their name to a routing list and notify them when the issues actually come in. They will get the same tax credit either way. We have a number of titles donated, so I speak from experience. Debbie Harrell Ingram Library, State University of West Georgia phone: 770-836-6498 fax: 770-836-6626 8)______ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 12:08:14 -0500 From: Tricia Wilke <twilke@CENTAUR.CC.PURDUENC.EDU> Subject: Re: Periodical donations (Karen Bolton) Well, we have had both good and bad experiences with journal donations. We too are a small academic library. Some of our faculty will donate their journals to us since we cannot afford to pay for the subscriptions to some of the more expensive science, nursing, and engineering titles. Many come to us right away, still in their plastic. Others come much later, when the professor is done with the journal. On occasion, we don't receive certain issues at all because the professor found them too interesting and wanted to keep them for themselves. On those occasions, we find it very difficult to find another copy. Sometimes we can through duplicate exchange programs, but most of the time we cannot. So, we have a gap in our holdings for that particular volume since we will not bind a volume incomplete. On the whole, it is very worthwhile if you definitely cannot afford a journal. How much your system will allow for late and missing issues is another problem to consider as well as a donating professor who suddenly doesn't work for the university anymore. Good luck on your project. -- Tricia Wilke Technical Services Librarian Purdue University North Central Library 1401 South US 421/LSF Building Westville, IN 46391 (219) 785-5234 (219) 785-5501 (fax) twilke@centaur.cc.purduenc.edu 9)______ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 13:19:59 -0400 From: Diane Johnson <johnsonD@GENESEO.EDU> Subject: Re: Periodical donations (Karen Bolton) We are a 4 year liberal arts college library and we have about 20 titles (out of over 1,000) that are faculty donations. Some faculty immediately bring the journal over (they don't even open it!), while others will hold and read their journals for several months (or more) before bringing over. Some issues we never receive. Some faculty have cancelled their personal subscriptions without notifying us. None of these titles are in the sciences. I would not use this for any critical, heavily used title. We have added a note to our online catalog for some of these titles indicating that they are gifts and may not be received in a timely manner. Also, be aware that some publishers/associations will not allow their individual subscription journals to be donated until several years after the publication date. There may be some indication on the issue that this is the case. We would not accept these for donation until after the stated time period had elapsed. Hope this helps. Diane Johnson ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Diane Johnson Head, Serials Dept. Phone: (716) 245-5597 Coordinator for MultiLIS & OCLC Services Fax: (716) 245-5003 Milne Library E-Mail: johnsonD@geneseo.edu SUNY Geneseo, NY 14454
