Subject:  The next step: eliminating invoice payment
From:  "Rick Anderson" <rickand@unr.edu>
Date:  Tue, 1 Apr 2003 08:16:55 -0800

On this auspicious date, I am proud to announce another groundbreaking
initiative from the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries.

In this era of tight budgets, we must do all that we can to conserve our
scarce resources.  Here at Nevada, where we have increased efficiencies
significantly by doing away with periodical check-in, we are preparing
to take another great step towards full efficiency by implementing
another bold program: the elimination of invoice payment.

Some people say we're crazy, and we do recognize that this initiative is
not without certain risks.  However, there is no denying that the
invoice-payment process constitutes a significant cost center for all
academic libraries -- ours is only a medium-sized institution, and yet I
estimate that our practice of routine invoice payment results in the
outflow of over $3.5 million per year.  That's a lot of online journals
(or a handful of Elsevier titles).  Obviously, something must be done,
and we must be willing act boldly and to take some risks.

Will it work?  I believe so.  For one thing, we already receive numerous
magazines to which we have never subscribed and for which we have never
paid.  Clearly, many magazine publishers are more than happy to provide
their product to libraries at no charge, probably because they recognize
and celebrate the tremendous social benefits that come from the free
distribution of information.  For another thing, our experience with the
customer service operations of many magazine and journal publishers
leads us strongly to suspect that they are so disorganized that it will
take years for them to realize that we're not paying our bills.  By the
time they figure it out, the economy will probably have turned a corner
and our budgets will be more able to take the strain of paying for our
journal collections.

Watch for a major article later this summer.  Please direct all
questions to me, rather than to the Dean of Libraries, the Nevada Board
of Regents or anyone at EBSCO.

And again, consider the date on which this announcement is being made.
I think all will agree that today is perfect for an announcement such as
this.

-------------
Rick Anderson
Director of Resource Acquisition
The University Libraries
University of Nevada, Reno          "It takes a pretty good
1664 No. Virginia St.                meeting to be better
Reno, NV  89557                      than no meeting at all."
PH  (775) 784-6500 x273                -- Boyd K. Packer
FX  (775) 784-1328
rickand@unr.edu