I don't know about the literature but the practical experiences of other
librarians is probably more useful to you. You just have to balance out
the extra work in processing 164 more invoices. We have about 550
current subscriptions, plus some direct. I have to say that the direct
ones are a pain, mainly because we HAVE a mix. I have to remember which
ones are direct. The other thing you have to remember is the claiming. I
have just this year started using EBSCONET to process claims and it's
great. You'll have to call every single publisher yourself when
claiming. This alone would keep me from going direct on everything. I
don't have the staff to handle this extra work load.

I tend to go direct on local newspapers and standing orders.

You may save money going direct on your serial subscriptions, but you'll
spend more on staff time processing the invoices. It's just up to you.
You might also talk to your business office or whoever writes the
checks. Find other small libraries with the same number of subs and see
what they're doing.

Good luck.

Allison

Allison P. Mays
Acquisitions Librarian
Millsaps College
1701 N. State Street
Jackson, MS 39210
601-974-1083
maysap@millsaps.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: Laura Milliman [mailto:lmilliman@VW.VCCS.EDU]
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 1:41 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] Direct subscriptions

Hello,
I am new to this list. Would like to know about feasibility of direct
subscriptions. I have searched the archives, but without standard
subject headings it is difficult to gather all the information in one
place. Are there any published articles or chapters that deal with this
issue? I understand that direct subscriptions would not be practical for
larger libraries. However, we only have 165 current subscriptions. Would
dealing with this small amount of titles make a difference?  Are there
types of titles, such as monographs or newspapers for which ordering
direct might make a difference? Thank you.

Laura Milliman
Brown Library
Virginia Western Community College
PO Box 40012
Roanoke, VA 24022-0012