Hi,

          As we began 2006, we sincerely hoped that Heckman, the bindery
we have been using since 1987, had managed to eliminate their production
problems and would be back on schedule.  Unfortunately, by January 6th
our hopes were dashed and our shipment was not picked up.  Nor do we
have a guarantee that they will pick up on January 30th when they make
their next trip to this area.

The bindery has not picked up our materials since September.  We are
allowed to use a common carrier, but we particularly concerned about
possible damage to our Special Collections materials if such a carrier
is used.

The university has been approached by a competitor that is on our state
contract and we are considering a test shipment.  But before we start
writing new profiles we would like to hear from other libraries that may
or may not be experiencing the same problems.

So my questions are: Are we the only library still having problems with
the nation's largest bindery?  Does anyone out there really know what is
going on at Heckman?  And if we must change binderies, has anyone had
any difficulty using Everett/Houchen?

Please respond directly to me or the list, if that is allowed.

Nora Edwards
Bindery Clerk
UT-Dallas
Edwards@utdallas.edu