Patty,

I would be interested to hear how others are handling this problem. I
tend to check access as the confirmations come in as well as checking
the "worst offenders" at this time of the year but would love to hear
if someone's discovered a more efficient way. Of course, our
reference librarians and patrons will tell us if something is not
working but it would be nice to have a jump on it.

Andrea
Library Assistant, Electronic Serials
Vassar College Libraries
anserra@vassar.edu

At 04:16 PM 2/20/2007, you wrote:
>Hello Colleagues,
>
>Every beginning of the year (about January-March) our library loses access to
>several online journals of which we actively subscribe.  We work through a
>serials vendor, and they contact the publisher whenever we lose access.  The
>reason for lost access may be a  payment discrepancy, license signing need,
>IP address question or some kind of incorrect information in the publisher's
>record for our subscription.
>
>I know this problem of early-year lost access occurs with many libraries. I
>would like to hear your ideas or best practices on how to avoid losing online
>access.
>
>Some ideas that I have considered:
>--Requesting a letter from each publisher in December verifying that we have
>paid for the subscription and that we will have access (we would have our
>agent do this, but it is still time-consuming)
>--Requesting a refund for each day that we do not have access
>
>Please share your ideas.  I will summarize for the list.
>
>Patty Wood
>Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.