How about approaching the Chemistry Dept. and asking them to contribute
since it's technically only necessary for their accreditation?  Or
perhaps take the issue up with other school administrators.  They might
be able to contribute to offset the cost.

We get a great bang for the buck here with our ACS package, but we've
got a large Chemistry Dept that uses these journals all the time.

As was already said, the ACS has this one locked up very well and unless
you forego accreditation, you have to subscribe to these journals.
Conflict of interest for sure but not much you can do about it.

Chad E. Hutchens
Electronic Resources Librarian
Montana State University Libraries
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT  59717-3320
(406) 994-4313 phone
(406) 994-2851 fax
chutchens@montana.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
[mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Mays, Allison
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2007 8:58 AM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] ACS online journals

Hello all,

Concerning the American Chemical Society online journal packages. We
have this and it's killing our budget, especially given that we are a
small liberal arts college and it's just not used that much. We would
like to go with the pay-per-view option but they require you to use a
credit card for each article. There is no "shopping cart" feature to
expedite the payment process, nor do they let you set up an account that
could be invoiced. This would make research for our faculty rather
laborious, not to mention the hassle of using a personal credit card and
being reimbursed.

Here's the conundrum: we have to have these journals for our chemistry
department's accreditation. And the ACS is the accrediting body. AND the
publisher of these journals. Is it just me or is there a conflict of
interest here? Talk about guaranteed employment/sales! What bugs me is
that the ACS has no incentive to make the pay-per-view option easier to
use. There is apparently no competition - or is there??

Is anyone out there using a different source for chemistry journals? Or
do you have any ideas for me about the pay-per-view option? If my
information about the pay-per-view is incorrect or things have changed,
please let me know.

Thanks.

Allison P. Mays

Coordinator of Acquisitions & Cataloging

Millsaps College

1701 N. State Street

Jackson, MS 39210

601-974-1083

maysap@millsaps.edu