I recently wrote an article about the Big Deal and I think I may have
quoted one of your articles in Serials Librarian from 2006 where you
talked about how to make the process easier using a subscription agent.
I really liked your article.  It sounds like from what you are saying
here that even though it is easier to use a subscription agent, there is
still a lot of work involved.  I go through the title by title
verification with my regular magazine vendor every year.   I do a lot of
verification of usage, whether we have any full text, and how useful
each title is to the curriculum.  It is exhausting.  I would love to
find an easier way to do it.

Sincerely,

Barbara Pope, MALS
Periodicals/Reference Librarian
Axe Library
Pittsburg State University
Pittsburg KS  66762
620-235-4884
bpope@pittstate.edu

Gary Ives wrote:
> Under the Big Deal licenses we have with the bigger publishers such as Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley, part of the annual renewal ritual is to verify the subscribed title list with the publisher and subscription agent before invoicing occurs.  Every year.  Ad nauseum.  Taking hours.  An alternative model might be one last title reconciliation going into a contract to determine the dollar value, then cutting loose from title-based pricing and moving to package-based pricing based on previous spend, and taking a one-line-item invoice for the package.  This doesn't cover all the nuances, but gives the basic idea which might vary from publisher to publisher.  -g
>
>
>>>> Barbara Pope <bpope@PITTSTATE.EDU> 5/15/2008 2:35 PM >>>
>>>>
> I'm curious.  What do you mean by "title reconciliations"?  We subscribe
> to a few deals and I have never heard this phrase.
>
>
> Barbara Pope, MALS
> Periodicals/Reference Librarian
> Axe Library
> Pittsburg State University
> Pittsburg KS  66762
> 620-235-4884
> bpope@pittstate.edu
>
> Gary Ives wrote:
>
>> I am so-o-o-o-o-o-o tired of title reconciliations for the Big Deal renewals, and am finding increasingly appealing a model which eliminates annual title reconciliations.
>>
>> My questions to the list:
>>
>> Have any of you independently negotiated with any of the major publishers for a deal that gives you access to "all" but with no title reconciliations?  Was it you who went to the publisher, or did the publisher come to you?  What other conditions have you required to make the deal work?  If, under such a deal, you receive a single-line-item invoice for the package, do you see any remaining value to putting it through a subscription agent?
>>
>> I will compile responses in a post to both this and the SERIALST discussion lists, and maintain anonymity for libraries, publishers, and subscription agents.
>>
>>
>> Gary Ives
>> Coordinator of Electronic Resources
>> Texas A&M University Libraries
>> 5000 TAMU
>> College Station, TX  77843-5000
>> Phone: (979) 458-0726
>> FAX:  (979) 458-1630
>> Email:  gives@lib-gw.tamu.edu
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>