Hello,

We use both vendors and direct.  We are direct with one of our major
publishers who does not like to work with vendors, and they do not provide
EDI Invoicing.  As a consequence we spend a lot of time with manual entry
and reconciling list.  It is time that I would prefer we spend on other
endeavors.  I looked at going through one of our two vendors (Harrassowitz
and Ebsco), but we just can't afford it right now.

One of our major benefits of working with vendors is the electronic
invoicing and reporting capabilities that vendors provide. Also as titles
move to different publishers, our vendors' services have been very
beneficial in that they chase these changes.  Often with these changes,
payment gets 'lost.'  Our vendor is great about working with the publisher
to prove payment.  When you look at moving away from a vendor and work
direct with the publisher, take into account the services that you would
lose.

I have no easy answer in regards to reconciling title list.  We have one
major publisher (different than the one mentioned above) that we get through
a consortium, and it is a nightmare.  Our consortium deals are very time
consuming.  Sometimes I wonder if the price break is worth the extra man
hours they require.  I would be interested in hearing how others feel about
this issue.

Thanks.

Tracey Thompson
Acquisitions Librarian
New Mexico State University Library
MSC 3475 P.O. Box 30006
Las Cruces, NM 88003-8006
(p) 575-646-8093
(f) 575-646-7477

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
[mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Ilyes, Henriette
Sent: Monday, June 23, 2008 2:17 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] Subscription package renewals - agency vs. direct?

Hello,

We are in the process of renewing our subscriptions through our
subscription agent, and I was wondering if any of you out there have
ever tried to order or renew your major journal packages directly with
the publishers (e.g. Springer, Sage, Elsevier, etc) rather than through
your subscription agent.

Even though we subscribe through an agency, some publishers require us
to verify the subscriptions we receive through packages directly.  We
are also part of a consortium, so if lists (sometimes long lists) need
to be checked, I spend numerous hours on trying to figure out whose list
is accurate: publisher, consortium, the agent's, or our own records.

I'd like to know the following:

1. If you've done this, have you found it more effective/efficient
dealing directly with publishers?
2. Have you found that publishers respond to claims, customer service
questions, etc. in a timely manner? Have you found that they would
rather deal with the subscription agency?
3. Do you feel overwhelmed when dealing with publisher title lists
directly throughout the year instead of the "big" renewals once or twice
a year?

Are there any other questions or issues you encountered?

Thank you.

Henriette Ilyes
___________________________________
Henriette Ilyes
Library Information Systems Administrator
RAND Library Acquisitions
(310)393-0411 ext. 7909
(310)451-7029 (fax)
Henriette_Ilyes@rand.org

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