The University of Rhode Island recently received a communication from the
American Economic Association to the same effect -- that they would no
longer allow renewals through EBSCO because EBSCO wanted a discounted rate,
but they would still work through other vendors.

We have serious staff shortages and rely on EBSCO to contact publishers on
our behalf, give us one invoice, etc. Furthermore, their recently upgraded
EBSCONET is very helpful in tracking subscriptions, making going through
EBSCO even more beneficial.

In the case of the AEA, I tried to place a direct order for their small
bundle of e-journals, to begin in January. They didn't seem prepared to
handle my request, telling me that I would have to wait until I received a
renewal invoice. I tried to explain that we DON'T receive the renewal
invoices -- EBSCO does -- and that I actually wanted to change our
subscription to the online bundle instead of the print bundle, so returning
the invoice as drafted wouldn't work. No response.

EBSCO is not perfect, but they are a valuable asset to libraries. In some
cases, for marginal titles, we have dropped the titles rather than deal with
the bother of going direct when publishers will no longer deal with EBSCO.

I too hope this is a trend that doesn't continue.

--
Andree Rathemacher
Associate Professor
Head, Serials Unit / Electronic Resources Librarian
University Library, University of Rhode Island
15 Lippitt Road
Kingston, RI 02881-2011
work: (401) 874-5096
fax: (401) 874-4588
e-mail: andree@uri.edu
e-mail: andree.rathemacher@gmail.com
http://www.uri.edu/library/

On Tue, Sep 9, 2008 at 12:38 PM, Parks, Molly <mparks@lmu.edu> wrote:

> Hello All,
>
>
>
> Is anyone else having this experience? And how are you handling it?
> Recently we have received notification from at least two University
> Presses and difficulties working with Ebsco.
>
>
>
> A letter in April from one of the presses stated they had discontinued
> their relationship with Ebsco subscription management system. We would
> have to order directly from them.
>
>
>
> Another university press sent a letter encouraging direct renewal as the
> press's early renewal/advance payment did not get passed on to them.
> Instead, the press will would not receive renewal orders until December.
> And we were encouraged to renew directly.
>
>
>
> Consolidation of our periodicals is very important to the operation of
> our Serials Department.
>
>
>
> Any experiences are welcome.
>
>
>
> Molly Parks
>
> Library Assistant
>
> Acquisitions/Serials Dept.
>
> Loyola Marymount University
>