IMO, continuing to perform the same process (even when it no longer makes sense) because "the auditors will question it" is simply another way of saying, "We do it this way because we've always done it this way."

Just as we should not hesitate to question prices, practices, etc. of vendors and publishers, we should not hesitate to question auditors, either.  In my experience, they aren't scary people.  And if you can logically explain why you need to make a change in a process, they often understand and give their blessings.  This has happened to me in 2 institutions.  Actually, the auditors questioned *us* but were satisfied with our explanations.

Katy G.

Katy Ginanni, E-Access & Serials Librarian and liaison to Soc/Anth & WAGS
Trinity University
Elizabeth Huth Coates Library
1 Trinity Place
San Antonio, TX 78212-7200
210-999-7613 ph.
210-999-8182 fax
katy.ginanni@trinity.edu
"Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war." --Maria Montessori

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Rick Anderson
Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 11:02 AM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] Auditing (Re: [SERIALST] Cease claiming, checking in, binding)

> Another item to consider is whether you need the print
> check-in for auditing purposes.  Some universities will require it whether it
> makes sense for you to do so or not.

The auditing objection is one that makes a lot of sense on its face, but
then kind of falls apart upon closer examination.

If you're a typical academic library, you have many more online
subscriptions than print ones.  Any auditing argument that applies to your
print subscriptions will apply equally to your online ones -- but if you
subscribe to, say, 1,000 print journals and 10,000 online journals, there's
no possible way to give every subscribed title the level of oversight that
you can give to your print titles.  So if you have auditors who insist on
print check-in and claiming, you need to ask them what they'd like you to do
about the online titles -- surely those should be checked in and claimed as
well.  But that's impossible without a massive increase in staff.

For what it's worth, I've now worked in two libraries that were audited.  In
one of them, we had eliminated check-in and claiming almost entirely prior
to the audit, and in the other we had eliminated those processes
substantially but not entirely.  In neither case did the auditor raise any
concerns about our procedures.

--
Rick Anderson
Assoc. Dir. for Scholarly Resources & Collections
Marriott Library
Univ. of Utah
rick.anderson@utah.edu
(801) 721-1687