The next step: eliminating invoice payment -- Rick Anderson Stephen Clark 01 Apr 2003 16:41 UTC
Subject: The next step: eliminating invoice payment From: "Rick Anderson" <rickand@unr.edu> Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 08:16:55 -0800 On this auspicious date, I am proud to announce another groundbreaking initiative from the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries. In this era of tight budgets, we must do all that we can to conserve our scarce resources. Here at Nevada, where we have increased efficiencies significantly by doing away with periodical check-in, we are preparing to take another great step towards full efficiency by implementing another bold program: the elimination of invoice payment. Some people say we're crazy, and we do recognize that this initiative is not without certain risks. However, there is no denying that the invoice-payment process constitutes a significant cost center for all academic libraries -- ours is only a medium-sized institution, and yet I estimate that our practice of routine invoice payment results in the outflow of over $3.5 million per year. That's a lot of online journals (or a handful of Elsevier titles). Obviously, something must be done, and we must be willing act boldly and to take some risks. Will it work? I believe so. For one thing, we already receive numerous magazines to which we have never subscribed and for which we have never paid. Clearly, many magazine publishers are more than happy to provide their product to libraries at no charge, probably because they recognize and celebrate the tremendous social benefits that come from the free distribution of information. For another thing, our experience with the customer service operations of many magazine and journal publishers leads us strongly to suspect that they are so disorganized that it will take years for them to realize that we're not paying our bills. By the time they figure it out, the economy will probably have turned a corner and our budgets will be more able to take the strain of paying for our journal collections. Watch for a major article later this summer. Please direct all questions to me, rather than to the Dean of Libraries, the Nevada Board of Regents or anyone at EBSCO. And again, consider the date on which this announcement is being made. I think all will agree that today is perfect for an announcement such as this. ------------- Rick Anderson Director of Resource Acquisition The University Libraries University of Nevada, Reno "It takes a pretty good 1664 No. Virginia St. meeting to be better Reno, NV 89557 than no meeting at all." PH (775) 784-6500 x273 -- Boyd K. Packer FX (775) 784-1328 rickand@unr.edu