Re: Comments on Journal Subscription Agents Judy Casada 13 Apr 2004 12:51 UTC
Lesley's first paragraph is right on the mark; it describes our experiences with various agents with remarkable accuracy. At 10:45 AM 4/13/2004 +0200, you wrote: >Hallo Greg, > >During my time here, we've worked with five major agents, all well-known >names. I hope agents are reading this posting. The QUALITY OF THE >CONTACT PERSON IS ALL-IMPORTANT, assuming the agent is reputable and not >about to go bust. Each agent we've worked with has been outstanding, >good, or awful depending on the quality of the contact person, so I >don't think the agent's name matters as much as all that (solvency >aside, of course). You can get what you think is a good agent, and then >the contact person changes, and it all goes downhill. > >BTW: if you have an automated system and are not a very big library, >then with reasonable planning, changing agents isn't the end of the >world. During my time we've changed our principal agent three times. >So if you aren't happy, you aren't stuck for ever. > >Agents try to save on salaries, but if your contact person can't follow >through on an inquiry or doesn't have the authority to solve problems or >offer in-depth assistance, you're in trouble. So ask about the command >structure in the organisation, and get the names and titles of people at >various levels of the hierarchy whom you can approach for in-depth >advice or assistance when the regular contact person isn't enough. > >Billing operations are in a different universe from supply operations, >and agents don't seem to think customers need to know about the billing >side, so get a good contact there. Ask for a very clear, detailed >description of the billing procedure. We had an agent who sent us a >renewal invoice based on estimates which proved to be hugely wide of the >mark, so that right at the end of the fiscal year we got a $10,000 >credit that had to be spent in more haste than is comfortable. Not only >that, but because they had in effect re-priced every single title, we >had to go back into all of our records making credits for each one. >This makes a big difference to your workload. > >How much hands-on help are they ready to give if you have an automated >system that is supposed to allow electronic claiming or electronic >invoicing? In my experience, you *will* need help with these! Are they >willing to visit? > >Will they supply invoices in Excel format as well as on paper, if this >helps to simplify any of your procedures? > >Will they give you an alert when a title is going to increase by more >than a certain percent? > >Good luck, > >Lesley Tweddle >ltweddle@aucegypt.edu, tel. 797-6912 > >Head, Serials Department, >American University in Cairo - Libraries & Learning Technologies. >POSTAL ADDRESS: >American University in Cairo, Library - Serials, 11 Youssef el-Guindy >Street, Bab el-Louk, Cairo 11511, Egypt. >FAX 792-3824. International dialling code from USA 011-202; from UK >002-02 Judy Casada Serials Department University of Arkansas Libraries 365 N Ozark Ave Fayetteville AR 72701-4002 Phone/Voice: 479-575-5416 Fax: 479-575-4817