Consolidation Services (Stephen Lacey) Marcia Tuttle 28 May 1998 23:02 UTC
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 08:38:19 +1000 From: Stephen Lacey <slacey@NLA.GOV.AU> Subject: Consolidation Services (Barbara Rauch) In answer to a question from Barbara Rauch, Auckland Institute of Technology, on SERIALST, your choices are many and varied. I will very briefly describe the process we followed: Firstly you need to ascertain what you expect to obtain from a consolidation service. The National Library was looking at improving the time of receipt of foreign titles and to improve claiming (which had become nearly non-existent) in the short term and in the long term, electronic interfaces for ordering, invoicing etc. We have always used several serials vendors throughout the world so we initially sought information from our larger and more reputable suppliers regarding the services they could offer. This was done mainly because their customer services were already proven. Initially, we selected approximately 100 titles from each supplier (each title already being supplied under normal arrangements by that supplier). Titles that were displayed to the public or were required promptly for circulation purposes were selected. We also ensured titles with a wide range of frequencies were selected. We asked the vendors to provide a costing based on: Subscription cost (Domestic rate if possible) Consolidation Service Charges per issue Freight Costs The domestic rate was important to us as we thought that any savings made here could help absord some of the extra service charges. This is another reason why we maintained our policy of using vendors in the country of origin. Also ask the vendor what reports can be provided; ie claim reports, shipping/packing reports etc. which will help you to assess their services. I could go on and on but as I said, this reply is very brief. If you would like to know more details, may I refer you to an article my colleague Jasmine Cameron and I wrote which appeared in the UK publication SERIALS (ISSN 0953-0460), Vol.10 no.1 March 1997. Regards and best of luck for anyone embarking on this endeavour. Stephen Lacey Manager, Serial Orders National Library of Australia Tel: +61 (02) 6262 1321 Fax: + 61(02) 6273 4322 e-mail: slacey@nla.gov.au