Serials Resource Management for the 21 st Century: An Introduction The role of the intermediary

National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 What do subscription agents do? The players Choosing an agent Services to libraries and publishers Consortia Online services Consolidation The future Agenda

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 What do subscription agents do? Single point of contact: Acquisition Budgeting Managing (e.g. Claiming, link resolution etc.) Reporting Invoicing Access Negotiation

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 Librarians, internal clients, researchers Academic Libraries Public, health, government libraries Corporate BIS Depts. Consortia Subscription agent Online services Printed instruction Fax / Phone Domestic Publishers International Publishers Govt.publishing Learned societies Book / newspaper suppliers Aggregators

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 The players (alphabetically!) International agents EBSCO Harrasowitz Prenax Swets Country-specific agents Basch, Wolpers, WT Cox (USA) Kinokuniya, Maruzen, USACO (Japan) DA Subscriptions (Australia)

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 Choosing an agent Eggs and baskets Tenders Pricing of services Service level agreements Implementation Negotiation with publishers

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 Services to Libraries Single point of contact Up-to-date database Current pricing and product information Online purchasing and management Publisher relationships Invoicing

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 Services to Libraries … continued Claiming Consolidation (print only) Renewals Electronic content acquisition, access and management Cost cutting Management reporting

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 Services to Publishers Centralised ordering Consolidated claiming Outsourced customer service Management information and marketing Invoicing, currency exchange and credit control Renewals Managed negotiations

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 Consortia Buying power Management resources Licence negotiation and implementation Legal frameworks Control over service levels Influence post-negotiation

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 Online services Acquisition Access Implementation Management Expert advice

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 Acquisition Need assessment Standardised terms Negotiation Evaluation / trials Instant access

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 Access Agents’ Gateways Stand-alone access portals Link resolvers Bespoke LMSs E-procurement platform compatibility

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 Management Subscriber information storage (IP addresses, access rights, etc.) Claims for access problems Renewal management Change of circumstances (use, budget cuts (or increases!)) Usage statistics Management information

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 Implementation Questions to ask: quality and experience of the team demonstration of understanding agreement of project plan deadlines (and penalties) to trial or not to trial …

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 Consolidation Ordering and check-in Online reports of received and despatched issues Automatic claiming Labelling, tagging and routing lists Bundling and shipping

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006

The role of the intermediary National Library of ScotlandPrenax March 2006 The future for agents “Open access has lost its momentum” Bobby Pickering, IWR “Big deals will bypass agents” Senior librarian at major British university “The margins will disappear to nothing” Anonymous subscription agent

Serials Resource Management for the 21 st Century: An Introduction The role of the intermediary