PRENAX Relax. Subscription management made easy
Paperless Periodicals: Perfection or Purgatory The role of the agent
IFEGPrenax May 2006 What do subscription agents do? The players Services to libraries and publishers Online services The future Agenda
The role of the agent IFEGPrenax May 2006 What do subscription agents do? Single point of contact: Acquisition Budgeting Managing (e.g. Claiming) Reporting Invoicing Access Negotiation
The role of the agent IFEGPrenax May 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 agent IFEGPrenax May 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 agent IFEGPrenax May 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 agent IFEGPrenax May 2006 Services to Libraries … continued Claiming Internal promotion Renewals Advice on acquisition, access and management Cost cutting Management reporting
The role of the agent IFEGPrenax May 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 agent IFEGPrenax May 2006 Consortia Buying power Management resources Licence negotiation and implementation Legal frameworks Control over service levels Influence post-negotiation
The role of the agent IFEGPrenax May 2006 Online services Acquisition Access Implementation Management Expert advice
The role of the agent IFEGPrenax May 2006 Acquisition Need assessment Standardised terms Negotiation Evaluation / trials Instant access
The role of the agent IFEGPrenax May 2006 Access Agents’ Gateways / authentication Stand-alone access portals Link resolvers Bespoke LMSs E-procurement platform compatibility
The role of the agent IFEGPrenax May 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 agent IFEGPrenax May 2006 Implementation Questions to ask: quality and experience of the team service offering / partner or supplier? agreement of project plan deadlines (and penalties) to trial or not to trial …
The role of the agent IFEGPrenax May 2006 The future for agents “Agents are so desperate to keep the middle ground, they’ll end up not knowing what business they’re in.” Major STM publisher “Big deals will bypass agents” Senior librarian at major British university “The margins will disappear to nothing” Anonymous subscription agent
Paperless Periodicals: Perfection or Purgatory The role of the agent