Amel,

In the interests of a quiet life for us all:

1. Can you not get the agreement of publishers to allow you to temporarily 
extend your grace period until the backlog is cleared? Is it really better 
to annoy and inconvenience the majority who have renewed, than to give 
unpaid for access to the minority who have cancelled?

2. Can emails to [log in to unmask] not generate an auto-reply 
explaining the situation and warning that replies might not be any where 
near as prompt as normal? We have sent a couple of messages about lack of 
access to 2005 issues, and so have our agents. Until I read your email 
below I was about to send yet another, asking why we had not even received 
a reply to our previous emails, but I now appreciate the situation, and 
that bombarding the helpdesk with follow-up emails will only make the 
situation worse!


Thanks,


Terry Bucknell
Electronic Resources Manager
Harold Cohen Library
University of Liverpool
PO Box 123 Liverpool L69 3DA

Tel: +44 (0)151 794 5408  Fax: +44 (0)151 794 5417
Email: [log in to unmask]

--On 22 April 2005 11:28 +0100 Amel Abourachid 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Dear Sandra,
>
> We are currently experiencing a particularly high volume of emails to our
> customer service department.  Most of the queries we are dealing with are
> related to access that has not renewed because the three month grace
> period has expired and we have not received complete subscription renewal
> information from several publishers.  We are working with these
> publishers to expedite receipt of the correct information, and are also
> increasing the number of staff available to handle customer queries.  We
> appreciate your patience during this busy time while we address our
> backlog and resume our normal levels of good quality, timely service.
>
> Duplicate entries in your subscription list are generally due to one of
> three things: a split subscription (2000 - 2001, 2004-2005), a change in
> subscription number from the publisher, or a change in the way the
> subscription range is sent to us (from date-based to volume/issue).  In
> each of these instances our systems will create a new record rather than
> alter the existing record and risk incorrectly matching two records.  This
> is reflected in the downloadable .csv file, but is invisible to your users
> who will be given seamless access to the sum of all records.
>
> Additionally, as you point out, we are often given subscription ranges
> that exceed the amount of content available.  In these cases we enter the
> complete subscription range rather than shortening it to match available
> content, to allow for the addition of backfiles, etc.  Again, this would
> not be visible to your users, but is reflected in the subscription list.
>
> As you are aware managing subscription data is often complicated and time
> consuming.  We are continually working on ways to ease this process and
> make it clearer and simpler for all concerned.
>
> Regards,
> Amel
> _______________________________________________________
> AMEL ABOURACHID
> Library Business Manager
> Ingenta PLC
> Unit 1 Riverside Court, Bath, BA2 3DZ, UK
> T +44 1225 361113
> F +44 1225 361155
> E [log in to unmask]
> www.ingenta.com
> Ingenta: Technology + Services for the Publishing and Information
> Industries.
> _________________________________________________________
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: An informal open list set up by the UK Serials Group
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of s morris
> Sent: 22 April 2005 9:51 am
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: ingenta title/date subscriptions lists
>
>
> Can anyone give me any advice on how to obtain a list (excel file
> preferably) of full text titles that we are entitled to access on ingenta
> (i.e. our subscriptions), together with the years of full text that we are
> entitled to?
>
> The list available on ingenta is rather confusing (with three or four
> entries for the same title, with overlapping dates) and the dates shown
> are not the actual dates for our full text entitlements, but have various
> other meanings.
>
> We are not a Premium customer and do not appear to have had any response
> from [log in to unmask] after 10 days.
>
> Any suggestions please?
>
> Thanks very much
> Sandra
>
> Sandra Morris
> Electronic Information Development Officer
> Subject Support & E-Library Team,
> Information Services,
> Hugh Owen Library,
> University of Wales,
> Aberystwyth,
> Ceredigion,  SY23 3DZ
> ====================================
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> Phone: 01970 621892
>    FAX: (01970) 622404
>
> Tîm Cynorthwywyr Pwnc ac E-Lyfrgell,
> Gwasanaethau Gwybodaeth,
> Llyfrgell Hugh Owen,
> Prifysgol Cymru,
> Aberystwyth,
> Ceredigion,  SY23 3DZ
> ====================================
> Ffon: 01970 621892
> ====================================