 |
 |
I had problems with a particular publisher (American with a European office) who said that they had been sending the journal and that it must have been mislaid by the hospital. We're a small hospital with a small post room and it would be very unlikely that every issue of a journal would be siphoned off by someone. Our subscription agent tried hard to get copies of the journal for us. We were even given the telephone number of their contact in the publisher in Germany. The americans kept telling us that they'd sent the journal to the correct address. We spoke to the publisher in Germany & in the end they managed to get the US office to send copies to the European office & they forwarded them on to us. The back issues eventually arrived and, touch wood, we've had no problems since. I felt very well supported by the subscription agent who took up the cudgels on our behalf, but find that the quality of service varies depending upon who has been allocated to look after my account. Also, they seem to have frequent personnel changes and don't always pass on relevant information to their successor. I find that the subscription agent has been very helpful, has set up electronic access via Athens for me with some publishers (where current year full text online is included in the subscription) at no extra cost to me. A few years ago I changed from one of the agents to the other on the grounds of cost and have been happy with the service I receive. The moral of the story is - BE PERSISTENT - I think. Tricia Rey Library Services Manager Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust East Grinstead Tel: 01342 414266 Mailto:[log in to unmask] ________________________________ From: UK medical/ health care library community / information workers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lawes Christine (RWR) Herts Partnership FT Sent: 20 January 2009 18:57 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Paper journal subs - problems? Dear All Complaining about the non-arrival of hard-copy journals and the apparent inability of subscription agents to *do* anything seems quaintly old-fashioned these days, but I'm being driven to despair and I wonder if I'm the only one. My hard-copy journals have been whittled down to only about 45 titles, but actually getting them has become a nightmare. Our subscription agent takes our claims, sympathises on the phone but still fails to deliver. Some examples: One of our core titles has 6 issues a year and for 2008 we have had issue 2 in the right month and issue 7 in the right month, but no others at all. For another core title we received issue 7 in August, issues 2-6 in September, issues 8&9 just before Christmas but are still awaiting issue 1. A third and final example is another one where we've had just 2 out of 6 issues for the whole of 2008. This is just the tip of the iceberg as we have a large number of other non-arrivals all currently being chased to no avail. I could almost understand it if none had arrived - possibility of wrong address, payment slipped through the net etc, but what can be the reason for getting just 2 a year instead of 6? Surely not *all* lost in the post? And even back in the days when I took 80+ subs, it was never this bad. It is just me? Any suggestions how to force the subscription agent into some useful action? Thanks! Christine Christine Lawes Library & Postgraduate Education Manager Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Harperbury Harper Lane Radlett Herts WD7 9HQ Tel. 01923-427322 Fax. 01923-427390 [log in to unmask] ________________________________ Join us and help make our services more responsive! http://www.hertspartsft.nhs.uk/your-involvement/membership/membership-ap plication-form/ The information contained in this email may be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Unless the information is legally exempt from disclosure, the confidentiality of this email and your reply cannot be guaranteed. If you are not the intended recipient please accept our apologies; please do not disclose, copy or distribute information in this email or take any action in reliance of its content; to do so is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Please inform us if this message has gone astray before deleting it. Thank you for your co-operation ____________________ INFORMATION NOTICE Please check for viruses before accessing this email and any attachments. This email and any attachments may contain confidential information and is intended only to be seen and used by the named addressee(s). However, even if confidential, the information contained within it may be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (2000), unless it is legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not a named addressee, any use, disclosure, copying, alteration or forwarding of this email and any attachments is prohibited. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately by email or by telephoning 01342 414000 and permanently delete this email and any attachments from your system. The views expressed within this email and any attachments are those of the writer and are not necessarily the views or policies of Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Except as required by law, the Trust shall not be responsible for any damage, loss or liability of any kind suffered in connection with this email and any attachments, or which may result from reliance on the contents of this email and any attachments. If you wish to make a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act (2000), please send your request to [log in to unmask] Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Website: www.qvh.nhs.uk E-Mail: [log in to unmask] Switchboard: 01342 414000 IT Support: 01342 414411 ______________________