[WEB4LIB] Re: Coughing up Coffman / cost of ILL

[Tami-Jo Eckley]

I couldn't agree more. Librarians really need to become more aggressive in negotiations with vendors, especially now that there are plenty of databases that offer the same kinds of materials. We really should be calling the shots, not them. 


---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: Kim Lord <kimlord at suffield-library.org>
Reply-To: kimlord at suffield-library.org
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 06:52:29 -0700 (PDT)

>Hi again,

In the public library realm of this question, I really wonder sometimes
about pricing on a lot of the materials that we purchase.  I don't mean
just the cost of the average book going up but some of the database and
subscription fees are just outrageous.  What has me suspicious is that
occasionally after I tell a salesperson that their particular product, no
matter how great it may be, is just too expensive and we will look
elsewhere, the following year they come back with the same product at a
reduced price.  The question of why was it so expensive before is never
quite answered but there have been times the response that I have gotten
back has been....company policy has been to revisit our pricing
structure...or some such nonsense.  What I think is being said is that they
couldn't get the price they thought they could so they go a bit cheaper and
then see how many libraries are willing to cough up the money.

Of course in academic libraries subscriptions to support curriculum need to
be maintain at whatever the price happens to be.  But the answer to the
question, why is this stuff so expensive, is that this is the price most
libraries are willing to pay.  I have tried to make it a practice to
question large price increase and if I talk to a salesperson trying to sell
us something new....regardless of how great a product it may be, I rarely
say yes to the initial price.  Call me back when you are running a special
or something to that effect.  Prices will not be competitive if we don't
question and complain.  

I'm getting off the soapbox now.....


Kim Lord
Kent Memorial Library
Suffield CT.




--
Tami-Jo Eckley
Electronic Services & Media Librarian
Manhattanville College Library
Purchase, New York 10577
http://www.mville.edu/library
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