Simply not renewing, whether with an agent or without, is often not enough. Ask them to CANCEL, as many publishers will just assume you are late to renew. We did a similar project, and several publications kept sending. For smaller ones, I contacted them myself after they reminded us a few times. No one has insisted we pay for these “courtesy” extensions, but ethically, it seems better that we don’t let them send extra issues.

Best regards,

Wilma Weant Dague
Serials  Coordinator
Benedictine College Library

St. Benedict's Abbey Library
1020 North 2nd St.
Atchison, KS 66002

(913) 360-7610
wdague@benedictine.edu

From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Diane Westerfield
Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 3:59 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] Cancellation question

Hi,

I am undertaking my first large print journal cancellation project.  My question to you serials veterans is:

Do I need to notify publishers directly about these cancellations?  Or is it sufficient, as my customer service rep says, for our subscription agent to not place an order and that will signify as a cancellation?

I’ve seen a few expensive titles linger on a year later than they were supposed to because the publisher wasn’t informed in time of the intent to cancel.  We are cancelling many titles (of publishers of varying size and type) and counting on the cost savings going forward.  I don’t want to see a single publisher come back and charge us for unwanted print.  However, notifying several dozen publishers of specific title cancellations would be a lot of work, I’d rather avoid any unnecessary projects.  Any words of wisdom on this would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Diane Westerfield

Electronic Resources and Serials Librarian

Colorado College, Tutt Library

(719) 389-6661

(719) 389-6082 (fax)

diane.westerfield@coloradocollege.edu