I've been following this discussion and debating whether to pull out my soap
box or not.but my resistance has finally crumbled J
That is a good question."Why should the advanced features be free?"
Obviously everything costs someone something to produce it, money, time,
resources, energy, etc. and there has to be some type of return to make it
worth the person's time. The question, in this context, is, is it
necessary for a vendor to charge extra fees in order for them to do their
very best for their customers? Would striving to make the acquisitions
process as smooth and efficient as possible for their customers break the
bank or is it simply something that they feel they can get away with
charging for on top of the money they make from the book sales? I tend to
think it is often the latter. You will have trouble convincing me that
the extra fees are needed for a company to meet its obligations to its
customers in this context and that by foregoing them it would necessitate
noticeable, if any, increases in product prices. I've only worked in the
library world for 17 years and I realize that isn't much compared to many
but early on I became annoyed with such "fees" and with vendors, ILS and
book, failing to meet what I consider their ethical obligations to their
customers (who they often like to call partners) and thereby costing
libraries unnecessarily and/or leaving them vulnerable to others who come
along selling services to fill these voids. My response to this annoyance
was to produce solutions on a number of fronts, at no cost, for libraries to
fill these voids. So the question I have to ask is, if I can do this at no
cost, in various combinations of going to school, raising a family, working
a job and all the other things going on in life throughout the years, why
can't a company who gets paid millions upon millions of dollars to provide
these type of services not do the same? One of my solutions I am
reasonably certain does everything all these "advanced" features do, and far
more, and yet I don't see the need to charge for it but, again, it is all
about the type of return one is looking for..I like to believe that mine is
the privilege of serving the library community and making your/our life a
little easier.or at the very least, having the appearance of credibility in
my rants about such things ;-)
Don't get me wrong.I am all for companies and people making money, myself
included and I do it where I can, but it is a sad and unfortunate thing when
that becomes the goal rather than a by-product of one's endeavors.
In any event, just my two cents worth on the subject provided at no cost.if
you want the full rant it will cost you a nickel J
Jim Taylor
From: acqnet-l-bounces_at_lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:acqnet-l-bounces_at_lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of
acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2013 8:16 AM
To: 'acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org'
Subject: Re: [ACQNET-L] YBP Export service charge inquiry (3 responses)
I don't mind it when vendors charge for advanced features. They have to pay
developers to create, maintain, and enhance those features. Why should the
advanced features (ones that are not critical to performing acquisitions or
collection development work) be free?
Katy G.
Katy Ginanni, Collection Development Librarian
Hunter Library, Western Carolina University
176 Central Drive
Cullowhee, NC 28723
ksginanni_at_email.wcu.edu
828-227-3729 office
I'll be going to the NASIG conference in Buffalo on June 6-9, 2013. Will
you?
From: acqnet-l-bounces_at_lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:acqnet-l-bounces_at_lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of
acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2013 12:04 PM
To: acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [ACQNET-L] YBP Export service charge inquiry (3 responses)
Hi. Yes, I can report that the main vendor we use, Coutts/Ingram, does
indeed do the customizations that Mike described in his message (i.e.
accurately encoded records, fund and location codes), and it's free. This is
one of the reasons we have been reluctant to use YBP as our main vendor,
because this charge exists, but we're unclear why it exists.
I'm also curious why YBP charges an annual fee for the advanced features
of the GOBI platform. Again, our vendor charges no such fee at all for the
use of their full platform, and we are unclear why YBP has such a fee.
Rich
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Received on Tue Apr 23 2013 - 15:28:21 EDT