Hello all,

> Below is a copy of the message that I posted to MEDLIB-L and the
> responses that I have received so far.
> Gin L.
>
> ----------
> From:         Lingle, Virginia[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Wednesday, May 20, 1998 9:03 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      ? - personal subscriptions in a library collection
>
> Hello all,
>
> We are seeking documentation that addresses the legal and ethical issues
> of
> using personal subscriptions to build a library collection.  That
> suggestion
> has been made at our institution and even though the librarians feel that
> it
> is not the way to go for several reasons, some documentation would be
> helpful in making our case.  All suggestions of articles, legal documents,
> contacts, etc. are welcome.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Virginia Lingle
> Associate Librarian for Serials, Collection Development, and Cataloging
> Hershey Medical Center Library
> Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
> P. O. Box 850
> Hershey, PA  17033
> [log in to unmask]
> 717-531-8581
> fax: 717-531-8635
>
>
> ----------
> From:         Kathleen Puglia[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Wednesday, May 20, 1998 4:23 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: ? - personal subscriptions in a library collection
>
> Catherine Arnott Smith wrote:
> >
> > The biggest problem with donated copies in my last job (special library
> > setting, medical library) was not the ethical one but the pragmatic one.
> It
>
> Amen to that.  I know you wanted documentation to show to
> administrators, but this would probably be hard to find documented.
> Maybe they will take personal testimony of someone who's been here for
> 28 years.  We have had several gift subscriptions from several
> well-meaning individuals for years and I can guarantee that every run
> has missing issues.  We usually have to call the secretary to ask her to
> get Dr. X to please send us the last 5 issues, and when they finally do
> arrive, an issue is invariably missing. Maybe it was lost in the doc's
> department or maybe it never arrived from the publisher, who knows.
> There's no way to claim it, because we're not the subscriber and the
> donor is not going to get involved in that.
>
> The only subscriptions we take as gifts are peripheral journals that we
> would probably not have subscribed to, so partial holdings are probably
> better than none. I would not use a gift subscription for any high
> demand items - too frustrating for the patrons.
> --
>
>
>
> Kathleen Puglia               [log in to unmask]
> Tulane Medical Library  SL86         (504) 588-5155
> 1430 Tulane Ave.
> New Orleans LA 70112
>
>
>
>
> ----------
> From:         Pat Herndon[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Thursday, May 21, 1998 7:17 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      re:personal subscriptions
>
> Please post your responses to the list.
>
> I am not familiar with the legal and ethical implications of the issue,
> but can assure you it is something to which the publishers are alert.  I
> have never sucessfully entered a subscription to a high priced
> (>$500)journal this way--have tried only a couple times.  Relying on
> donations of personal journals on a regular basis is also frustrating.
> Requires dilegence on behalf of the donor.
>
>
> Pat Herndon
> Shepherd Center
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
> ----------
> From:         Lingle, Virginia[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Wednesday, May 20, 1998 12:13 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: ? - personal subscriptions in a library collection
>
> I concur with what you are saying wholeheartedly, but I need to come up
> with some documentation.  How did you "learn that it was illegal"?
> Thanks,
> Virginia Lingle
> > ----------
> > From:         Tom Williams[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent:         Wednesday, May 20, 1998 10:40 AM
> > To:   [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
> > Subject:      Re: ? - personal subscriptions in a library collection
> >
> > Virginia, we looked into this a while ago and learned that it was
> illegal
> > for us (the library) to use personal subscriptions gifted to us as the
> > library subscription.  Publishers would cry fowl because the
> > institutional rate is just about always much higher than the personal
> > rate.  If they let this go then all libraries could get around the extra
> > charge by having someone order each title individually.  I don't have
> the
> > documentation showing the illegality but perhaps someone else has.
> > Bottom line, using personal subscriptions in the library could bring you
> > lots of problems.
> >
> > Tom
> >
> >
> > Thomas Williams, Director                       (334) 460-6885
> > Biomedical Library and Media                    (334) 460-7638(fax)
> >    Production Services
> > University of South Alabama
> > [log in to unmask]
> > College of Medicine
> > http://southmed.usouthal.edu
> > BML 326B
> > Mobile, Alabama 36688-0002
>
>
>
>
> ----------
> From:         Sidney Liswood
> Library[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Wednesday, May 20, 1998 11:38 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Institutional Rate Inequity
>
> I've already written a couple of publishers about this, and will
> continue, as time permits.  One, the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.,
> was sympathetic, and said they'd think about it ...
>
> SUBSCRIPTION RATES FOR JOURNALS
>
> Most journals have varying subscription rates.  Students pay less than
> "individuals;" individuals pay less than institutions.
>
> My problem is that although there is usually a distinction made between
> persons at different stages in their professional life, there is no such
> distinction vis-a-vis institutions.
>
> It is, quite frankly, absurd to equate a small hospital library like
> ours with a large university library, and yet, that's exactly what
> publishers do when they set subscription rates.  There is no way we have
> the budget of a university or corporate library, nor the traffic.  Yet
> we all pay the same.
>
> In our part of Canada, where health care is publicly funded, there have
> been severe cutbacks in government funding to health care institutions.
> Every department's budget has taken a huge hit, and we have had to
> cancel a lot of journal subscriptions.
>
> This is what brought home the inequity to me.  Here we are, trying to
> stay afloat, and we have to pay the same high price for journals as
> institutions ten times our size with ten times our budget and ten times
> the user population.
>
> I'm asking publishers to consider making a "small" institution rate.  I
> don't  quite know how to base it, perhaps annual operating budget.
> Also, maybe other types of breaks can be given to small libraries in
> terms of electronic access.  Perhaps electronic subscriptions can be
> made available to smaller libraries at individual rates -- that should
> be not as big a loss for publishers as providing the print version for
> less.
>
> *******************************************************************
> Gord Lindsay, ILL Clerk, and      Internet: [log in to unmask]
> Poet-In-Residence,                FAX: (416) 586-4998
> Sidney Liswood Library,           Phone: (416) 586-4614
> Mount Sinai Hospital              Carrier Pigeon, Starship, Plane:
> 600 University Ave.,              Latitude 43 39N, Longitude 79 20W
> Toronto, Ont., M5G 1X5
> CANADA                            Or, just whistle and I'll find you.
> *********************************************************************
>
>
>
>
> ----------
> From:         Catherine Arnott
> Smith[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Wednesday, May 20, 1998 1:15 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: ? - personal subscriptions in a library collection
>
> The biggest problem with donated copies in my last job (special library
> setting, medical library) was not the ethical one but the pragmatic one.
> It
> was impossible to keep track of them. The giver usually left them at home
> for 2 or 3 months. Not worth the hassle!
> Catherine Arnott Smith, MA, MILS
> Predoctoral Research Fellow, Center for Biomedical Informatics
> University of Pittsburgh
> Suite 8084 Forbes Tower, 200 Lothrop Street
> Pittsburgh, PA  15213-2582
>
> (412) 647-7275 work***(412) 521-4117 home
> but email is best: [log in to unmask]
> ****************************************************
> Count not the authorities, but weigh their truth. *
>         --St. Thomas Aquinas                      *
> ****************************************************
>
>
>
>
> ----------
> From:         Marie Jodar[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Wednesday, May 20, 1998 11:08 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      personal subscriptions in library
>
> I would really appreciate it if you could either post a summary of
> responses to the list or send them to me! I have the same situation
> occurring here at our hospital.
> TIA
>
> ----------------------
> Marie Jodar                                (503) 241-5090 ext 7225
> Hospital Librarian                         [log in to unmask]
> Shriners Hospital For Children
> Portland, OR
>
>
>
>
>
> ----------
> From:         Melissa Hudak[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Wednesday, May 20, 1998 9:56 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: ? - personal subscriptions in a library collection
>
>
>
> Hello Virginia:
>
> If you get any replies, I'd appreciate hearing about it.  When I first
> joined the list, I mentioned we did this.  Somebody posted to tell me it
> broke copyright law, but when I asked him for specifics, he never got back
> to me.  I haven't been able to find that particular law myself, though I
> admit I haven't tried too hard.
>
> Melissa Hudak
> Centegra Health System
>
> ----------
> From:         [log in to unmask][SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Wednesday, May 20, 1998 9:28 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      FW:       ? - personal subscriptions in a li
>
> TO: [log in to unmask]
>
>
> Hello Virginia.
>
> I don't know that I can really be of much help because of course you would
>
> be under US copyright law, but the same thing happened to me here in
> Canada.
>  Several years ago, I was working in a small library, with an urban
> planning
> collection, and my boss took a look at the subscription prices for
> institutional vs. personal, and wanted to get personal subscriptions for
> all
> our planning journals.  I knew this was illegal - it violates copyright
> law
> in Canada.  The individual subscriptions are intended to be read by the
> individual and maybe a few of their friends, to whom they'll personally
> lend
> the journals.  Copies of journals purchased through institutional
> subscriptions are going to be subject to multiple usages and probably to a
>
> lot of photocopying.  That's why the price is higher.  I pointed this out
> to
> my boss.  He wasn't thrilled, but CANCOPY has been auditing selectively
> here, and he was less thrilled when I pointed out how much more trouble he
>
> could get into if we happened to be audited.  CANCOPY is a Canadian
> organization which handles copyright licensing here - most universities
> and
> schools have obtained licenses which cover institutional photocopying of
> portions of books and journals.  The only way I think it might be legal to
>
> have personal subscriptions in a library is if someone donates (when
> they're
> done with it) their own copy of a journal to the library.  There are a few
>
> titles which I've gotten at the end of a year, as someone donates all
> their
> 1997s or something like that.
>
> Stephanie Walker
> Acting Faculty Librarian
> Faculty of Dentistry
> University of Toronto
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
> ----------
> From:         Ellen Dewkett[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Wednesday, May 20, 1998 9:28 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: ? - personal subscriptions in a library collection
>
> Virginia,
> I would be very interested in the answers you receive to this inquiry.  I
> work
> for a very small non-profit organization which  really can't afford to pay
> institutional prices for journals at this time. Almost all of our journals
> are
> subscribed to in somebody's name and then donated to the library.  I have
> told
> them that for various reasons, legal and ethical, that we need to start
> looking
> at increasing the budget to switch to institutional subscriptions, but I
> haven't
> actually been able to give them any concrete examples.  I have been to a
> copyright workshop given by a lawyer-librarian who indicated that as long
> as the
> publisher does not specify that a journal cannot be given to a library,
> it's
> probably ok to do what we're doing, but I really don't feel comfortable
> with
> it.  Some publishers do say that a particular journal cannot be donated to
> the
> library for a specified time period, usually about 5 years, I think.
> Anyway, I would appreciate your passing along the info you get.  There may
> be
> enough interest in this topic to summarize it for the list.
> Thanks.
> Ellen
>
>  Ellen Dewkett   ML, AHIP
> Greenwood Genetic Center
> 1 Gregor Mendel Circle
> Greenwood, SC  29646
> e-mail  [log in to unmask]       http://www.ggc.org
> Voice 864-388-1708             Fax  864-388-1808
>
>
>
>
> ----------
> From:
> [log in to unmask][SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Wednesday, May 20, 1998 9:12 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      ? - personal subscriptions in a library collection
>
> Hi Virginia,
>
>      It's definitely not a good idea.  Many publishers won't accept
> payment
> from a company for a personal subscription, and they would certainly catch
> on if subscriptions were being mailed to your institution.  I'm sure it
> would raise copyright issues as well.  If you don't have a journal vendor,
> you might want to talk to one about this to support your argument.  We use
> Blackwell (was Readmore) 1-800-221-3306.  Hope this helps.
>
> Jennifer van Sickle
> Biogen Inc.
> 14 Cambridge Center
> Cambridge MA 02142
> 617-679-3361 phone
> 617-679-2306 fax
>
>
> __________________________________________
>
> I also heard from a colleague who works for a journal vendor who
> indicated that in many cases the way an institutional order is processed
> will not allow a personal name to be used for the mailing address.
> Publishers are very aware of this potential practice and will cancel
> a subscription if they know about an institution using personal
> subscriptions
> in place of institutional rates.  There would also be an impact on the
> vendor who would allow the practice.  In an extreme case, an institution
> could be liable if the publisher would want to prosecute particularly when
> the information about various rates is published within the journal
> itself.
> A library couldn't say "they didn't know."
>
> In one case I heard about, the administrator wanted the librarian to place
> all of the subscription orders in the librarian's personal name and have
> them come to the library.  You can quess who would take the brunt
> of any legal action in that case.
>
Thank you to all who took the time to respond.
It is appreciated.

> Virginia Lingle
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Penn State Geisinger Health System
Hershey, PA
[log in to unmask]