Technical Services: Serials Policies

Free Trials of Electronic Resources

Librarians that identify electronic resources for which they would like a free trial are encouraged to contact the Electronic Resources and Serials Librarian rather than going to the vendor.  The ER&S Librarian has existing contacts with all of the major vendors and will process a free trial request immediately.  Trials are generally set up using the university’s IP address ranges; the ER&S Librarian has IP address ranges for each campus.  If a vendor is unable to supply us with trial access via IP, a user name and password set-up may be used.  Once the trial has been set up and access has been granted, the ER&S Librarian will contact the librarian who requested the trial with access information. 

If a librarian sets up a free trial for an electronic resource directly through a vendor, the librarian is strongly encouraged to send the details of the trial to the ER&S Librarian. 

Journal Replacement

Print journal issues are only replaced in two instances:

• If an issue of a journal arrives in the mail and is too damaged to read/use, the vendor will be contacted for a replacement.
• In all other cases, journal issues will only be replaced if the library does not have access to an electronic version of the issue in question.

Receipt of Unsolicited Serial Issues

The library receives many serial titles to which we do not subscribe.  Publishers, universities, and corporations will often send us sample copies or an unsolicited free subscription to their materials.  Additionally, sometimes unknown titles arrive as a result of a change in a journal package through our subscription agent or a title change.

Unknown titles will be searched in Millennium and in our vendor’s database(s) to determine if we have a legitimate subscription. 

If the unknown title is a title change of an existing cataloged journal for which we have an active subscription, it will be cataloged in Millennium and checked in as usual.

If the unknown title is a new title in an existing package subscription, the appropriate subject selector will be contacted to see if new title should be cataloged for collection.

If the unknown title is not part of a legitimate active subscription, it will be added to the designated shelves in technical services and retained for a period of three months.  During this period, selectors may review titles.  After three months, issues will be recycled.

Subscription Cancellations

Subscriptions to print and/or electronic resources may be cancelled for a variety of reasons.

• Titles Held by the OhioLINK EJC
  • When new journals are added to the OhioLINK EJC packages, any active local subscriptions to that journal are automatically cancelled for the succeeding year at renewal time (August).
• Titles Aggregated in Other Databases
  • Selectors may periodically want to review active subscriptions that duplicate existing electronic access in our current aggregator and database packages.
• Budget Changes
  • When the library materials budget changes, selectors may be asked to review the subscriptions in their areas for possible cancellations.
• Increase in Cost of Subscription
  • If an individual subscription rises substantially (50% or more) in cost at renewal time, selectors may be asked to cancel another title in their area or contribute from one of their monographic funds to cover the difference.
• Acquiring a New Title
  • If a librarian would like to subscribe to a new title, he/she has two options:
    • Cancel an existing current subscription in his/her subject area that equals or exceeds the cost of the new subscription
    • Permanently transfer the subscription cost from his/her discretionary funds into the relevant continuing resources fund