If your library subscribed to Shepard's topical products, don't count on
anyone at Thomson's "client services" (800-527-0430) to help you identify
which of your titles has been acquired by the respective Thomson
subsidiaries. The "client services" rep I talked to this week asked me
what the topical products were; she seemed unaware that Thomson had
bought this product line from Shepard's in December 1995, and needed to
consult her supervisor. After she identified only a few of the topical
titles that my library has, I said that hers was an incomplete list, and
that perhaps she didn't have a complete list. She had to consult her
supervisor again. She now explained that titles about the "law"
were acquired by Clark, Boardman; that titles about "California" were
acquired by Bancroft-Whitney; and that titles about "taxes" were acquired by
RIA. At this point I realized that mine was a lost cause and gave up. I
turned to my Shepard's representative for help.
You may have received notices from Clark, Boardman or Bancroft in which
the publisher gives you a partial list of the topical titles that your
library subscribes to, and a new account number for them. First, these
publishers may have picked up other of your Library's titles, and you will
have to call them to confirm that they have. Second, rather than assign the titles to
your library's existing account, the publishers thought it would somehow simplify
matters to assign new account numbers, leaving it up to you to
consolidate the accounts.
It took me several hours to straighten matters out. I have to wonder
whether this is the first instance of cost-shifting by Thomson to hapless
law librarians.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Nov 14 2007 - 20:49:13 PST