I have one (and probably should have more) major concern about the contract as you have described it. You
talk about the 3 year contract in which you maintain subscriptions for 95% of your initial cost. I would be
extremely hesitant to get into any agreement that does not allow me to retain full control of my subscriptions
budget. I wonder, if Bender moves back into a mode of price increases greater than 5% per year, will you be
faced with the dilemma of not being able to cancel titles which you do not want because of this agreement?
Secondly, what will happen to the agreement if you cancel titles in the second or third year? Will you be
liable for the full cost of the CD product which you so conveniently got "free"?
I do not mean to sound cynical, but I would seriously consider these questions and get more clarification.
Jim Mumm
Acquisitions / Serials Librarian
Marquette University Law Library
Sensenbrenner Hall (414) 288-5351
P.O. Box 3137 FAX: (414) 288-5914
Milwaukee, WI 53201-3137 mummj@vms.csd.mu.edu
LAW_MN@centum.utulsa.edu wrote:
>
> Thanks to those who have responded to my request for information on the
> question of whether to say yes or no to Bender's cd offer. I thought that
> I would clarify the offer now that I have the agreement in hand that we must
> sign. First of all it is an offer to law school subscribers only. Bender is
> offering for 3 years after the date of the agreement to provide subscriber
> at no extra charge a subscription to Bender CD products to which the subscriber
> does not have an existing subscription as of the date of the agreement.
>
> During the term of the agreement (3 years) the subscriber must maintain
> subscriptions to Bender products "whose combined annual subscription cost
> equals at least 95% of the combined annual subscription cost of subscriber's
> up to date Bender subscriptions as of the date of the agreement." I assume
> this means we can cut a little but not a lot. Then the agreement has a line
> where the amount of your current subscriptions is recorded.
>
> Furthermore, we (the subscriber) have to agree to permit use of the products
> to only "officers, directors, faculty, employees, and currently enrolled
> students of subscriber." The University of Tulsa Law Library, as a private
> institution, has a policy whereby we charge attorneys,who are not TU grads
> and law firms for access to our library. We can restrict use but at what
> cost. Will students use these CDs enough to justify devoting a work station,
> and purchasing equipment. Will our other users resent another restriction
> on their access to our resources?
>
> I hope this defines a bit better the offer. Many of the responses I have
> received have described this offer as the one made several years ago with
> the old software that did not work very well, we could never get it loaded
> properly so we just put the cds in a drawer. This offer is different, the
> search engine is Folio and there is a link to LEXIS to update your research.
>
> Anyone in the law school community recognize this offer? Have you taken it
> and signed the agreement? How is it working in your library? Have you
> received technical support or training support when you requested it? Are
> students, faculty, staff actually making use of the CDs? How are you
> handling restrictions to non-law school patrons?
>
> Thanks to all of you who have sent me comments and information so that I could
> define some of the issues to consider. We have a librarians meeting next
> week to come up with a recommendation to our director. If anyone has further
> comments, please send them along. I will let the list know of them.
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