[Eril-l] ProQuest "simplification program"?

Mon Jan 29 08:09:59 PST 2018

Thank you to all who have responded to my message, either directly to me or to the list. I do not feel alone.

When I posed my query, it was not my intent to call out any individual(s) at ProQuest; I have had many positive interactions over the years with ProQuest sales and support people. That said, their systems and sales methods have become more and more onerous over the past several years. Many have suggested reasons why that is, and one has offered that the ALA publisher/vendor/library relations interest group may be an avenue to address these issues.

I’d like to continue discussions about how we can collectively affect positive, responsive change from publishers and vendors in as many forums as we can. It would be helpful, too, if publishers and vendors used lists like these to provide notice of changes to collections, platforms, etc.

Best regards,
Christine

From: Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org] On Behalf Of Bazeley, Jennifer
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2018 10:18 AM
To: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] ProQuest "simplification program"?

The most interesting part of this listserv conversation is the notable lack of response from anyone at ProQuest. Many vendors monitor library listservs with regularity and respond to customer concerns expressed this way, but ProQuest seems notably absent from ERIL.

Jennifer Bazeley

Coordinator, Collection Access & Acquisitions
Miami University Libraries<http://www.lib.miamioh.edu/>
King Library 312
Oxford, OH 45056
p. 513.529.4216 | e. bazelejw at miamioh.edu<mailto:bazelejw at miamioh.edu>

On Mon, Jan 29, 2018 at 9:17 AM, Nagata, Judith <jnagata at holycross.edu<mailto:jnagata at holycross.edu>> wrote:
As a followup to Amy's comment, ProQuest is not the only offender in becoming too large too fast without the ability to manage the complex business processes that must take place, in my opinion. While having librarians on board (which many large vendors already have, by the way) might help, how many would you need to change the culture of the business? One or two librarians insisting that the customers be informed in a timely mannner of forthcoming platform changes (for one example) might not reach to all parts of the mega-company. I think everyone has experienced complaining to your sales rep who sends the message to technical support (supposedly) and nothing happens. Sometimes the poor sales reps are the last to know about changes to the products they are selling. That is also true of Tech Support and Accounts Receivable (Customer Support), especially with multiple product lines.

It was a lot easier when one mega-vendor did not control multiple library product areas: serials, archival packages, ebooks, databases, library software, etc. We had much better rapport with the smaller companies. That does not seem to be the solution here (unfortunately). ProQuest did send out customer surveys about how to make their processes better. Unfortunately, I think everyone asked for simpler and this is the result. Hopefully, this email string will help us clarify our needs to the vendors -- simpler, yes, but with information, accuracy, and clear communication, especially as one vendor encompasses multiple library product areas.

Judith

--
Judith Nagata
Content Strategist
Dinand Library
College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, MA 01610
p: 508-793-2639<tel:(508)%20793-2639>
e: jnagata at holycross.edu<mailto:jnagata at holycross.edu>

On Fri, Jan 26, 2018 at 3:41 PM, Amy Lynn Fry <afry at bgsu.edu<mailto:afry at bgsu.edu>> wrote:
Yeah – I’ve had such uneven experiences with ProQuest over the past several years. I just feel like they’ve added products and companies more quickly than they could organize them into their product access/assistance/sales stream, and, depending on the product and where it originally came from, you can have such a difficult time. I’ve felt very informed and on top of developments in 360 Link and Summon, but I didn’t even know about the product simplification process for ProQuest databases until this email thread (which helps me make sense of the fact that evidently ProQuest Newsstand became ProQuest Global Newsstream last October, and our direct links to PQ Newsstand broke, but we didn’t even know that until about 10 days ago when one of our librarians discovered it. I guess I should check linking to all our other PQ databases). I’ve long found the PQ database use stats to be baffling. We had a GREAT ProQuest training day at our institution about 2 years ago, but I have lost contact with the gal who arranged it for us and I wonder if she’s been shuffled around so she’s not one of my CS reps anymore? I like my PQ sales rep a lot and touch base with her regularly, but she’s obviously not in the loop about product changes, which means there’s no one to keep me informed of those. And we even had something we wanted to buy about a year ago and I had so much trouble getting info from PQ about it we never even bought it! (well, there were a lot of problems with that, and that was just one of them)

In my role, I have definitely seen our vendors get bigger and bigger and bigger and more and more and more organizationally complex over the last 15 years and it’s been hard to stay on top of product changes. I miss the days of more active listservs, when you could count on vendors (or at least other librarians) sharing that kind of info via the listserv.

Amy Fry
Associate Professor, E-resources Librarian
Jerome Library
Bowling Green, OH 43403
afry at bgsu.edu<mailto:afry at bgsu.edu>
email is the best way to reach me

From: Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org>] On Behalf Of Ramune Kubilius
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 12:32 PM
To: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>

Subject: Re: [Eril-l] ProQuest "simplification program"?

Hi,

Interesting discussion for the end of the week…

From the big picture perspective, hopefully, someone from ALA’s ALCTS PVLR (Publisher-Vendor-Library Relations) Interest Group is following this discussion and gets some session planning ideas ☺
http://www.ala.org/alcts/mgrps/ig/ats-pvlr
Excerpt: Our planning meeting is held at 1:30 pm on Saturday afternoon of each ALA Midwinter and Annual. Please consider helping us brainstorm and plan future panels.

But, in response to this specific thread, sounds as if the company in question needs inhouse librarians (as one vendor calls them “concierges”). Or, as in the case of Wiley, discussed on the list, one or more Library Technical Services Managers. Or library relations managers…Or an emphasis on improving its customer-centric focus…As Steve Oberg pointed out in the Wiley example from last week, vendor official channels should always be tried, too, but also perhaps personal attempts to communicate. The biggest challenges often are knowing where to start, persisting, etc. Sometimes working through  local or regional reps, and if they are good, they can help triage/direct/connect with the proper people “back at the shop”…(internal sales, billing reps, etc.) who can help unsnarl problems. And some may or may not have the authority and matters (on both sides?) sometimes have to move up the management chains.

Just as vendors/publishers sometimes have challenges trying to figure who is whom on the library (customer end), so, too, we do with contacting vendors, to get the right people to address our questions, ranging from pricing, licensing, connection/technical, to billing, and more. One vendor reminded me “if you’ve seen one library, you’ve seen one library”…So, it may seem, is the case with publishers and vendors…Changing corporate structures and staff complicates matters. For those of who attend Charleston Conferences, ER&L, NASIG or other conferences that include not only librarian, but also publisher/vendor folks, we appreciate the lessons we learn about keeping those communication lines open and personal connections we make “across our fences”...

Good luck!

Ramune Kubilius
Collection Development / Special Projects Librarian
Galter Health Sciences Library & Learning Center
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

From: Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org] On Behalf Of Coralee Leroux
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 11:01 AM
To: Christine Turner <cturner at library.umass.edu<mailto:cturner at library.umass.edu>>; eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] ProQuest "simplification program"?

Hi Christine,

You are definitely not a lone voice in the wilderness.

We have been having many problems with ProQuest as well. I can’t speak to the invoicing or usage data, but the “simplification program” has been a great pain to us (the Ontario college libraries and OCLS), as well as the slow response time on requests; and we also had huge problems with the ebrary-to-Ebook Central migration, as well as a smattering of random access issues that were poorly communicated about, and puzzlingly (to put it mildly) unacceptable terms for consortial offers.

We’ve been pushing back as well, but admittedly there have been so many problems that we’ve had to let some things slide that in better circumstances we would not have. But we’ve been raising all sorts of things with them, bringing in management for meetings etc., and pushing for lower prices in light of all of these problems.

Anyway, I’m not sure how helpful this… but at least it’s good to know we are not alone ☺

Best,
Nicole Morgan and Coralee Leroux

[Description: Description: Description: cid:image001.jpg at 01CBB629.58358D10]

Coralee Leroux, MI
eResources & Services Coordinator

Ontario Colleges Library Service
Tel. (647) 722-9324<tel:(647)%20722-9324>
Toll-free (800) 268-5560 ext. 324<tel:(800)%20268-5560>
Email cleroux at ocls.ca<mailto:cleroux at ocls.ca>

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From: Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org] On Behalf Of Christine Turner
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2018 10:24 AM
To: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: [Eril-l] ProQuest "simplification program"?

Greetings, Colleagues,

We’ve been struggling to maintain our inventory and accounting records, to say nothing of public access to our ProQuest products, particularly since they embarked on a “simplification program” a couple of years ago. They are moving contents of mega-collections in and out (e.g. International Bibliography of Social Sciences was included in our Social Sciences Premium Collection and now we’re being billed separately for it), regularly changing database and collection names, and providing order forms and invoices that don’t itemize what the charges cover. We’re also having problems getting renewal prices in a timely manner. And then there’s deciphering their usage data…

Are others feeling as frustrated as we are? We’re pushing back, but I wonder if we’re a lone voice in the wilderness.

Thanks for any feedback you may provide.

Best wishes,
Christine

******************************************
Christine N. Turner
Acquisitions and Scholarly Communications Librarian
Acquisitions Unit/W.E.B. Du Bois Library
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA  01003
(413) 577-1026<tel:(413)%20577-1026>
cturner at library.umass.edu<mailto:cturner at library.umass.edu>
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