EBSCO Renewals Project

Purpose: Primarily to check the EBSCO renewal to verify that our renewal order contains only the titles we want to renew and that the information for each title is correct.   This also provides an opportunity to review our order records in URSUS and address any discrepancies we encounter.  As of 2009, applies to our print and print + online subscription titles and individual online titles.

 

Time Frame:

Start: We receive our EBSCO renewal and begin work on it in early June.

Finish: Checking the renewal should be completed by early September.

Procedures:

A. Setup
B. EBSCO Records
C. URSUS Records
D. Comparing the Records
E. Recording Problems
F. LAI Review of Student Pass

 

A. Setup:

Ursus: Log on to Millennium Serials using the appropriate username and password pairs.  Search by ILS/order record number which appears at bottom of renewal entry.

Internet browser: Open your preferred web browser  (Firefox or IE Explorer) and connect to EBSCONet.

URL: http://www.ebsco.com   Username and password are required.

NOTE for FY2011: When the 2011 renewal is due next June, ask Ebsco to turn on access to the renewal online via Ebsconet.  It will then appear as a link under the My Renewals tab.  According to Reps Terry Walsh and Mary Coombs, the renewal can be reviewed title by title with 3 categories: yes, no and maybe.  The maybe is for supervisory review thus our student assistant can continue to make the first pass. 

Looking up information on EBSCONet:

Once you log onto EBSCONet, select "TitleSearch" and from the dropdown menu choose "title#". The number is readily found to left of entry on the renewal printout.  Resulting display for a specific title is quite long and you will need to scroll to retriev all  pertinent information.

B. EBSCO Records (tagged sample entry link)

It is very important to become familiar with the format of each entry and the information provided.  You will be comparing this information with fields in our attached records on URSUS.  Untagged sample entry follows:

C. URSUS Records:  

This information should already be familiar to you, but the relevant information will be reviewed here.

• Order Record Example

• Check-in Record Example

D. Comparing the Records:

• In Ursus, bring up the order record for the title you are comparing by entering in the EBSCO ILS # (what we refer to as the order record number in the URSUS system).
• Fields to check in the order record:
  • Title to make sure you have the right publication
  • Location to make sure it is our order record and not another library in the System
  • Vendor to make sure it is ebs (for EBSCO)
  • Compare the EBSCO # from the renewal to the one we have on our order record.
    1. In our records we should have the EBSCO # and our account number (RB7791000/01).  Note: if looking at a Darling Center subscription the suffix will be (RB7791000/03).  Darling entries generally at the end of the renewal printout.
    2. If the EBSCO # is incorrect, change it to what is in the renewal.
  • Compare the price in the renewal to the latest price on our order record.
    1. If the price jumps drastically (doubles and increases by at least $1000), it should be noted so LAI can review.
• Things to Check in the Check-In Record:
  • Title, vendor and location for solid record match
  • EBSCO title#
  • Compare the frequency codes to make sure they match renewal entry
  • Check Ebsconet for any claims cycle changes (eg. Claim within 60 days) which is found under Additional Info near the end of the record so will need to scroll down.
  • Finally, look at the check-in boxes to make sure that we are not claiming three or more of the most recent issues.
    
• Other things to Look For

  Some items will have no price  information in their EBSCO renewal entry, but instead will have a note.  For example:

  • If the note says "Standing Order", you will need to check and make sure there is a note in our order record that tells us this is a standing order.  If there is no note, then enter one.

  • If the note says "Will Bill Later" or "Will Order When Current" you should then enter a note that says: "PER 2010 EBSCO RENEWAL, WILL BILL LATER.  JH/<your initials>  <date>"

  • If the note says "*Suspended*", "*Discontinued*" or something similar, close the order record with status change to 'z' with note.  Highlight to bring to LAI's attention.  These are relatively rare.

If there is no note in the price column, then the title often comes with another title.  When you look up a child record such as this it often goes to the order record of the parent title.  Or the entry may be cross-referenced - if part of a package, payment may be on a package record (eg. Government Finance Statistics Yearbook)

If a renewal entry is for a membership, the ILS number will bring you to the order record for the MAIN title record for the membership.  There will be separate bibliographic records on URSUS for each title that comes with the membership.  The attached order record for each of these will refer BACK to the main order record attached to the umbrella membership record. [eg. check with Tina]

If you encounter a situation that is not covered by these instructions, use your best judgment as to whether it is a problem.  In general, if something is changing with a title, and we have a note about the change, it's not a problem.  When in doubt, ask for assistance or record it as a possible error.

E. Recording Problems

1. Put a plastic paper clip on the outside edge of the page pointing to the entry. Examples include:
   1. Huge cost increase
   2. Format discrepancy
   3. Cannot find corresponding record in URSUS
   4. Ceased, discontinued or suspended.  Requires order record changes: status to 'z' plus note added.  See for specific example: .o4067691, Books in Canada
2. Highlight but clip not needed
   1. Status changes (eg. Delayed publication, will order when current, bill later.) 
   2. Print + Online (yellow marker)
3. Mark off reviewed items with an X to keep place in document.
4. LAI will review the list of problems with students on an ongoing basis.

F. LA I Review of Renewal

1. Review renewal marked up by student with focus on clipped entries.
2. Address discrepancies as found (eg. format different in URSUS)
3. Bring price issues to attention to Head of Collections
4. Transfer revised student copy to a clean copy to send to Ebsco
5. Break out the dollars spend by 763 and 767 funds. 
6. Deliver to Susan Clement to ship UPS by early September.

G. Receiving the EDI files for the Final Invoice (comes after paper receipt of invoice in November/December

Link off to separate step by step procedure Jim will draft.  Use to be an FTP file transfer process.  Current process much simpler and applies to The Invoice and other larger supplementary invoices.

Return to the Technical Services Page.

Created by: Sharon Fitzgerald  | Revised: 12/23/2011

---

Created by: Sharon Fitzgerald| Revised: 12/23/2011