Introduction

Subscription management and distribution does not always receive the attention it deserves. Poor service is costly for publishers, librarians and other subscribers and for subscription agents. In extreme cases, librarians have been known to cancel subscriptions because of difficulties in dealing with publishers. The object is to get orders and payments from customers and journals to them speedily, efficiently and at reasonable cost, with the journals arriving in good condition. At the same time the system should produce regular, reliable and pertinent reports for accounting and management purposes.

There is no substitute for meeting one's customers. Anyone responsible for the distribution of copies of journals to libraries should visit several customers with a fair collection of journals to see what happens to journals when they reach the library, and the problems that can be caused by inadequate information, poor packaging or not thinking how journals are processed.

Good subscription management depends upon having simple but powerful systems. Everyone concerned with subscription management and distribution must understand the system, and follow it. Even in the smallest organisation the procedures to be followed should be set down in writing. If exceptions are made to general rules, then they must be recorded in such a way that anyone new to the system should be able to find them, and act accordingly. Memories are fallible, and their owners change jobs, take holidays, or get sick.