DIALOG $75 monthly minimum begins 6/1/98

From: Carol Iglauer (iglauerc%SLU.EDU@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU)
Date: Fri May 22 1998 - 00:43:45 CDT

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Message-ID:  <Pine.PMDF.3.95.980522002143.562071176B-100000@SLU.EDU>
Date:         Fri, 22 May 1998 00:43:45 -0500
Reply-To: Saint Louis Regional Library Network Discussion and Announcements <SLRLN-L@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU>
Sender: Saint Louis Regional Library Network Discussion and Announcements <SLRLN-L@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU>
From: Carol Iglauer <iglauerc%SLU.EDU@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU>
Subject:      DIALOG $75 monthly minimum begins 6/1/98
Comments: cc: caroli@accessus.net
To: SLRLN-L@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU

Earlier this week, DIALOG users received an 8-page pamphlet innocuously titled "Important Message from the Chief Executive: Activities and New products in 1998." Buried inside on p. 5, DIALOG announced major changes in its pricing structure effective June 1, 1998. For libraries that search DIALOG online only infrequently, the most significant change is the imposition of a monthly MINIMUM charge of $75 per pay-as-you-go billing location. This charge, if enacted as planned, will put DIALOG service out of the reach of many libraries.

It is unconscionable that DIALOG could enact a change of this magnitude with so little advance warning and so surreptitiously. There are, however, steps that we can take both to minimize the effect on our own libraries and to try to pressure DIALOG to modify its stance.

1) For Missouri libraries who are full or affiliate members of the Missouri Library Network Corporation (MLNC), DIALOG service can be obtained, without the monthly minimum charge, through the Michigan Library Consortium (MLC). Participating libraries that chose the simplest option deposit $350 with MLC, and monthly charges are deducted from the deposit. Start-up paperwork is handled through MLNC for MLC.

If your library is interested in DIALOG service through MLC, contact Tracy Byerly immediately at the MLNC office: (314)-918-7222, ext. 813. Tracy can fill you in on details, including other MLC service options, and fax you sign-up materials. MLNC and MLC are prepared to facilitate the start-up paperwork so that it will be completed before June 1. Your library will receive an invoice after start-up paperwork is completed; you will NOT be required to make any payment before June 1.

2) Regardless of arrangements Missouri libraries are able to make to mitigate the effect of DIALOG's new charges, these charges should not go unchallenged. In the early 1980s, SDC (ORBIT), at the time a major vendor of science and technology databases, tried to implement a similar monthly minimum. Because of the concerted efforts of many librarians, SDC reduced the monthly minimum from the planned amount of $100 to only $10. While DIALOG is a larger giant to take on, it is worth a try. DIALOG Customer Service told me we should e-mail the chief executive, Dan Wagner, expressing our concern and outrage. His e-mail address is

dan_wagner@dialog.com

This message is being cross-posted to the SLML listserv, so you may receive another alert. Please note also that while I obtained information from MLNC and MLC in preparing this message, I am not speaking on behalf of either organization; and any errors are my own!

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