This last talk in the session by Oliver Pesch from EBSCO Information Services.

The traditional role of the agent was around print:

• Central catalog of available titles
• consolidate orders
• process invoices
• etc.

Then came ‘e’

• Has print workflow but then a load of other stuff as well
• Trials
• Licenses
• IP ranges
• Registration
• Trouble shooting
• Link resolvers
• Usage stats

Oliver says that e-journals are the ‘more prickly’ types of e-resources  – I don’t really agree – e-journals are simple compared to e-books – because we have had them for longer, and understand them better, and have more in common with print counterparts than books.

With print

• Physical product
• Library controls collection
• Linear processes
• Assembly line

With e

• Virtual product
• Others control collection
• Troubleshooting, triage
• Non-linear processes
• Like an Intensive Care Unit – need different staff skills

We are not just managing print and managing electronic, but also managing the transition between print and electronic – so we have more to do!

All this has affected agents too. Oliver noting that agents spent a lot of time at conferences saying ‘there is value in an agent’ – sounds like the talk from YBP this morning re: e-books!

But – the goal has not changed.

The agent now has more tasks:

• Capturing data
• Influencing the processes
• Feeding other systems
• License details
• Access and registration data
• …

Agents have developed systems that facilitate management of both print and e

Some services that we might expect from agents and their systems:

• Supporting print and electronic on same platform (EBSCONET, Swetswise etc.)
• Managing the transition
• Publisher packages
• Handling various print and online models
• Collecting data about access and registration
• Capturing license details
• Introducing intelligent systems to track and assist with activation and registration activities
• Extending EDI/ILS interfaces to update costs information in ERM
• Populating other relevant data in ERMs
• Providing ERM functionality
• Offering access services
• Automatic updating of holdings into access services
• Extending integration to other services

A lot of what Oliver is saying sound good – but much of it isn’t there – from my point of view anyway – at the moment. So – I’m not aware that our agents are managing the information about our ‘big deals’ and how it effects print – we put this together ourselves (and it is labour intensive!)

Also, some of the functions that are there – e.g. ERM functionality, are difficult because we don’t necessarily have all our business with a single agent (although I think that EBSCO for e.g. can provide services for subs that they aren’t managing for you)

So in conclusion:

• Print and electronic are intertwined
• Needs and challenges of the electronic journal are significantly different to those of print
• Agents can help and add value!