Leslie Covington is the E-Resources Director for the Subscription Services Division at EBSCO Information Services. In her role, she manages a team dedicated to providing support to customers who purchase e-journal packages. Learn more about Leslie, her background and a new way to renew e-journal packages.
Tell us about your role at EBSCO.
I have been with EBSCO for 21 years, and I am the E-Resources Director for the United States and Canada. My responsibilities include overseeing a team that obtains e-journal package renewal quotes and invoices from publishers, creates customer invoicing, and maintains the details about e-journal packages. My department is the behind-the-scenes knowledge resource when it comes to e-journal packages — we’re constantly tracking, verifying and following-up regarding e-package updates and changes. In addition, I work with our management team to identify opportunities to improve our internal workflows so that we can bring our customers more efficiencies when it comes to transacting their e-journal packages with EBSCO. In 2019, EBSCO transacted almost 20,000 e-packages worldwide so constantly researching ways to improve our processes is a top priority.
Customers want a single source where information about all e-package subscriptions reside so they can see all details in one place.
What is the biggest challenge you hear from customers about renewing e-packages?
Managing e-packages is laborious — whether it’s tracking all the title changes, follow-ups with publishers, or the overall back and forth. Customers want a single source where information about all e-package subscriptions reside so they can see all details in one place.
What changes can customers expect from EBSCO when it comes to renewing their e-packages for the 2020 renewal season?
For the 2020 renewal season, select customers will have a new way to renew all e-packages. Over the past two years, we’ve been making significant changes to EBSCONET by introducing new features that provide customers with greater efficiency and a better user experience. With the latest enhancements, all e-packages, including custom e-packages, can be renewed in EBSCONET. This allows customers to view and track all e-packages in one place, see the value of the e-package and any changes EBSCO is already aware of, including titles the publisher has added to or removed from the e-package. The full list of titles included with a package can be reviewed through this tool. If there is a specified “core title list” that’s priced, titles can be reviewed with pricing as well as the full list of titles to which you have access. There is also the capability to export a final title list with pricing. The new workflow will be rolled out to all customers who purchase e-packages for the 2021 renewal season.
Find out more about EBSCONET’s new way to renew packages.