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Re: Fees for services



I may not have been clear about this at first, but we already are charging a
fairly standard rate for time after the first 15 minutes and for copies over
10 pages. The questions  arose over whether or not it was a good idea to
charge for ->everything<- I do, even if it costs more to do paperwork for
the bookkeeper than we make on the copies and time for quick jobs. The
majority of replies so far indicate that small orders under varying amounts
of time or copies are free because it costs too much to do the overhead work
associated with them.

Best wishes,

Thomas Berry, Archivist
Historical Construction Equipment Association
16623 Liberty Hi Road
Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
Phone 419-352-5616
Fax 419-352-6086
tberry@hcea.net
http://www.hcea.net






----- Original Message -----
From: "Robins, Judith" <j.robins@ASAHQ.ORG>
To: <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2001 11:50 AM
Subject: Re: Fees for services


> You slay me, Tom.  I will address your questions in the order in which
they
> were posed.
>
> First, who made the "suggestion" -- your boss?  I think so.  Is your
> institution supported by tax dollars?  Is its primary mission to serve the
> public?  I think not.  Does a benefactor pay for the archives' overhead,
the
> equipment and supplies you use, and your salary?  I think not.
> Accept that you may have to make your department pay its own way, just
like
> grownups do.  In that case, setting standard fees, per-hour and
per-service,
> is the only fair and rational thing to do.  If you think that book-keeping
> on that basis is going to be no fun, imagine how complicated it would be
to
> charge by instinct, according to a scale of values-of-difficulty.
Consider,
> too, that there are exceptions to every rule.
>
> Second, who "said" it -- your boss?  I think so.  Does your photocopier
use
> electricity, paper, and toner?  Does it need maintenance?  I think so.
> Whether you do the copying for the patron, or they serve themselves, you
pay
> a per-copy price for every single photocopy made, not just for quantities
of
> three or more.  But if the total fee is $1 or less, your own office
manager
> should know that it costs more to do paperwork for such modicums than it
is
> worth, particularly when you add the credit card company fees.  You could
> waive all fees that total $1 or less.  Or do as retailers do, and refuse
to
> accept credit payment for amounts under a certain minimum.
>
> Third, I don't believe my eyes.  Obviously, there is no call to waste
> anybody's time if the inquiry is "beyond the scope of your collections."
Do
> you actually look for that kind of thing, on the ground that miracles can
> happen?  It should be equally obvious that your work is your work,
> regardless of how useful the outcome.  Tell your patrons up front what
they
> can expect in terms of time, money, and results.
>
> Fourth, see third.  Either you charge by the hour or you don't.
>
> Very sincerely yours,
>
> Judy Robins, C. A.,
> Collections Supervisor,
> Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology
> 520 N. Northwest Highway
> Park Ridge, IL  60068-2573
>
> Tel:  847-825-5586
>
> Fax:  847-825-1692
>
> e-mail:  j.robins@ASAHQ.org
>
>
> "There is nothing new under the sun."
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Thomas Berry [mailto:tberry@HCEA.NET]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2001 4:44 PM
> To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
> Subject: Help wanted - fees for services
>
>
> Greetings to all!
>
> A new twist on an old theme: The issue of fees for archives services is
> being discussed again. A couple of ideas for which I need advice and
> suggestions are being considered.
>
> First, it's been suggested that we charge for all research and reference
> services, regardless of how little time and work is involved. Do any of
you
> do this? If so, how do you make it worthwhile to do it without having fees
> so high that you drive away researchers? Do you have a minimum fee that
> applies to all researchers, regardless of time and work done? My concern
is
> that I'll end up spending more time doing paperwork to account for the
fees
> than I will doing the reference work.
>
> Second, it's being said that researchers should be charged for all
> photocopies, even if it's just one or two. Again, how to make this
> worthwhile without losing business and tying the office manager and me up
> with paperwork for $1.00 invoices to account for them? (It should be
> mentioned that almost all requests for copies are from off-site and are
paid
> by credit card.)
>
> Third, I have a lot of inquiries that I cannot answer. Obviously, there
> would be no grounds to charge people if the information is entirely beyond
> the scope of our collections, but in many cases I have to spend time
looking
> (due to lack of cataloging) for information that we might have but don't.
> It's being said that we should charge for time spent doing this as well.
Any
> comments?
>
> Finally, once in a while I get a dear soul who has me pull all sorts of
> records and then decides not to have them copied. Can fees be charged in
> these cases? I know that auto shops and other repair services charge just
to
> do diagnostics; can that be extended to us charging just to look for
> information, whether or not - due to either our not having anything or the
> researcher changing his/her mind - we actually provide it?
>
> As always, many thanks for all advice and guidance.
>
> And, for those who've been following my saga, things have improved
> dramatically. Scars remain, but the new management has shown a real
interest
> in working with me; and while they are going to have me working less on
the
> collections and more on a limited group of other activities, they have
been
> extremely supportive and appreciative. I can honestly say I feel better
> about the situation here than I have in a couple of years. Thanks to all
for
> your support, encouragement and understanding.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Thomas Berry, Archivist
> Historical Construction Equipment Association
> 16623 Liberty Hi Road
> Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
> Phone 419-352-5616
> Fax 419-352-6086
> tberry@hcea.net
> http://www.hcea.net
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
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> Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
>       In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
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> To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu
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> Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
>      http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
>
> Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
>
>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

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      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
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Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
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Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>