All publishers have claiming restrictions that we all must follow. The following guidelines are to be used only if they do not interfere with these restrictions. The claiming restrictions are listed on the EBSCO renewal and invoice and on the Report on Claiming Restrictions that can be ordered through your Account Services Manager.
 

Daily and Weekly Titles: 
We always call the publisher on a first claim, if publisher has no restriction. If it is a non-domestic publication, a fax is sent to the publisher on the first claim (except for single missing issue).
 

Monthly & Quarterly or Annual Titles: 

EBSCO claims via computer. If no response on the first or second claim, we follow up with a letter, phone call or fax, whatever works best for each individual publisher.
 

GPO Titles: 

It is necessary that our Birmingham Office contact GPO. This is a GPO restriction. They will not allow individual offices to call or claim.
 

For all Types of Orders: 

If the publisher has no record of our order, we are able to give them the check number, date of check and date it was cashed. If this information is sufficient, it is not necessary to send proof of payment. If they are still unable to find the order, then proof of payment is sent to them upon publisher request.
 

When do we stop claiming?:

Single Issue Claim: If issue isn’t received after three attempts at claiming, we will drop the claim. A statistical breakdown of the fulfillment rates of all claims placed at the Cary office illustrates why we do this: 1^st claims are filled 85.1% of the time; 2^nd claims 11.9% percent; 3^rd claims 3%. The Missing Copy Bank will be checked in addition to claiming.

Non-Service Claim: We will claim (including letters, faxing and telephoning) a total of six times. We will then stop claiming. If a publisher has not responded to our efforts after six times, we feel they never will.
 

When to Claim?

Knowing when to claim is probably the most unscientific process you've ever encountered. Below are some general guidelines to consider.

First Claims: 

In general, you should allow half as long as the number of days between issues beyond the expected date, or 90 days, until your first claim, whichever comes first. Here is a table of examples:

Days Between Issues (Frequency)	Days to Wait After the Expected Date Until 1st Claim
1 (Daily)	Immediately
7 (Weekly)	3 - 4 days
14 (Biweekly)	One week (or until the next one comes in)
30 (Monthly)	14 - 21 days
60 (Bimonthly)	30 days
90 (Quarterly)	45 days
120 (Triannual)	60 days
180 (Semi-annual)	60 days
365 (Annual)	60 - 90 days
Less often than once per year	varies, depending on publishing history

 

For example, let's say you have a monthly publication that always comes within the first week of the month, like this:

Issue Date	Received Date
June 2000	June 3, 2000
July 2000	July 5, 2000
August 2000	August 1, 2000
September 2000	September 2, 2000
October 2000	October 2, 2000

You haven't received November yet: when would you claim? According to the chart above, you'd wait until somewhere around November 14 to the 21st before you issued your first claim.
 

Placing First Claims: 

You may place first claims any one of the following ways:

• EBSCONET
• Electronic Claiming through your Integrated Library System (Innovative, etc.)
• E-mailing your Customer Service Representative.
• Phoning your Customer Service Representative
• Faxing your Customer Service Representative

 

When to Contact your Customer Service Representative (CSR) for a claim:

Even though electronic claiming through EBSCONET or your automated system for 1st claims is quick and easy there are certain times when it is better to contact your customer service rep rather than placing an electronic claim:

1. Non-Starts with last issue received (include dates as well as volume and issue)
2. Ceased Receiving (include dates as well as volume and issue)
3. Missing more than one month of a monthly or bi-monthly publication
4. Dailies or Newspapers - please contact same day, ASAP, so that she can
   phone the pub for a replacement issue. If you e-mail please mark it urgent. Usually we need to contact them before 9:30 or 10 to get same day delivery.
5. Missing more than one week of a weekly or bi-weekly issue.
6. Duplicate issues being received. Please include copies of both labels and the title, as well as your account number.

 

Placing Second and Third Claims: 

For domestic publications, you should wait 4-6 weeks before claiming a second or third time. This allows plenty of time for everything in the claiming cycle to occur. For non-domestic publications, you should wait 8-10 weeks.
 

The CLAIM CHECKER is specifically designed to be used as a “tickler” for second and third claims. Please use this method to placing second and third claims and return it to your customer service representative within 15 days of receipt. If you attempt to place 2^nd/3^rd claims through EBSCONET or Innovative they will go directly to the publisher without any human intervention. As we all know 2^nd/3^rd claims often are problematic and are best handled by your customer service representative.
 

RUSH claims: 

Sometimes you just can't wait as long as those guidelines tell you to wait. Experience with claiming, and with your individual mix of titles will tell you when you should think about a RUSH claim. For these types of claims, you should contact your customer service representative immediately to help you out.