Hi. I am trying to collect information from other libraries on
how they handle fee-based searches. We have public access
passwords for both LEXIS and WESTLAW (under a separate contract
from our educational contract) and we will run searches for
people - lawyers, etc. We bill what the search cost plus a
billing charge that is probably too low. My questions are:
1. If you have a fee-based search service does the library do
the searching, the person, or a combination of both. We let
attorneys do their own searching if they know how to use LEXIS or
WESTLAW.
2. How much do you charge? In addition to the search charge how
much do you charge for running the search, billing for the
search, etc.? If a librarian does the search in addition to the
actual cost of the search, do you charge a searching charge for
his/her time and if you do is it so much per search or a flat
fee?
3. Does the person pay upfront (hard to do if you have to wait
for the bills to come from the database vendors)? Do you bill
the person? If you bill how do you handle situations where the
person does not pay?
I think that is all my questions for now. You can respond
directly to me. Thanks for your help.
Jo Ann Humphreys E-Mail: humphreys@law.missouri.edu
Associate Director Phone: 314/882-2935
Law Library Fax: 314/882-9676
226 Hulston Hall
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211
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