Re: privacy@wiley.com

[mcoletti@caregroup.harvard.edu]

I think that Wiley's user registration is really a marketing tool.  Of
course, theoretically, the user does not need to register with a real name,
at least an institutional subscription user does not.  I've registered,
with the knowlege and approval of the folks at Wiley, with a generic
library user name at all of my public workstations, so that whoever sits
down at these computers to access Cancer, for instance, does not need to
register.  In essence it is really the workstation that is registered.

What really bothers me is that I had to register all of my institution's IP
addresses.  And that only gave my users the right to register again, by
name, at these same IP addresses.  So why did I have to register the IP
addresses in the first place?  So besides the violation of privacy, it is a
terrible pain in the neck for our users.  The procedure is needlessly
complicated, especially for users of the institutional subscription.
That's my main beef with Wiley InterScience.  Not exactly the same
complaint as Jane's, but it feels good to vent.  I've already made my
complaint known to Wiley.

Margo Coletti
Medical Library Director
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston MA