Currently my library does not have access to any electronic journals, my predecessor was too busy to set them up and being a small hospital library, the budget wasn't there to subscribe to one giant full text journal provider.
So, I have been gradually and methodically activating online journals for the library. Thankfully this nothing new for me. I did this at my previous library which had quite a few more journals subscriptions and had access to OhioLink's Electronic Journal Center. However, it still amazes me that the process is so time consuming, fraught with misinformation/errors, and backwards.

1. WHY DO WE STILL HAVE TO COLLECT JOURNAL WRAPPERS AND INSERTS TO GET THE CUSTOMER NUMBER!!!!!
The subscription number or the customer number (whatever your publisher calls it) is your link to the life in the electronic journal world. Without it you can not activate online access and you have serious difficulties talking to any publisher's customer service representatives. Because they all want to know your subscription number. That little number is worth its weight in gold, or at the very least the price you paid for the journal. So, it boggles my mind that the only place it is found is on the wrapper or paper insert of journals, which is the first thing to hit the trash when processing journals. Why can't publishers or better yet subscription vendors send you a list of all of your customer numbers.

2. There is more misinformation disseminated out there about what is available online for institutions than in an ugly presidential campaign.
If you don't believe me, look at my previous blog regarding AHA journals, LWW, Ovid. I mentioned that if you call the customer service number for any of the AHA journals, ask about institutionals online access through HighWire Press the LWW rep. will tell you the only way to get institutional access to the journal is to access it through Ovid. (This has happened to me at least 3 times.) This is wrong, press harder and ask for their supervisor or just look at the FAQ for Circulation, "You may select access to the online journal through HighWire Press, Ovid, or both. For more information and to request pricing information, please contact the Regional Ovid Sales office closest to you."
Ask your journal subscription vendor for an internet availability report. I remember when I first got one of these reports while working at my previous library, I was ecstatic. I thought that finally, I was going to have a concise authorative list of all the journals that were available online to institutions. I was wrong. The first time I got the list (either last year or two years ago), it told me that the Clinics of North America journals were available online. That was not entirely correct. The Clinics of North America are online for INDIVIDUALS, not for institutions. But there it was in black and white on my internet availability report that they were available online. So, I contacted my subscription vendor. Sure enough they told me the journals were available online and that they would look into it. Months later an email was sent out explaining that the Clinics of North America were not available online to institutions.

3. Each publisher has its own magic formula to determine the price of their online journals.
Sometimes I wonder if this is just a secret plot to turn librarians' hair gray. Tier pricing, one price fits all, and FTE based prices are some of the ways journals charge for online access. My favorite (sarcastic tone) are the journals that determine the priced based on the number of FTE's at your institution. Lovely, good, but what is that publisher's definition of an FTE? Each publisher seems to have their own definition. Some like Science count every employee in your institution, regardless of their job description. So janitors, food service works, etc. are all considered "potential users" of the journal Science.

4. All journals should have IP validation for institutional subscriptions. It is frustrating to have a journal available online to institutions only to find out that they do not offer IP validation. The only way you access the journal is through ID and Password. So you are left with the option of posting it on the Intranet (a big no no for a lot of journals) or giving it out over the phone to everyone who complains that the journal link they just clicked on is asking for a user name and password.

There are many more complaints that one might have regarding setting up access to online journals, such as as license agreements, ILL, non-existent help, etc. It is no wonder that smaller libraries feel a little overwhelmed with online journals.