RE: National Online: Nature and Others... (like SCIENCE)

["Rick Anderson" <rickand@unr.edu>]

> Rick, you have it backwards. The library, who pays the most (on the order
> of several thousand dollars, gets the version without the in-press
> articles. The individual subscriber, who pays much less, gets the version
> with the in-press articles.

No.  The library pays a larger invoice than an individual does, but the
library is not an individual subscriber -- at UNR, it represents about
13,000 users, none of whom has paid anything approaching the cost of an
individual subscription.  In the case of Science: if a student at UNR opts
to spend $77 and subscribe on her own, she gets her own weekly print copy
and online access to pre-publication content (she pays more, and she gets
more).  If she opts to spend nothing, and settle for access through the
library, she has to share a print copy with her compadres and settle for
less-current online access (she pays less, and she gets less).  There is
nothing scandalous about this; in fact, I think I'll go out on a limb and
say that the library and its community get a pretty good deal here --
given that each community member's access costs us about 27 cents.  The
fact that an individual can opt to pay a premium and get a premium service
doesn't make our deal any less acceptable.

-------------
Rick Anderson
Electronic Resources/Serials Coordinator
The University Libraries
University of Nevada, Reno
1664 No. Virginia St.
Reno, NV  89557
PH  (775) 784-6500 x273
FX  (775) 784-1328
rickand@unr.edu