Re: Is publisher-librarian agreement open for signature?

[Kent Mulliner <mulliner@ohio.edu>]

Let me try to clarify.  This is what Sally said:

>  We are now very hopeful that the majority of publishers will sign an 
> agreement - to be issued next week - to supply journals for the whole of 
> 2003, on two conditions [emphasis added]

So, assuming completion, we should look to see the agreements available this
week.

At 09:26 PM 02/15/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>Sally Morris's message seems to imply that the publisher-librarian
>agreement is presently open for signature.  The only version I see on the
>creditors group site is labeled "draft," and my impression is that the
>agreement is not yet finalized. If in fact the agreement is presently open
>for signature, I would appreciate clarification of that.
>
>Paul Axel-Lute
>Rutgers University Library for the Center for Law & Justice
>Newark NJ  07102-3094         axellute@andromeda.rutgers.edu

Also, Sally's concluding statement perhaps did not clarify that libraries'
commitment, to receive maximum advantage, under the terms the Ad Hoc
Committee negotiated, is only for 2003.  If this works as hoped--and we
have yet to hear from the new official committee--libraries would owe a
debt of gratitude to EBSCO for facilitating a settlement but commitments
beyond 2003 subscriptions would presumably be based primarily on the
quality of EBSCO's service and other usual considerations.

Libraries are also being asked to keep their business with RoweCom's
successor, EBSCO;  the amount EBSCO are willing to pay will be reduced
proportionately as libraries take their business elsewhere.  This means
that there will be less money available, both to pay those publishers who
are willing to go on supplying journals, and to refund to those librarians
who choose to get out.  So - counter-intuitive as it may seem - not
cancelling your RoweCom orders is actually the best thing librarians can
do.

K. Mulliner             email:  mulliner@ohio.edu
Collection Development Coordinator
Ohio University Libraries
Athens, OH 45701-2978 , USA
Phone: 740-593-2707     Fax: 740-593-2708