RE: Sabo Bill: congratulations to vendors who help open up access

["Heather Morrison" <hmorrison@ola.bc.ca>]

Kudos to all the commercial vendors who are working with libraries & their
consortia on pricing and access models that help to open up access to
everyone.  Examples include the statewide deals, consortial offers that
provide pricing that allows all types and sizes of libraries to
participate, license agreements that call for unlimited access to everyone
on a campus or in a geographic region (not just the select few or just one
person at a time), and allow for ILL and walk-in users.

This isn't quite the ideal of global free open access, but many steps are
being taken in the right direction.

If the world could get together to purchase a range of resources on a
global open access basis, I'm sure there are vendors who would be more
than happy to bid on such a contract - it's the customer (the world) that
isn't quite ready for cooperation on this scale.

This is to show that open versus restricted access does not equate with
private vs. public interests.  Commercial vendors can implement business
practices that result in more open access.  Government agencies can
implement policies and procedures that can either result in either more
open or more restricted access.

a personal view by,
Heather Grace Morrison, BC ELN

liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu writes:
>Good morning Scott!!
>
>Greetings from Iowa - where I've visited a number of "rural" hospitals and
>their ONLY source of Fulltext is EBSCO via a state wide deal - they are
>paying as low as $300 per month for access to about 1000 journals and not
>the Brandon Hill list - but they are THRILLED to have it.
>
>Our ability to "stay in business" is that we now get their CINAHL biz and
>they link to the FT via the state and/or they will buy the addition titles
>that a license won't permit us to mount on a state wide deal.  On top of
>that, IF they have ESS they get some "free" ONLINE with print - and
>eventually they do end up with an interesting "assortment" of Fulltext -
>linking to PUBMED and "affordable" (a term with WIDE definition).
>
>Ronna Archbold, M.Ed.,  Biomedical Sales Manager; Midwest U.S., Eastern
>U.S./Canada 
>EBSCO Publishing, 10 Estes Street, Ipswich, MA  01938
>Voice - 978/368-6338 or 800/OK-EBSCO X512  
>FAX - 978/368-6342  Cellular Phone -  978-821-3015
>E-mail - rarchbold@epnet.com