HighWire launches "Shop for Journals"

[Ann Okerson <aokerson@pantheon.yale.edu>]

Of possible interest.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 10:59:35 -0800
From: Bonnie Zavon <bzavon@stanford.edu>
Subject: HighWire launches "Shop for Journals"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                           December 15, 2003
HighWire Launches "Shop for Journals"

Palo Alto, CA. Stanford University's HighWire Press announced the launch
of a new feature for institutions, 'Shop for Journals'. 28 society
publishers, with content hosted on HighWire, have banded together to
create an easy way to select from an initial list of 60 journal titles and
create custom packages, with more titles expected to join in the New Year.
To support this program, these publishers have developed a standard set of
Guidelines for Institutional Access (defining authorized use and users),
and have agreed to use a common tiered pricing model, based on type of
institution. http://highwire.stanford.edu/shopforjournals

"Shop for Journals is the gateway to something we are calling an 'Open
Package'," says Michael Clarke, Senior Managing Editor of the American
Academy of Pediatrics, who led the Shop for Journals initiative. "The
concept of the Open Package grew out of our conversations with serials
librarians.  They told us that they liked the idea that the Big Deal
offers: holding down costs by acquiring a large number of titles at
reduced prices. However, they also told us that the problem with Big Deal
packages is that they may include a lot of titles that an institution does
not need or want."

The Shop for Journals Open Package is a way for institutions to pick and
choose which titles they want, obtain the correct pricing for their
institution, and to purchase them through one simple mechanism. Along with
the customized price chart, there are options for a librarian to send a
custom package of titles and prices to their regular subscription agent,
to contact the publishers directly to purchase, or to send a subscription
request through the HighWire system to serials agent, Otto Harrassowitz
KG. The advantage of this third option is that most new subscriptions will
be available online immediately after confirmation of the order.

"In the future, our intent is for the participating publishers to
introduce a discounting system for new subscriptions," says Mr. Clarke,
the leader of the task force of 50 HighWire-affiliated publishers. "We
think this will present librarians with a better alternative to the Big
Deal, one that provides them with similar savings, but does not lock them
into titles they do not need."

"We are excited to participate in this collaborative effort, as we
recognize that shrinking library budgets are increasingly going to the
'easiest' buy, rather than the highest quality titles," says Meg McGough,
Marketing Manager of the Histochemical Society. "With the wealth of
research by the scholarly community that is hosted at HighWire today, we
strongly support this group effort to simplify the purchasing process for
each of our independent society journals."

To compliment the Shop for Journals feature, HighWire offers a variety of
other tools to make a librarian's work easier. See:
http://highwire.stanford.edu/institutions for links to manage
subscriptions, including viewing usage reports across most journals
administered, and the ability to maintain IP addresses in one place for
multiple journals.

About HighWire Press

HighWire Press, a division of the Stanford University Libraries, produces
the online versions of 346 high-impact, peer-reviewed journals and other
scholarly content. Recipient of the 2003 ALPSP Award for "Service to
Not-for-Profit Publishing", HighWire partners with influential scholarly
societies, university presses and publishers to create a collection of the
finest, fully searchable research and clinical literature online.
Together, these partners produce nearly half of the 200
most-frequently-cited journals publishing in science.

Since 1995, with the launch of the Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC),
to the continuous online production of hundreds of prestigious journals,
such as Science Magazine, the New England Journal of Medicine, PNAS and
JAMA, HighWire has established an outstanding reputation for helping to
disseminate primary scientific information on the Web. For further
information, go to www.highwire.org or, for readers outside the U.S:
http://intl.highwire.org

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For more information:
- Bonnie Zavon, Public Relations, HighWire Press
 [bzavon@stanford.edu]
- Michael Clarke, Senior Managing Editor, American Academy of Pediatrics
 [mclarke@aap.org]