Re: Confidentiality clause is back in at Nature

["Joan Emmet" <joan.emmet@yale.edu>]

All, I am not going to spend much time defending Nature, they've 
certainly increased prices in leaps and bounds over recent years 
to our extreme discomfort, but I have to comment on Rick's note 
about publicly posting prices yet price terms remaining 
confidential.

Nature DOES post their prices on their web site.  These would be 
the list prices.  An institution need only insert their FTE or 
Science FTE in Nature's calculator to find out the costs for 
every resource offered, for their institution.  I did this myself 
yesterday and it works very well.

http://www.nature.com/libraries/site_licenses/pricing.html

Scroll down to the "Site license pricing" and you can find any of 
the prices or all of the prices by inserting various FTE.  I 
don't know how much more public this could be.

As to confidentiality of pricing, this is due to negotiations 
with consortia.  The makeup of consortia will vary from one to 
another and it is the job of the consortium manager to negotiate 
the best pricing and licensing terms that it can on behalf of its 
membership.  I believe that this is rightfully confidential.  I 
can't imagine that Nature would want, nor the consortia for that 
matter, to have this information disclosed to the world.  I 
believe this is fairly standard operating procedure?

joan emmet -- Joan Emmet NERL Consortium PH: (203) 432-2897 FX: 
(203) 432-7231 mailto:joan.emmet@yale.edu

On 9/28/06, Peter Banks <pbanks@bankspub.com> wrote:
> While I understand the desire for pricing transparency, I can't
> think of an industry where it is practiced, or understand the
> value to the buyer, since it often favors the seller.
>
> When I was a publisher and purchasing printing, composition, or
> Web services, there was no openness in pricing. I am sure in
> other services purchased by universities, from IS services to
> construction, contracts are awarded in response to RFPs, often on
> a closed bid basis.
>
> Perhaps there are economists on the listserv who can comment on
> whether open or hidden pricing trends lower pricing for buyers.
> My experience with printing services is that closed pricing
> drives down prices, as printers cut margins to the minimum or
> bundle services to gain business. I would think that librarians
> have the greatest bargaining power when they are not operating
> from a take-it-or-leave-it menu of prices.
>
> Peter Banks
> Banks Publishing
> Publications Consulting and Services
> pbanks@bankspub.com
>
>
> On 9/25/06 6:21 PM, "Debi Baker" <ddbaker@uoregon.edu> wrote:
>
> > Good luck, Rick!  I've had to speak to such a lawyer and found
> > the major concern was based on his own actions during law
> > school where he violated fair use.  Seems we are seeing a lot
> > more of this, particularly in the newly-minted JDs.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > ********************************************************************
> > Debi Baker    Orbis Cascade Alliance
> > Projects Manager   ddbaker@uoregon.edu
> > 1299 University of Oregon               voice: (541) 346-1832
> > Eugene, OR 97403-1299                   fax:   (541) 346-1968
> > ********************************************************************
> >
> > On Fri, 22 Sep 2006, Rick Anderson wrote:
> >
> >   (Apologies for cross-posting)
> >
> >   Some readers of this list might recall recent discussion of a
> >   newly revised clause in Nature's license agreement, one which now
> >   requires that the library keep both the license terms and the
> >   price confidential. When I objected (strenuously) to this license
> >   provision to my sales rep -- and mentioned the problem on-list --
> >   I was told that the pricing confidentiality language was going to
> >   be taken out and that pricing information was going to be posted
> >   publicly.  Now the word from Nature is that the pricing
> >   confidentiality language is staying in after all, even though it
> >   is apparently still going to be posted publicly (if you figure
> >   that one out, let me know).
> >
> >   If this bothers you, you may want to register your displeasure
> >   with the company.  When I did so, I was told that "it's the
> >   lawyers."  I've asked to speak with one of the lawyers.  We'll
> >   see whether that happens.
> >
> >   FYI,
> >   Rick Anderson
> >
> >   ----
> >   Rick Anderson
> >   Dir. of Resource Acquisition
> >   University of Nevada, Reno Libraries
> >   rickand@unr.edu