University of Chicago journals [Responses]

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

Of possible interest.

Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 10:49:07 -0800
From: Lynn Sipe <lsipe@usc.edu>
Subject: CDL-University of Chicago journals [Responses]
To: COLLDV-L@usc.edu

[Original posting on this topic is at the end of the responses.]

(1) From: Steven Harris <SteHar@library.lib.usu.edu>

We also think it is horrifying!  We had hoped to go the campus-access
route with the "enterprise-wide" model, but we really can't justify the
cost.  We had to go the single-user route!  Terrible.

--Steven Harris


(2) From: "Casey, Anne M." <casey1am@cmich.edu>

I am glad to hear someone else feels the same way we do.  We
complained to the publisher but did not get much of a response.

Anne Marie Casey
Central Michigan University


(3) From: "Kevil, L H." <KevilL@missouri.edu>

You are not alone, Paul. Rolling over is easy, but since you have provided
an outlet for griping, I and I'm sure others will be glad to pile on. I've
long ago abandoned any sense that non-profit publishers are any less
greedy than the others.

More seriously, I hope your message will lead to some kind of organized
complaint to be forwarded to UofC Press.

L. Hunter Kevil
Collection Development Librarian
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65201
573-884-8760
kevill@missouri.edu

(4) From: "Anderson, Helen" <handerson@UR.Rochester.edu>

For our library, switching to the enterprise wide license and going e-only
for all titles would result in a 35% price increase. When I checked the
usage, the highest number of successful full text article requests over a
12 month period was 313. For most titles, it was under 100. We have all
our Chicago titles clearly listed in our OPAC and on our ejournals list so
it's not as though people can't find them if they want them. It is hard to
believe that the publisher can think that they will be able to get these
prices from anyone who is watching their numbers and trying to leverage
their materials budget.

With this in mind, I approached the Chicago reps at the vendor showcase at
the Charleston Conference last November. I told them about my findings.
I took away the impression that this publisher is sure that the excellence
of his content will result in libraries signing any kind of terms and that
if we are not seeing high use, well, then our users just don't recognize
quality... Seeing that I wasn't getting anywhere, I resolved to continue
to monitor use under the single user model. Without a high number of
turnaways or faculty requests, I have no interest in pursuing this
license. I've voted with my feet. Helen

Helen Anderson
Head, Collection Development
River Campus Libraries
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627-0055
Tel. (585) 275-3302
Fax (585) 273-1032
<mailto:handerson@library.rochester.edu>


From: Paul Metz <pmetz@vt.edu>

Cross-posting this to ICOLC and national colldev list, with
apologies for duplication:

I'm surprised not to have seen strong expressions of concern from the
community about the University of Chicago's "enterprise model,"
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/subs_inst_enterprise.html which provides
some excellent features including greater speed, supplemental content, and
rss feeds but, sadly, introduces the necessity to pay extra for more than
one simultaneous user for journals. I would have expected the community to
decry what I think is a horrifying precedent to be coming from a
university press -- imagine a day in which we all have to make
title-by-title decisions about the number of users for each of our
electronic journals. Am I alone in this? Is anything being done or are we
all rolling over?

Paul Metz, Director of Collection Management
University Libraries / Virginia Tech
P.O. Box 90001 / Blacksburg, VA / 24062-9001
Ph: (540) 231-5663   FAX: (540) 231-3694   email: pmetz@vt.edu