Re: Journal/Publisher 2010 price freeze info on MLA website

[Tracey Thompson <thomtd@nmsu.edu>]

Along with price increases, one issue that I find a factor is a 
publisher who insists on a package deal rather than a title by 
title selection - the infamous big deal.  As I am looking at the 
budget for the next two years and the cuts that we are facing, I 
am finding the packages are not sustainable. Several of our 
contracts expire this year, so I will be renegotiating them. Even 
for those that we can afford this year, I am reluctant to commit 
to as I do not know if we can afford them next year.  These are 
also the publishers who are increasing their prices this year 
albeit at a lower increase than normal.  As we look at what to 
cut and what to keep, I am less inclined to support such 
publishers.  If there is an alternative, I will certainly 
advocate for it rather than being forced into a model in which 
has questionable benefits for the library.

Tracey Thompson

On Sat, Aug 8, 2009 at 6:00 PM, Nat Gustafson-Sundell <
n-gustafson-sundell@northwestern.edu> wrote:

> My impression is that university and library policies are
> becoming more self-interested, rather than less so (and
> intriguingly, self-interest can only be achieved by greater
> cooperation/ coordination, thus the sometimes seemingly
> out-of-focus discussions, eg/ copyright and its alternatives,
> since this is really akin to a contract negotiation with lots and
> lots and lots of people at the table).
>
> Since the university is producer and consumer of these goods, the
> toleration of a middleman is not going to be unlimited. So long
> as the middleman takes a reasonable fee and adds value, the
> status quo is acceptable, or actually preferred.  When, however,
> the fee becomes unreasonable, it makes sense to explore other
> means to achieve the same added value.
>
> I see this as something akin to the decision about whether or not
> to in-source or out-source a job.  I've been a Business Manager
> for two firms and have been involved in several sometimes
> difficult decisions about what services to keep in-house and
> which to let go of (or experiment with), where quality and cost
> are the two main concerns.  In fact, when I was the Treasurer of
> a software company (which quintupled in size while I was
> there:-), we always considered building any kind of software
> in-house whenever we thought about implementing some new
> application since there was always a good chance we could build a
> better product with lower overall costs to maintain than
> something we could buy, given our resources.  Now given the
> resources available to universities and their libraries...
>
> -Nat
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> [mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Joseph Esposito
> Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 5:08 PM
> To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Subject: RE: Journal/Publisher 2010 price freeze info on MLA website
>
> It is not every day that Fred Friend, David Prosser and I are in
> agreement.
>
>>From that common ground, however, we would likely move in very
> different directions.  I would propose that in a world where the
> economy tends to have people and institutions act in their own
> self-interest, universities would themselves act in their own
> interests.  This would mean, for example, that universities would
> recognize that they create more intellectual property than
> anyone--much, much more than all the commercial entities.  As
> creators, they would seek to protect and exploit IP, but instead
> they are tending toward liberalizing IP rights.  This is like
> having Exxon embrace the science of global warming or the NRA
> adopt the precepts of Gandhi.
>
> I articulated this idea in "The Wisdom of Oz:  The Role of the
> University Press in Scholarly Communications" a few years ago:
> http://bit.ly/2bdeQY.
>
> Joe Esposito
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> [mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of David Prosser
> Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 3:11 PM
> To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Subject: RE: Journal/Publisher 2010 price freeze info on MLA website
>
> Joe articulates my fear in the current price round.  A number of
> small and society publishers have responded positively to ICOLC's
> call for price restraint, but it is not at all clear to me that
> we have market mechanisms that will reward those showing
> restraint.  My concern is that this could result in reduced
> revenues for those publishers that have shown themselves most
> responsive to the problems of library budgets.
>
> David Prosser
> Director, SPARC Europe
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> [mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Joseph Esposito
> Sent: 04 August 2009 00:07
> To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Subject: RE: Journal/Publisher 2010 price freeze info on MLA website
>
> I believe the point Nawin is making is that freezing or lowering
> prices is not in a publisher's interest unless the product is of
> marginal value, in which case a high price may indeed result in a
> cancellation.  The obvious point to be made here is that this is
> an editorial game (the best products win)and other aspects of a
> publisher's trading practices (low pricing, good customer
> service, flexible usage terms, nice people)are rarely rewarded
> (except, to repeat, for marginal publications).  In fact, it may
> be in the interests of a publisher of the higher quality
> publications to raise prices even in desperate economic times, as
> such a publisher is protected by the armor of outstanding
> editorial content and can stand by and watch as the weaker
> editorial products get cancelled, despite the generous trading
> practices of those unfortunate publishers. If I have
> misunderstood Nawin's question (which I took to be rhetorical),
> please correct me.
>
> I don't like the implications of this reasoning any more than
> anyone else; it's a lot like cheering on the Second Law of
> Thermodynammics; so I beg you not to shoot the messenger.  But
> this is the way the economy works, and matters are not improved
> by encouraging "good behavior" only to punish the most noble in
> the end.
>
> Joe Esposito
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> [mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Rais, Shirley
> (LLU)
> Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 6:08 PM
> To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Subject: RE: Journal/Publisher 2010 price freeze info on MLA website
>
> Nawin:
>
> I would still base cuts primarily on usage and value to our
> collection & mission, but if I had to make choices between
> marginal titles, those without price increases would get an edge
> towards retention.  The price freezes will help me save titles
> overall, not just the titles with frozen prices.  By marginal I
> mean titles with usage on the low end of the spectrum that
> support smaller programs on campus.  The price freezes may
> actually help me add some titles!
>
> Shirley Rais, MLS  -  Chair, Serials & Electronic Resources Dept.
> Library Liaison to the School of Public Health LOMA LINDA UNIVERSITY |
> University Libraries Loma Linda, California 92350 srais@llu.edu
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu On Behalf Of Nawin Gupta
> Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 4:58 PM
> To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Subject: RE: Journal/Publisher 2010 price freeze info on MLA website
>
> It is gratifying to see that a number of publishers are foregoing
> price increases for the upcoming year.  Anecdotal evidence to
> date is that many of the libraries, if not most, are expecting
> budget cuts of around 10% or more. Sadly, despite the noble
> gestures of some, chances are that librarians would still need to
> cut some subscriptions.
>
> If I may ask a question of librarians on this list:
>
> Would a journal that did not increase its subscription price
> likely to be spared in your decision to cut?  Or, are the
> decisions likely to be based primarily on a journal's usage and
> its importance to the library "customers" and collection?
>
> Nawin Gupta
> www.nawingupta.com