Re: E-journals in the era of print cancellations

[Rick Anderson <rick_anderson@uncg.edu>]

> I agree with David Goodman that the items I mentioned all add considerable
> value to the journal articles. This is the judgement of our community, not
> mine alone. We have avoided the other items he mentioned as not being
> worth the effort, at least at this stage.

As I said in my previous post, I have no doubt that some of those items
can add considerably to the value of journals in some subject areas
(especially Peter's).  I continue to maintain that librarians should take
care to be critical when analyzing the usefulness of them in their own
areas of consideration.  It's not that the electronic features aren't
good; it's that they may or may not add enough value in a given instance
to merit paying more for them.

> In response to Rick Anderson, I only ask that he read my earlier posts
> where I make a strong argument for keeping the costs of the electronic
> plus paper editions below that of paper alone before restructuring the
> production process. 

I did read them, and agree wholeheartedly.  If all publishers followed
this philosophy, there'd be much less weeping, wailing and gnashing of
teeth coming from the nation's libraries.  Until they all do, we
librarians need to keep an eye on our (and our patrons') wallets.

----------------------
Rick Anderson
Head Acquisitions Librarian
Jackson Library
UNC Greensboro
1000 Spring Garden St.
Greensboro, NC 27402-6175
PH (336) 334-5281
FX (336) 334-5399
rick_anderson@uncg.edu
http://www.uncg.edu/~r_anders

Favorite line from a children's book:
"Spiders are soft and tasty and have many enemies."