RE: Nature Questions

["Dr. Alan M. Edelson" <aedelson@bellatlantic.net>]

Kresse is understandably uneasy about the idea of raising institutional
rates to compensate for possible decreases in the number of, and hence
revenues from, individual subscriptions if Nature puts entire issues on
line. But let's recognize that on a per page basis, Nature's rates, both
institutional and individual, are far more reasonable than are those of
specialized, smaller circulation journals. Moreover, I tend to doubt that
the amount by which institutional rates would really need to be increased
would be of great significance. My one concern is that Nature not
overestimate the "lost" individual subscription revenue, or take advantage
of the opportunity to jack up institutional rates more than is
justifiable. That is why I suggest phasing in such rate increases as the
impact of full online subscriptions in libraries is assessed.

Alan M. Edelson

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2001 10:48 PM
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Subject: Re: Nature Questions

With all due respect, how can transferring costs from cancelled individual
subscriptions to libraries be fair for libraries and their users?  It's a
great deal for the person who cancels their subscription, but libraries
with inflexible budgets will be hard pressed to absorb the costs.  I am
still not convinced that Nature subscribers will cancel their
subscriptions in hordes once it's available online.  If we're forced to
pay more for a resource to compensate for cancelled personal subscriptions
then it means that there will be other things we cannot afford to buy for
our users.  The library loses, the user loses.

I understand that library rates are higher because of multiple uses by
many patrons, but to charge us more because the personal subscriptions are
lost puts libraries in the difficult position we are in today.  I suspect
there are many individual subscriptions out there that are supported by
grant money or other sources.  If the monies used to support these
cancelled individual subscriptions were somehow transferred into the
library budgets that would be one thing, but they're not.

I am constantly amazed at people who think that libraries have magical
pots of money or no budgetary constraints. Witness Albert Henderson's
recent opinion piece ("The Big Lie"
http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/current_issue/hen derson/index.html),
mentioned in this listserv already.  He seems to think that libraries can
control the size of their own budgets and obtain whatever amount of money
that they need from their funding sources.  That's ridiculous.  Money is
not an unlimited resource.  Some states fund their universities better
than others. Some universities fund their libraries better than others. To
think that library budgets can keep absorbing gigantic increases is
completely wrong.  I have spent twenty years trying to build collections
wherever I have worked, but all I have really become successful at is
slashing journal collections to keep within budget restrictions.  And I'm
not happy about it.

Kerry L. Kresse, Physics Librarian
kkresse@library.wisc.edu
Physics Library,    University of Wisconsin --
Madison
1150 University Avenue,   Madison, WI  USA  53706
Office:  (608) 262-8696;  Physics Library:  (608)
262-9500
http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/Physics/