Scientific American (Mcmillian title)

[Philip Davis <pmd8@cornell.edu>]

Dear Liblicense-l

Has anyone signed with Macmillan for Scientific American?

We received a quote from our rep that looks unreasonably high.  It's $1333
for networked access.  This didn't look too bad until I started doing the
math...

Their print journal costs libraries and individuals $35.  Cornell
libraries subscribes to 6 copies which adds up to $210.  This represents a
634% increase over print.  To boot, this is a monthly magazine which is
not sought after for it's ground-breaking research.  Albeit, it is a good
magazine, and useful for undergraduates.

In comparison, Nature (also a Macmillan title) has priced Cornell at
$8163, which represents a 181% increase over our current print
subscription prices (AND includes one free copy of print).

In addition, Scientific American is not subscribed to by most labs on
campus, so I'm not sure whether Macmillan's fear of subscription loss is
in any way substantiated.  The full-text of Sci Am. IS available in
full-text (no graphics) in ProQuest Direct.

Our team of Science Librarians discussed this title this morning and are
approaching Macmillan for a better price.  What is fair?  That's up to
you.  We're hoping for online access at about $400.  This is still an
exception to most journals, but in keeping with what we are paying for
other journals in its class.


Philip Davis, Life Sciences Bibliographer
Mann Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-7192 ;  (607) 255-0318 fax
pmd8@cornell.edu

kk