Project MUSE Pricing Discussion Moves Online

[Melanie Schaffner <melanie@muse.jhu.edu>]

Please excuse cross-posting.

PROJECT MUSE HEARING ON PRICING MODELS CONTINUES ONLINE

At the recent ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Diego, Project MUSE hosted a
Public Hearing to solicit customer and consortia executive feedback to
proposed new pricing models for 2005. We were very pleased with both the
size of the turnout and the useful suggestions. However, not everyone who
wished to attend the hearing was able to do so, and time constraints
limited the number of comments we could take on each model. So, we have
decided to extend the hearing into an online forum where additional
discussion of the models may occur.

Two sets of PowerPoint slides used at the hearing are available on our web
site at http://muse.jhu.edu/proj_descrip/pricing_forum.html.  The first
presentation provides an overview of Project MUSE finances and the
relationships with our 40 participating publishers, describing the need
for a change in our current pricing strategy. The second presentation was
used to guide the discussion of proposed new models by our consultants,
October Ivins and Judy Luther. The web site includes a discussion forum
where you may leave additional comments and feedback on the models
currently under discussion.  Please keep in mind that the ideas presented
in the PowerPoint demonstration are meant as points for discussion, and no
decisions have yet been made about Muse pricing for 2005. We encourage
your comments to help us refine these ideas as we continue with our
pricing study.

Later in January we will also host a web-based survey to solicit
additional feedback.  Our timetable for the new pricing models is to
conclude the web based survey by Feb. 6th and for the consultants to
submit their report by Feb. 27th.  We will then review the recommendations
with our Advisory Board in March and at our meeting of all participating
publishers in April.  We plan to announce the new pricing during June,
contingent on receiving final 2005 print prices from our participating
publishers by August.

Please feel free to comment now, or you may wait for the web-based survey.

--

Melanie B. Schaffner			<melanie@muse.jhu.edu>
Marketing and Sales Manager		Phone (410) 516-3846
Project Muse�			Fax (410) 516-6968
The Johns Hopkins University Press 	http://muse.jhu.edu
2715 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD  21218-4319