Re: Wellcome Trust report

["\"FrederickFriend\"" <ucylfjf@ucl.ac.uk>]

I suspect that if libraries were to be given the option of dropping print
in return for a 25% reduction in price, many would go for that option.
That size of reduction in price would more than cover the VAT, which
anyway is only a UK problem. Globally, savings on subscription prices of
that order of magnitude would make a significant contribution towards
financing a secure archive. Libraries have not been offered that option
and therefore there has not been the financial incentive to move away from
print. And if some subscribers want to retain print, surely they and not
all subscribers should bear the cost of print?

Fred

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sally Morris (ALPSP)" <chief-exec@alpsp.org>
To: "liblicense-l" <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 12:14 AM
Subject: Re: Wellcome Trust report

> The answer to Fred's question is very simple.  The reason we have not seen
> lots of publishers dropping their prices by 20-25% is that their customers
> have not yet allowed them to drop the print versions.  When all our
> customers are happy to move to electronic-only (given the two main
> obstacles, archiving and VAT) then I am sure publishers will make the move
>
> It's not a matter of the particular customer dropping their print copies,
> as Fred suggests, but rather of the print edition being abandoned
> altogether - the costs don't fully go away until you do that.  I think a
> price reduction of 5-10% for customers who decline the print edition of a
> journal available in both formats is quite common.
>
> Sally
> E-mail:  chief-exec@alpsp.org