Re-sending: Steve Cohn's Project MUSE response

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

Liblicense-l Readers:  Am re-sending this message because between its
formatting and the listproc software's rigidity -- or stupidity -- the
message was not very readable first time around. Ann Okerson

___

Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2004 19:19:53 EDT
From: Steve Cohn <steve@dukeupress.edu>
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Subject: Re: Project MUSE response

I am not sure what Kathleen Keane felt that she needed to correct in my
Open Letter to Librarians, posted to Liblicense a few days ago, but I do
want to make it perfectly clear that I agree with and endorse absolutely
everything Kathleen said in her response, copied below. Project MUSE does
remain a strong collaborative enterprise, it does continue to expand
steadily, it does contain and continue to add many high-quality journals,
and it does have (and continue to earn) very strong support from the
library community.

It is precisely because of that strong support that I felt the need to
explain at length to the library community our own decision-making process
at Duke UP, and its background. As I said explicitly in my open letter, we
at Duke certainly hope and expect that Project MUSE will continue its
success.

Stephen A. Cohn, Director
Duke University Press
Box 90660 Duke University
Durham NC 27708 
phone: 919/687-3606
fax:  919/688-4574 
http://www.dukeupress.edu/

-----Original Message----- 

Dear LibLicense Readers, I write on behalf of Project MUSE and The Johns
Hopkins University Press, of which I am Director. On October 4, Steve Cohn
posted an Open Letter regarding the participation of Duke University Press
in Project MUSE. I must correct and clarify a few points. While we regret
Duke's decision to not contribute new issues to MUSE for specific
journals, Project MUSE remains a very strong collaborative enterprise.

MUSE continues to expand the selection of high-quality journals available
through our online platform. Several established publishers long
associated with the project have committed additional titles to the MUSE
collections for 2005, including Oxford University Press, Indiana
University Press, and the Brookings Institution Press. Prestigious
publishers joining MUSE as new participants for 2005 include the Hastings
Center, the University of Pennsylvania Press, and the American School of
Classical Studies at Athens (publishers of Hesperia).

Fifty respected university presses and scholarly societies, each with a
distinctive and renowned scholarly journal program, plan to make their
journals available online via Project MUSE in 2005. MUSE has consistently
earned the support of the library community. It was founded by the JHU
library and press, and continues to benefit from a close association.�

More than 1,100 libraries worldwide participate now, providing access to
more than 9 million faculty and students.� We have achieved a 95% or
better renewal rate every year since launch in 1995. With input from
librarians and publishers, MUSE recently introduced a new pricing model
designed to provide greater fairness, flexibility, and predictability for
subscribers, and to open up new opportunities for smaller colleges and
universities, special libraries, and international libraries to benefit
from the wealth of resources MUSE offers.

If librarians have any questions about the Project MUSE offerings or
pricing for 2005, please contact Melanie Schaffner, Sales and Marketing
Manager at melanie@muse.jhu.edu If any readers have other questions about
Project MUSE or the Johns Hopkins University Press, please contact Aileen
McHugh, Director of Project Muse, at aileen@muse.jhu.edu or me at
KK@press.jhu.edu.

Kathleen Keane
Director 
The Johns Hopkins University Press