University of California Libraries Announce Pursuit of Value-based Journal Prices

["Ivy Anderson" <Ivy.Anderson@ucop.edu>]

[This information has been cross-posted to several lists.  Please excuse
any duplication]

Dear Colleagues,

The University of California Libraries are pleased to share a 
press release describing our work on "value-based" prices of 
scholarly journals.  Please see the complete release (attached 
and below) for fuller information.

Best,

Ivy Anderson
Director of Collections
California Digital Library
University of California, Office of the President
(510) 987-0334  (voice)
(510) 287-3825  (fax)
ivy.anderson@ucop.edu
http://www.cdlib.org

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Press Release/Announcement

University of California Libraries Announce Pursuit of Value-based
Journal Prices

January 18, 2007

The University of California libraries are pleased to announce 
the availability of a report describing their work on 
"value-based" prices of scholarly journals.  Authored by a task 
force of the ten-campus library system's Collection Development 
Committee, "The Promise of Value-based Journal Prices and 
Negotiation: A UC Report and View Forward" is a direct outcome of 
the UC libraries' collective strategic priority to advance 
economically balanced and sustainable scholarly communication 
systems.

The report details UC's rationale for value-based journal prices 
and modeling of prices for scholarly materials that are 
reasonable, transparent, and based upon the value of the material 
to the academic mission of the University of California.

The report describes a value-based approach that borrows from 
analysis done by Professors Ted Bergstrom (UC Santa Barbara) and 
R. Preston McAfee (Caltech) on journal cost-effectiveness 
(www.journalprices.com). The UC approach also includes 
suggestions for annual price increases that are tied to 
production costs; credits for institutionally-based contributions 
to the journal, such as editorial labor; and credits for business 
transaction efficiencies from consortial purchases.

Through the report the libraries ask how an explicit method can 
be established, validated, and communicated for aligning the 
purchase or license costs of scholarly journals with the value 
they contribute to the academy and the costs to create and 
deliver them. In addition to describing the work done to date, 
the report provides examples of potential cost savings and 
declares UC's intention to pursue value-based prices in their 
negotiations with journal publishers.  In addition, the report 
invites the academic community to work collectively to refine and 
improve these and other value-based approaches.

The Promise of Value-based Journal Prices and Negotiation: A UC 
Report and View Forward is available at:

http://libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu/cdc/valuebasedprices.pdf

For more information, contact:

John Ober
Director of Policy, Planning, and Outreach
Office of Scholarly Communication
California Digital Library
(510) 987-0174
John.Ober@ucop.edu

Julia Kochi
Director, Digital Library & Collections
Library & Center for Knowledge Management
University of California, San Francisco
(415) 502-7539
Julia.Kochi@library.ucsf.edu

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