Re: Journal/Publisher 2010 price freeze info on MLA website

[Tracey Thompson <thomtd@nmsu.edu>]

In regards to Nawin's question, it will be one consideration 
among many for us.  Also, when I review the titles for my 
discipline (mathematics and military science), I will take into 
account the publisher's practices such as prices, willingness to 
work with the libraries, licensing practices, and publishing 
practices such as those we have seen in the news this summer.  I 
will also look at alternate pricing models.  Simply translating 
the print model to a digital format and and creating 'big deals' 
is not sustainable in our current economy.  I have been silent on 
the matter as I have no solutions to suggest.  However, I will 
look closely at pay-per-use models this year.

-- 
Tracey Thompson
Acquisitions Librarian/College Asst. Professor
New Mexico State University Library
Las Cruces, NM 88003
Skype: Jenymn
SL: Jenymn Mersand
Email: thomtd@nmsu.edu

On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 4:02 PM, Elizabeth E. Kirk <
elizabeth.e.kirk@dartmouth.edu> wrote:

> Some librarians are indeed on vacation. At least a few are on
> unpaid furloughs as part of their institutions' budget
> reductions.
>
> Nat is correct, from where I stand. We are vocal about
> unsustainable price hikes. We do, contrary to the way it looks,
> realize that commercial entities answer to shareholders. We also
> know that, in a mature, non-expanding (i.e., ARL) market where
> the amount of new money flowing in is either very limited or
> non-existant, you really can't go on raising prices forever and
> think that it will work. Unless, of course, your goal is to
> increase the size of your piece of that pie, and with spend
> requirements and punitive opt-out clauses in bundle contracts,
> that has continued to work. At least until this year.
>
> Research libraries need resources from a very wide range of
> publishers and vendors. We really do need publishers to not raise
> prices, and we do keep subscribing to as much as we can. Even if
> there is only a small user group for a journal, it may be *the*
> journal for that subdiscipline. Decisions are nuanced. And we
> really do want to see those single-title presses and non-profits
> stay in business. Many of us are doing everything we can to help
> keep them afloat.
>
> Cheers,
> Eliz
>
> Elizabeth E. Kirk
> Associate Librarian for Information Resources
> Dartmouth College
> 6025 Baker Library, Rm. 115
> Hanover, NH, USA 03753
> elizabeth.e.kirk@dartmouth.edu
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Nat Gustafson-Sundell" <n-gustafson-sundell@northwestern.edu>
> To: <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 6:19 PM
> Subject: RE: Journal/Publisher 2010 price freeze info on MLA website
>
>> Maybe everyone is on vacation, but it seems like fewer and
>> fewer actual librarians are using this particular listserv.
>> If you are doing research, you might try a more direct approach
>> with structured interviews or surveys. Based on the anecdotal
>> evidence and some material in the lit, I'd say it's abundantly
>> clear that many libraries hold publishers with abusive policies
>> accountable, but there are limits to what libraries can do in
>> the short term. Long term, though, the big boat started to turn
>> a while ago.
>>
>> -Nat
>>
>> [MOD note:  a quick scan thru the last 76 messages seems to
>> show that exactly half were posted by "real" librarians; and
>> several others by folks who work in library space but may not
>> have the conventional library degree or background.  Seems
>> okay, no?]