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Re: Restraint of Trade? 

I knew that my use of those hot button words "restraint of trade" would
generate ire; that was not my intention. But libraries exist in a free
market economy that has had to be kept within certain boundaries to
prevent abuses of that freedom. As usual, such regulations cut both
ways. Sellers can be guilty of abuse of these regulations, as can
buyers. I do not mean to imply that libraries already have abused
anything or anyone; I do think it important that they recognize and
accept the existence of these boundaries, and seek competent advice when
gray areas are approached. Sanctimonious statements condemning
publishers are not constructive. Cooperation --- conducted within the
boundaries of the regulations--certainly is. Exchanging pricing
information and mutual concerns should not be a problem. Acting in
concert to coerce information providers, i.e., publishers, would
certainly be, to mention one extreme situation that to my knowledge has   
not yet occurred.                                                         

Regarding the concern about the rates of rise of journal prices, I            
wonder how many librarians recognize the forces contributing to them         
aside from simple greed: e.g., the demand by authors and societies for    
more pages per volume to provide adequate coverage for the "information   
explosion", often despite the publishers' warnings about the impact on    
prices; and, in the case of journals owned by societies but published by  
commercial publishers, the ever increasing demands by those societies     
for more and more profits in order to finance the enlarging activities    
of the societies. In my 30-year experience as a medical publisher these   
relentless forces are often brought to bear against the reasonable        
arguments of publishers who may attempt to keep prices more level lest    
subscriptions decline. In fact, subscriptions for most journals are       
declining, and publishers are only too aware of the fact that increasing  
prices are partially responsible. They do not wish to commit suicide.     
For journal published in Europe, one must also bear in mind that the      
steep decline of the U.S. dollar has caused the subscription prices of    
many foreign journals denominated in foreign currencies to increase       
prodigiously when converted into U.S. currency. Many scholarly and        
technical journals fall into this category, and their price increases     
have been painfully obvious to American subscribers. How to expect a      
foreign publisher to cut prices by fixing US subscriptions in US prices,  
when printing and mailing costs are incurred in their local currencies,   
is something I cannot believe is realistic. Finally, it must be           
recognized that widespread photocopying, and sharing of journals, not to  
mention electronic sharing, can only push prices higher still, since      
fixed costs to publishers remain a major portion of the cost structure   
of a journal, regardless of what technology is used. Dividing these      
fixed costs among fewer paying subscribers equals higher subscription    
rates. In summary, do not thing that life today is a bed of roses for    
scholarly publishers. On the contrary, it is a period of crisis, as it   
is for libraries.  Alan M. Edelson, Ph.D.                                
 
________________________

Anthony W Ferguson wrote:
> 
> This kind of thinking is what has helped libraries become victims
> instead of proactive consumers.  I still maintain that what library
> consortia are involved in is asking publishers to recognize their
> aggregated buying power.  We all need win-win solutions.  When either
> side makes a bundle through some sort of connivance, it may be
> productive in the short run but not the long run.  In 50 years from
> now those around may look upon the past 10-15 years of double digit
> periodicals inflation as the period in which the industry sowed the
> seeds of their own distruction.  Libraries and publishers need to seek
> common solutions.  tony
> 
> Anthony W. Ferguson
> Associate University Librarian
> Columbia University Libraries
> Tel. 212-854-2270
> 
> _____________________________________
> Alan Edelson wrote:
> 
> > I think there is some misunderstanding of the way the law uses
> > terminologies, which may differ from every day speech. A conspiracy sounds
> > malevolent in normal parlance. It has a specific meaning in law, however.
> > Exchanging pricing information in and of itself should be perfectly safe.
> > But asking, as was done in the context of the problem caused by the
> > increase in Nexis prices, "what are you [other Nexis clients] doing about
> > it", and then sharing those responses, might easily be something lawyers
> > could play around with. It is prudent to keep this in the back of your
> > mind. -Alan M. Edelson,Ph.D.


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