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Re: Science Online 

I'd just like to add to Jane's comments regarding Science Online. Whether
the price is reasonable depends entirely on whether access is being
provided from a small branch library only, or whether that access is
extended to library wide public access...no longer so reasonable. 
Concurrent user pricing is a model that works effectively for libraries
attempting to provide networked access. IP pricing is not only a nightmare
for the face of reasonable cost/access design...eg. one or more concurrent
users from 'any' legitimate workstation.  Carole Richter

At 03:05 AM 3/30/98 -0500, you wrote:
>What puzzles me about the restrictive nature of access to
>Science Online in libraries is that the journal is published
>by the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, and
>just when there was a chance for us librarians to make it
>available to our users as soon as it was available (not
>waiting that extra week or two until our paper copy arrived),
>that window of opportunity closed!
>
>Their model (requiring the IP address of each workstation)
>may work smoothly in a one-journal, one-workstation
>environment but it doesn't work smoothly in libraries.
>
>It is an administrative nightmare to first, order and pay
>the additional price (which is reasonable enough, I might add),	
>and then catalog and communicate to our users which library has
>Science Online (not to mention the hundreds or thousands of 
>other titles), and specifically, which workstation in that library!
>
>We librarians were given a very long and generous free trial
>period for Science when it began to publish some full-text
>articles online in 1995.  We were also encouraged to offer
>comments, advice, and criticism via the SCIENCE feedback
>mechanism.  Did we not do that when we had the opportunity?
>
>Is it too late?
>
>Jane Holmquist * Astrophysics Librarian * Princeton University
>
>
>
>


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