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ACS (forwarded)
The following posting appeared on CHEMINF-L. I think it's of sufficient interest and importance to this group that I've obtained the author's permission to re-post it here: Forwarded message >> Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1998 15:25:31 -0500 >> From: David Flaxbart <flaxbart@UTS.CC.UTEXAS.EDU> ...... >> A couple of months ago, >> out of curiosity, I downloaded the 1996 ACS annual report, and I was >> shocked to see how much of ACS' total revenues comes from "Information >> Services" (eg Pubs and CAS), and by how little comes from member dues. Of >> $285,725,000 in revenues that year, *75.5%* or $215,750,000 came from >> their publication and database arms. Only 4% came from dues. I've heard >> that ACS members are adamant that their dues not go to support >> publications, apart from C&EN, but obviously there's no danger of that >> happening -- it's quite the other way around. >> >> It's also clear that the lion's share of this Info revenue is coming from >> academic libraries and corporate subscribers and searchers, who are in >> effect subsidizing most of the activities of the entire Society. I'd like >> to see this broken down further, tho I'm sure ACS is equally eager to >> conceal such numbers. Particularly telling would be a comparison of the >> revenues from personal vs institutional/full price subscribers. Since ACS >> defends its current web-journal site license prices partly with its fear >> that personal subscribers would cancel (a highly dubious presumption in any >> case), these numbers would probably show that personal subscriptions >> account for a small percentage of journal revenue to begin with, and that >> such losses would easily be made up with increased revenue from site >> licenses -- even if offered at a much lower price. >> >> I hesitate to blame Pubs or CAS for fully masterminding these strategies, >> however. With such a large chunk of cash coming from their information >> businesses, the Board of Directors is certainly exerting considerable >> pressure on any changes that may affect the bottom line. This situation >> illustrates why I tend to treat ACS as a commercial publisher, not a >> "society" publisher exempt from criticism. True, their journals are >> cheaper and better than most of the competition, but they do compete in the >> marketplace and behave in a market-driven fashion. Libraries would do well >> to recognize that fact and treat them accordingly. >> -- David Goodman Biology Librarian, Princeton University Library dgoodman@princeton.edu http://www.princeton.edu/~biolib/ phone: 609-258-3235 fax: 609-258-2627
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