From: Adrian Alexander <alexandera_at_lhl.lib.mo.us
[This post is a response to no. 2557. The original posting is reproduced below
and followed by the response.]
no.2557, From: Catherine.Reiter_at_UCHSC.edu
We are looking for new ways to inform our users about the high costs of STM
journals. We have posted journal price information on our web site and
published various articles on this topic in our library newsletter, but do
not feel that these strategies have gotten the message acoss very well. Has
anyone tried posting journal prices directly onto the covers of unbound
journal issues? I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has tried this,
particularly about how it was done and whether you think it was worth the
effort. If there are other strategies that you have tried, I would
appreciate hearing about them, too. Thank you. -- Catherine Reiter
_________________________
Catherine M. Reiter, MA, AHIP
Head of Resource Services
Denison Memorial Library
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
4200 East Ninth Avenue
Denver, CO 80262-0003
===Response===
The best visual description of the impact of journal prices
that I ever saw was at the Houston Academy of Medicine/
Texas Medical Center Library several years ago. In a display
case just inside the front door of the library, they had an
ad photo of a Nissan Sentra next to an issue of Biochimica
et Biophysica Acta. The point of the display, of course,
was that an annual subscription to BBA cost as much as a
new car. I thought the approach was very effective because
it put the problem in terms that everyone could appreciate.
However, I also like Catherine's idea below of placing prices on
the shelves. The publishers have commoditized scholarly
information to a large degree anyway, so why shouldn't we
take it a step further?
**************************************************
Adrian W. Alexander, Executive Director
Big 12 Plus Libraries Consortium
Linda Hall Library
5109 Cherry St.
Kansas City MO 64110-2498
VOICE: 816-926-8765
FAX: 816-926-8790
EMAIL: alexandera_at_lindahall.org
http://www.big12plus.org
Received on Fri Jan 07 2000 - 11:35:26 EST