Newsletter on Serial Pricing Issues 006 (August 5, 1991) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/nspi/nspi-ns006 Archive PRICES: file prices.ns6, part 1/1, size 23459 bytes: ------------------------------ Cut here ------------------------------ ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES N.S. NUMBER 6 - August 5, 1991 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR, Marcia Tuttle : RESPONSE FROM ELSEVIER, Dr. H.Laeven SERIALS CANCELLATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA, David Jones MORE ON INDEXING, Donna Lively, Ann Okerson MAXWELL WATCH, Deana Astle ARE LIBRARY SUBSCRIPTIONS NOW SUBSIDIZING..., Karen Tallman FROM THE MAILBOX HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS, Chuck Hamaker FROM THE EDITOR Marcia Tuttle, TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET I've been feeling a little guilty for a while because we have never given proper credit to the coiner of the phrase, Hamaker's Haymakers. Hamaker didn't make it up, and I didn't either. It dates from March 1985, when Dr. Ray Wall, deputy librarian at Loughborough University used it during the first annual Learned Journals Seminar in London. He had drawn a marvellous cartoon showing Chuck in boxing trunks standing triumphant over a very dazed British publisher. I wish we could repro- duce it here! : RESPONSE FROM ELSEVIER Dr. H. Laeven, Scientific Editor, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., P.O. Box 330, 1000 AH Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [Newsletter 33 carried a letter from Eleanor Cook, Appalachian State University Library, to the Elsevier chairman criticizing Elsevier's decision to launch VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY as a section of ANALYTICA CHIMICA ACTA (ISSN: 0003-2670) and numbered as part of the parent journal. This is Elsevier's reply. -ed.] Amsterdam, 5 July 1991 Dear Ms. Cook, Re: VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY Thank you for your letter of 20 February 1991 in which you give your reactions concerning inclusion of VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY as a sec- tion of ANALYTICA CHIMICA ACTA, and the numbering system we have in- troduced for this section. Mr. Kels has passed your letter to me to answer on his behalf, since I am responsible for the acquisitional development of the journal. I am sorry we have not responded earlier, but I wanted to wait until we had made our decision on the 1992 program. If a new journal is to be introduced, we do our utmost to find the optimum structure for its launch, taking into account the interests of all involved. The position of libraries weighs heavily in our decision process, particularly the difficult budgetary situation facing Ameri- can libraries due to the weak dollar. I would like to add, though, that the character of libraries varies considerably. Consequently it is not always possible to meet each individual library's needs com- pletely, as your letter indicates. We also have to take into account the interests of the researcher, both as reader and as author. The author is best served by journals having a wide readership, and the reader by well-focused media which match their area of interest. The publisher operates in this triangle of librarians, authors and readers with partly conflicting interests. I do not want to generalize on Elsevier's publishing policy which goes beyond the issue here, so let us confine the discussion to this specific case. Analytical chemists specialized in applied vibrational spectroscopy have expressed the need for a specialized journal in this field. Al- though there are several general, mainly analytical journals in which they publish their work, they feel that the literature is too scat- tered. Furthermore, quite a number of them have no direct access to the literature concerned, because their library does not subscribe to the broad range of relevant journals. A specialized journal on vibra- tional spectroscopy would collect the core relevant literature in a more affordable format for the libraries. Elsevier responded by investigating the viability of a journal in this field. Because of the reservations of librarians as well as research- ers to new journals, Elsevier is generally reluctant to launch new journals, but for VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY our investigations revealed a strong case for doing do. What are our options in such situation? The first is to launch an independent journal which provides readers and authors access to a specialized medium. However, the relative costs per unit of informa- tion for small specialized journals are higher than for general jour- nals. Indeed, librarians and publishers are confronted with the fact that the total costs of many specialized journals, often with small circulations, are higher than the costs of fewer general journals. Our second option is the one we have chosen after careful considera- tion: the launch of a specialized section of an established general journal. It combines the advantages of both the general and special- ized journal: a lower price per unit of information and the focus required by the researcher. ANALYTICA CHIMICA ACTA subscribers receive the section automatically at a lower price, while libraries which have decided not to subscribe to ANALYTICA CHIMICA ACTA can subscribe to the new section alone, albeit at a higher price. We realize that this option may satisfy the vibrational spectroscopists more than each individual library. Your response and that of others, however, has led us to reevaluate our decision. We have decided to introduce the option of making ANALY- TICA CHIMICA ACTA available without the section VIBRATIONAL SPECTROS- COPY from 1992 onwards. By enabling libraries to combine a subscrip- tion to ANALYTICA CHIMICA ACTA with one for VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY at a reduced price, most of the advantages of the current structure can be maintained. It should be clear, however, that uncoupling might eventually result in a higher average subscription price to VIBRATION- AL SPECTROSCOPY. The second general point you raised in your letter is the numbering system. This is a long-standing problem for many journals, and appar- ently an adequate solution has yet to be found. A double numbering system is desirable in this case to avoid gaps in the ANALYTICA CHIMI- CA ACTA numbering, while providing VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY subscrib- ers with a numbering system starting with Volume 1. In the next few months, however, we will weigh options for a better numbering system. We appreciate librarians' feedback on their experiences with any of our products and we believe that improvements can be found via open discussion. I hope that you will share this letter with your col- leagues via the Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues, so that other librarians are informed of our position. SERIALS CANCELLATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA David Jones, Science and Technology Library, University of Alberta, djones@ualtavm.bitnet. The University of Alberta is cutting $600,000 from its 1991/92 serials commitments in response to a static materials budget and a restructur- ing of the materials budget process. This represents a cut of 17.7 percent of the overall commitment for serials (excluding carry-for- wards). The cuts are also designed to redress the serials/monograph ratio, which would have reached 85/15 using the previous budget model. In the previous model, "fixed" or "overhead" costs (postage and bind- ing) were a first charge against the materials budget. Next came the serials commitment, based on the previous year's serials expenditures. The balance remaining was allocated for monograph purchases. This year the "overheads" have been augmented by the new federal Goods and Serv- ices Tax (GST) at a net rate of 2.31 percent, yielding a charge of $113,000. Estimated postage and binding costs are $300,000, yielding a total overhead of $413,000. The calculated inflation on the serials (1990/91 expenditures less 1989/90 expenditures) was approximately $300,000. The new budget philosophy shares the "overheads" on a 70/30 basis between serials and monographs. This yields a serials responsibility for approximately $300,000 of overheads ($413,000 x 0.7 = $289,100) to be absorbed along with the $300,000 inflation, to give an overall serials cancellation target of $600,000. As a result of this change in budgeting, the monographs budget ends up with an additional $300,000 and the overall serials/monographs ratio drops to 70/30. The suballocation, among the 9 major library units, of this serials cancellation target has been weighed to reflect the relative inflation rate for each unit vis-a-vis the overall rate for the library system as a whole. These rates were developed in a manner to neutralize any exchange rate fluctuations. These rates ranged from 0.33 for biblio- graphic tools in our Technical Services Unit, through 0.61 for Educa- tion, 0.78 for Humanities and Social Sciences, 1.06 for Science and Technology, to 1.28 for Health Sciences titles. The actual unit can- cellation targets were calculated by multiphying the Overall Target ($600,000) by the Unit Inflation Factor by the Unit Share of Total Serials Commitment. For example, the SciTech Library accounts for 44 percent of the total serials commitment. Its target calculated as $600,000 x 0.44 x 1.06 = $280,276, or 18.7 percent of the SciTech serials commitment. How we tackled the challenge of identifying this large a sector of our collection for cancellation is another story. If we aren't completely tarred and feathered by our Faculty members (who have been involved in the process), I'll tell in a month or so when the evil deed's been done! MORE ON INDEXING Donna Lively, University of Texas at Arlington, B366DPL@UTARLVM1. BITNET; Ann Okerson, Association for Research Libraries, OKERSON@ UMDC.BITNET. LIVELY: Regarding the comments on indexing of electronic journals in NS 5, I believe that Norman Stevens has put his finger on it. The most effective method for accessing the information in electronic journals would logically be a type of "free form text searching." With more and more journals reproducing themselves in electronic form it waits only for some enterprising indexer or whomever to develop the appropriate software. Further, I think that with improved access and ease of use the question of the electronic journal's legitimacy will answer it- self. OKERSON: This discussion made the rounds of some e-journal editors who firmly believe that one doesn't get special (i.e., separate ISSN, indexing sources) for a journal just because it's electronic. The feeling seems to be that the e-journals' acceptance will come from being taken as at least the equal of the existing paper ones and part of the scholarly body of knowledge. The editors want to go into real, established indexes and who can blame them? It's like women's art -- you want to be recognized as an artist OVER the recognition of being a woman. A couple of member libraries and ARL are just beginning to put togeth- er a proposal for cataloging academic networked serials, utilizing standards being developed by LC and other major organizations. It would be a co-operative venture and should achieve several results: 1) publicizing the journals and lists; 2) giving us something en route to a standard; 3) availability of records and information in national databases. Discussions are underway with a handful of appropriate i & a services about incorporating e-journals. A few tricks have to be resolved: getting into everyone's hands the not-quite-released draft for citing e-sources; and getting into hands of the indexers themselves (this is often a distributed, cottage-industry activity) the journals for in- dexing. One day at a time, one problem at a time. First the vision en- tire, and then its implementation in parts. MAXWELL WATCH Deana Astle, Clemson University, DLAST@CLEMSON.BITNET. According to accounts in USA TODAY and PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, Robert Max- well is planning to spin off or "demerge" US operations and create a separate American company. Since "American investors have a more re- ceptive attitude to Maxwell than European ones," stock offerings should be more successful. The US units to be spun off include Macmil- lan, Inc, the OFFICIAL AIRLINE GUIDE and the Berlitz language schools. These units account for over 70 percent of sales and 90 percent of the operating profits of the present company. Maxwell Communication Corp. is quoted in PW as saying this change in strategy would enhance share- holder value and reduce its $2.15 billion debt. Further, media consul- tant Ken Noble is quoted as saying the situation whereby the company's operations were permanently in the US but were reported in sterling created some confusion. "There is some value to the idea that the company should be primarily reporting in the country where most of the operations are taking place." Sources: USA TODAY July 17, 1991 p.B1; PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, July 25, 1991 p. 5; PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, August 2, 1991 p. 10. ARE LIBRARY SUBSCRIPTIONS NOW SUBSIDIZING... Karen Tallman, University of Arizona, TALLMAN@ARIZRVAX.BITNET. RE: Are library subscriptions now subsidizing copies for doctors/den- tists/college placement offices/H.S. guidance counselors/beauty & dance school owners/beauty parlor owners ??? I have not seen anything similar to this before. A July 1991 sample issue of YM (ISSN: 0888-5842) arrived addressed to the former Head Librarian and was forwarded to me. It had a white pull-off special cover announcing how to receive a free subscription ... if you are a member of one of the six groups cited in the offer.... Have you seen this before?... Are other publishers making similar offers? Has this happened with other types of publications besides popular culture magazines? Is this something new? If not, how long has this been going on? How many of these offers went out? How many will respond positive- ly? What will be the total dollar amount in "free" subscriptions? Wouldn't it be refreshing to see a publisher offer free subscriptions to libraries because of the marketing benefits of having it available to readers who might then be tempted to subscribe? Or, on the other hand, wouldn't it be curious to see a higher "office" rate for those groups listed, based on their multiple-user factor? [Karen sent photocopies of the cover and contents of this $18.00 a year magazine. Contents are listed under the categories "fashion," "beauty," and "guys." She also sent the special mailing wrapper and the publisher's letter and other promotional material. YM apparently stands for Young and Modern. -ed.] FROM THE MAILBOX The mailbox is TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET. >From Martha Kellar, Rockefeller University Press, KELLAR@ROCKVAX. ROCKEFELLER.EDU: I've enjoyed receiving NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES, which arrives via AAUPTALK. The Newsletter, plus some eye-opening sessions at the CBE and SSP meetings, have brought home to me how important it is for librarians, scholars, and publishers to con- fer, especially as things go electronic.... The Newsletter's readership might be interested in the Interna- tional Federation of Science Editors Conference ("Science Editing in the Age of Global Communication") to be held at Woods Hole October 13-18, 1991. The symposia address global communication (editing, science, technology, communication); technology (hard- ware, software, networks, satellites, communication); institu- tions (universities, libraries, research institutes, academies, foundations); editing (general, specialty, medical, peer review); and administration (academies, international, national, publish- ing). Registration fee is $400 for nonmenbers and accommodations are $79 per day (single room plus 3 meals). Further information: Society and Association Services Corp., 8000 Westpark Drive, Suite 130, McLean VA 22102. Phone 703 790-1745; FAX 703 790-9063. >From Bill Benson, Wright Labs. Technical Library, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Datalinx - FL2802: Today [we] received a letter trom Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland informing us that two of their titles will be com- bined into one in 1992: CRYSTAL PROPERTIES AND PREPARATION (which is $408 via Faxon) and MATERIALS SCIENCE FORUM (which is $1082 via Faxon). Together as MATERIALS SCIENCE FORUM they will cost $2190 (list plus postage). Quite a jump whether you already have both titles or only CRYSTAL... as we do, which we will now have to cancel. >From Eleanor Cook, Appalachian State University, COOKEI@APPSTATE.BIT- NET: Here is a response to Christie Degener's item concerning society and publisher efforts to ease the budget crunch. There are sever- al societies and concerns out there who will give their local library a free subscription to their publication in perpetuity, so to speak. Our local chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, the education- al fraternity, gives us a free subscription to the PHI DELTA KAPPAN (ISSN: 0031-7217). Also, we have free subscriptions to the CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR (ISSN: 0882-7729) and the WORLD MONITOR (ISSN: 0897-9472) from a local elder of the Christian Science Church. If anyone else knows of organizations that are willing to do this, it would be useful information for the rest of us. >From Ann O'Neill, University of Arizona (temporarily), AONEILL@ ARIZRVAX.BITNET: Here is a statement from one of my students' papers on electronic publishing and scholarly communication: Every time I read or hear about how the other countries' publishing companies are taking advantage of us, I want to have another "Boston Tea Party," only this time throw their periodicals in the bay. The student is Shirley Worth, school librarian at Chinle, on the Navajo reservation. >From Anne E. McKee, Arizona State University-West, ICAEM@ASUACAD.BIT- NET: Has anybody brought to the Newsletter readers' attention the excellent report on the state of public libraries? It appeared on the July 7th, 1991 show of "Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt." It discusses the extreme budgetary constraints on public librar- ies today, how many are closing or severely limiting resources, hours, etc. It also showed scenes from Atlanta and ALA. I video- taped it and I'm passing it to any of the other library faculty that are interested in viewing it. It is a very though-provoking and extreme-e-e-ely depressing piece! HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS Chuck Hamaker, Louisiana State University, NOTCAH@LSUVM.BITNET. Is the competition beginning? Across my desk today are two different but related experimental projects beginning in two very different universities. First, from the University of Idaho comes a letter from John T. Ratti and E.O. Garton, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Range Sciences. They have propsed to the Wildlife Society Council a project to put all JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT and WILDLIFE SOCIETY BULLE- TIN titles and , 1935 to the present, in a database availa- ble for use as ASCII files, Lotus 123 files, dBase, Pro-Cite, and in CD-ROM. They think they can offer the product for $75.00. This is an example of the kind of back to the grass roots product that is now possible because of the new technologies. They indicate that the prod- uct would also be available on CARL (but just for 1988 to the pres- ent). They want to know if there is any interest out there in this product. The society is trying to recoup their costs. If you are in- terested in the product and in encouraging them, drop a note to John T. Ratti, Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow ID 83843-9952, or FAX 208 885-6226. This is exactly the type of local initiative that I believe must be encouraged. In a similar vein, the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Stud- ies is publishing, under a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts ENVI- RONMENTAL STUDIES AND PRACTICE, which began in January 1991. The pur- pose of the publication is to list briefly articles and books in envi- ronmental studies that they consider important. "As a service to sub- scribers, therefore, all issues will be cumulated on a disk, complete with searching software, for use in IBM compatible computers." The second issue asks readers to "send us comments on or evaluations of publications appearing in ESP. They will be entered into the database and appear in cumulations." Electronic, that is. "With your help ESP can become a peer-reviewed database." Additional support came from Conoco, Inc., Jessie Ball DuPont Charitable Trust, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, Richard King Mellon Foundation, General Reinsurance Corporation, and the General Services Foundation. To talk to the editor and get the first four issues free, call Joseph A. Miller, Editor, 203 432-5132. It looks like the guys at Yale have found grant sponsorships for their project, and I for one certainly wish it well. It is aimed primarily at the busy environmen- tal professional, but a peer reviewed database is a good idea. You can write them at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 205 Prospect Street, New Haven CT 06511. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Readers of the NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES are encouraged to share the information in the newsletter by electronic or paper meth- ods. We would appreciate credit if you quote from the newsletter. The July 1991 issue of LIBRARY ISSUES is "Archiving Electronic Jour- nals: Who's Responsible for What," by Paula Kaufman and Angie LeClercq (University of Tennessee). The article does a really good job of rais- ing the right questions about archival responsibilities and options for the e-journal. For us, the question is what happens to the NEWS- LETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES when Marcia decides to rein it in. Where does the archival copy reside -- how long before it is so old that no one cares to keep backfiles available electronically? Many of us are printing it, but can we do that for all e-journals? Is that even reasonable? Read the article. I think it will leave you thinking. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES (ISSN: 1046-3410) is pub- lished by the editor as news is available. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; Paper mail: Seri- als Department, C.B. #3938 Davis Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC 27599-3938; Telephone: 919 962-1067; FAX: 919 962-0484. Editorial Board: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Jerry Curtis (Springer Verlag New York), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), James Mouw (University of Chicago), and Heather Steele (Blackwell's Periodicals Division). The Newsletter is available on BITNET and ALANET. EBSCO and Readmore Academic customers may re- ceive the Newsletter in paper format from EBSCO and Readmore, respec- tively. Back issues of the Newsletter are available electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE******* ------------------------------ Cut here ------------------------------