Newsletter on Serial Pricing Issues 035 (June 17, 1992) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/nspi/nspi-ns035 Archive PRICES: file prices.ns35, part 1/1, size 11201 bytes: ------------------------------ Cut here ------------------------------ ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NS 35 -- June 17, 1992 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR, Marcia Tuttle _DRUG INFORMATION JOURNAL_ PRICE REDUCTION, Cindy Hepfer FROM THE MAILBOX FROM THE EDITOR Marcia Tuttle, TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET. Last week I received a phone call from a serials librarian who had just received the 1992 Faxon printed catalog, _Faxon Guide to Seri- als_, usually issued early in the calendar year. This person was very upset because of an apparent change in policy regarding start-date information given. We agreed that this information should go in the Newsletter and that Faxon should be given an opportunity to respond. Although promised a response by yesterday afternoon, I have not heard from Faxon. If there is a response, I will print it in a future issue of the Newsletter. Here is the message from the librarian: ----- I have researched 3 titles and here are my results. _Hormone and metabolic research_ 1991 actual paid = $234.00 volume 23 start date 1/91 1991 catalog = $234.00 volume 23 start date 1/91 1992 actual paid = $225.00 volume 24 start date 1/92 1992 datalinx = $225.00 volume 24 start date 1/92 1992 catalog = $225.00 volume 25 start date 1/93 _Human immunology_ 1991 actual paid = $465.00 vol. 30-32 start date 1/91 1991 catalog = $465.00 vol. 30-32 start date 1/91 1992 actual paid = $510.00 vol. 33-35 start date 1/92 1992 datalinx = $510.00 vol. 33-35 start date 1/92 1992 catalog = $510.00 vol. 36-38 start date 1/93 _Electrochimica acta_ 1991 actual paid = $945.00 volume 36 start date 1/91 1991 catalog = $945.00 volume 36 start date 1/91 1992 actual paid =$1304.00 volume 37 start date 1/92 1992 datalinx =$1479.22 volume 37 start date 1/92* 1992 catalog =$1479.22 volume 38 start date 1/93 *Datalinx price and 1992 catalog price probably reflect January 1992 increase for _1992_ prices. All actual prices are exclusive of service charges. It seems clear to me that in their 1992 catalog Faxon is referencing 1993 publication information but printing 1992 prices. This was not the case in 1991, when the catalog showed 1991 publication information and 1991 prices. There is a statement in the front of both the 1991 and 1992 catalogs indicating that all prices are subject to change, but nothing to indicate that ALL OR MOST of the prices in the 1992 catalog reflect 1992 prices even though the publication information is for 1993. I find this deceptive and misleading and believe that we should warn other librarians that the prices found in the 1992 catalog will not be what they are charged for the period indicated. ----- A message from Tony Ferguson says that the Chief Collection Develop- ment Officers Discussion Group will be discussing several Aqueduct items at their meeting at ALA in San Francisco. That group meets on Saturday morning. _DRUG INFORMATION JOURNAL_ PRICE REDUCTION Cindy Hepfer, SUNY-Buffalo Health Sciences Library, HSLCINDY@UBVM. BITNET. I received a letter yesterday I would like to share with your reader- ship. Regardless of what may have motivated the Drug Information Asso- ciation to take the step to self-publish, LIBRARIES and scholars should benefit from the move and the PRICE REDUCTION! Congratulations to DIA! *************************************************************** June 1, 1992 Dear Subscription (Serials) Manager, For planning and budgetary purposes, we are providing you with the following information. According to our records, you currently sub- scribe to the DRUG INFORMATION JOURNAL. During 1992 (Volume 26) and previously, this quarterly Journal has been published by Pergamon Press, Inc. Effective January, 1993 (Volume 27) the Journal will be published by the Drug Information Association (DIA). The DRUG INFORMA- TION JOURNAL is the official publication of the DIA. The DIA is a scientific non-profit association with an international membership of over 11,000. We are pleased to inform you that subscription costs for the Journal have been significantly reduced. The 1993 subscription rates are: Academic and other not-for-profit organizations; $65.00 per copy (Previous subscription rate-$290.00) Institutional Subscribers; $225.00 per copy (Previous subscription rate-$290.00) We therefore request that you change your records for the DRUG INFOR- MATION JOURNAL to indicate that subscription and other questions con- cerning the Journal which deal with Volume 27 and subsequent volumes be addressed to the: Publications Department DRUG INFORMATION JOURNAL P.O.Box 3113 Maple Glen, PA 19002, USA Telephone 215 628-2288 Telefax 215 641-1229 You will receive an invoice for Volume 27 in September, 1992. Sincerely, Tom Teal Editor-in-Chief DRUG INFORMATION JOURNAL ******************************************************************** Since the categories ("academic and other not-for-profit organiza- tions" and "institutional subscribers") and the rates look suspicious- ly like they refer to personal v. institutional subscribers, I called DIA this morning to ask whether my library (an academic health scien- ces library) would qualify as an academic/not-for-profit organization. The answer was "Yes; your library is considered an academic organiza- tion." So, we should see the price on this journal DROP from $290 to $65!! What a welcome and wonderful change of pace! Is there light at the end of the tunnel? FROM THE MAILBOX The Mailbox is: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET or Marcia_Tuttle@unc.edu. >From William Leazer, Vice President, Majors Scientific Subscriptions, majorlea@class.org. The Triple A [Aqueduct Action Agenda] concern about firm price indica- tion on invoicing has always been a concern at Majors Scientific Sub- scriptions. We utilize an asterisk to indicate that the price for the volume(s) and year(s) billed are the publisher's announced price. People do tend to forget, however, and we are always needing to remind our customers of this fact. Our wording has been carefully chosen to avoid the term "firm price." There have been several occasions where the publisher has changed the rate after announcement either because of sudden increased frequency or because of an error. (Librarians will forgive a human error and often forget that publishers are human too.) Also, there have been several titles this past year which changed from one publisher to another after the fact, with resultant price and format changes (some- times for a more favorable amount). We do believe in backing up the prices which are announced when a customer requests this. Generally we find librarians appreciate this information. If we know in advance of any big price changes, these are announced in our month- ly newsletter. It is well and good to put pressure on publishers for firm pricing, but I do hope that reason will prevail. This Newsletter is meant to promote understanding of each others' problems and to offer solutions. A little flexibility is sometimes necessary (within budgetary re- straints, of course). ----- >From Carla Long Casler, University of Arizona, CASLER@ARIZVMS.BITNET: I didn't see anyone mention it, but ISI had an unusual way of raising prices on _Current Contents on Diskette_. Instead of raising the sub- scription rates, they added a "shipping & handing charge" of $20 or $25. ----- >From Cindy Kaag, Washington State University, KAAG@WSUVM1.BITNET: I have subscribed to the Newsletter from its inception and follow the reports of price increases from whatever cause closely. Following is the text of the letter I just sent to the Director of the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology: Dear Sir or Madam: We were most disappointed to learn the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology had turned over its Journal to Elsevier. In light of the increasing monopoly a few large scientific publishers hold over the world of scholarly publishing, to lose yet another independent journal is a great misfortune. The unconscionable increase in price that accompanied the transfer is a validation of the growing concern worldwide with the prohibitive expense of providing access to scientific communication under the current system. For us, the price went from ca. $145 US to ca. $351 US. While we have had a subscription to the Journal since v.3, 1970, and our faculty did find it worthwhile while it was still under your aegis, we cannot concur that its value has suddenly increased by 142%. With the approval of the faculty of the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department we are therefore cancelling our subscription. ----- >From Hannah King, SUNY HSC Library at Syracuse, KINGH@SNYSYRV1BITNET: I wonder if Phillip Greene (EBSCO) could be asked to reply to the following question: "If the subscription agent obtains publisher discounts for bulk orders plus discounts for early payment plus pays in the currency of the country of origin thus avoiding exchange rate penalties, what rela- tionship does the list price have to the price the agent pays?" I wish vendors truly represented the interests of their primary cus- tomers, librarians and their patrons, and passed the savings made possible by bulk and early ordering on to us. [He has been asked. -ed.] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 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; Internet: Marcia_Tuttle@unc.edu; Paper mail: Serials Department, CB #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 Blackwell's CONNECT. EBSCO and Readmore Aca- demic customers may receive the Newsletter in paper format from EBSCO and Readmore, respectively. Back issues of the Newsletter are availa- ble electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE******* ------------------------------ Cut here ------------------------------