Newsletter on Serial Pricing Issues 088 (July 11, 1993) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/nspi/nspi-ns088 ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NO 88 -- July 11, 1993 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS 88.1 SIEGFRIED RUSCHIN RETIRES AT LINDA HALL AFTER THIRTY-THREE YEARS, Marcia Tuttle 88.2 INCREASE IN SUBSCRIPTION RATE FOR _METEORITICS_, Derek W.G. Sears 88.3 BLACKWELL'S RESPONSE TO FIRM PRICING REQUEST FROM ARL, John Cox 88.4 FROM THE MAILBOX 88.1 SIEGFRIED RUSCHIN RETIRES AT LINDA HALL AFTER THIRTY-THREE YEARS Marcia Tuttle, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, tuttle@gibbs.oit.unc.edu. I have never met Siegfried Ruschin. I have, however, read his articles, spoken with him over the telephone, and corresponded with him both in type and electronically, usually in the context of serials pricing. Most librar- ians do not know Fred personally, because he doesn't go to conferences. The library materials vendors know him, though, because they have visited him, and they have filled our ears with wondrous tales about this very special man. It has crossed my mind that a pilgrimage to Linda Hall Library might be in order if I ever found myself near Kansas City. Alas, that never hap- pened. On the occasion of his retirement this month, I would like to recognize Fred's influence and concern in the area of serials pricing. He, along with Deana Astle and Chuck Hamaker, first alerted serials and collection devel- opment librarians to the inequity in certain European journal pricing. He took on both the British and the Germans and he helped achieve some sem- blance of fairness in this area. He asked a simple question: Why do Ameri- can libraries have to pay so much more than European libraries for the same journal? Then he proceeded to build his very strong case for equity in no uncertain terms. Fred has on occasion (and once at the editor's request) contributed to the _Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues_ concerning European journals, and his articles have been beautifully done and right on target. Thank you, Siegfried Ruschin, for your professional friendship and for your leadership in the area of serials pricing. 88.2 INCREASE IN SUBSCRIPTION RATE FOR _METEORITICS_ Derek W.G. Sears, Editor, University of Arkansas, cosmo@uafsysb.bitnet. (Used with the editor's permission.) 1993 May 17 Dear Subscriber, I owe you an explanation for the steep increase in the subscription rate for _Meteoritics_. Our journal has always been published on a non-profit basis, using the entire income of the Meteoritical Society. However, we have been losing money since 1989, and although we have increased rates for members and institutions, the deficit has remained in the 15 to 30% range. It rose to an alarming 56% in 1992, because despite tighter editorial standards, the journal grew from 400 to more than 600 pages. To cover this growth and prevent bankruptcy, we are increasing institutional rates by $60 in 1994, and members' dues by similar percentages. In return for this price in- crease, we have expanded the journal from 4 issues to 5, and will change to 6 issues from 1994 onward. This growth is likely to be permanent. Many authors are now sending their papers to _Meteoritics_, in protest against Elsevier's virtual monopoly in this field since the Pergamon purchase. Others are attracted to _Meteorit- ics_ by some major editorial changes, such as expanded coverage of astro- nomical and geological subjects, a review article of broad interest in every issue, and fast but thorough peer review. _Meteoritics_, now in its 40th year, already ranks 4th in impact factor among earth science journals, and is likely to grow further in importance. We assure you that the Meteoritical Society remains committed to publishing _Meteoritics_ at the lowest possible price, and has already taken major steps to lower production costs. 88.3 BLACKWELL'S RESPONSE TO FIRM PRICING REQUEST FROM ARL John Cox, Managing Director, Blackwell's, Oxford, England. [I received this information from John Cox on June 4. My apologies for the delay. -ed.] Dr. D.W. Koepp, Chair ARL Working Group on Firm Serial Prices Association of Research Libraries Washington DC 20036 USA Dear Dr. Koepp, I am writing further to my letter of 26th March 1993 concerning firm and timely prices for subscription renewals. I think it appropriate to report to you the progress we have made in our campaign to persuade publishers to provide firm prices in time for us to meet your requirements. I attach a schedule of publishers who have confirmed to us when we can expect price lists for 1994 subscriptions. I would be happy for you to circulate this information to your members and hope that you will accept it as evidence of our good faith in endeavouring to meet your requirements. Our campaign with publishers continues. It should be borne in mind that, in spite of our and publishers' best efforts, there will be delays with particular titles. This may be a problem in the case of learned society journals published under contract, where the publisher has recommended prices but cannot release them until the society has formally approved them. This remains a significant problem that lies outside both publishers' and subscription agents' control. With kind regards, Yours sincerely, John Cox Managing Director ----- PUBLISHER PRICE LISTS 1994 Date Prices Name of Publisher Forecast for 1994 Academic Press UK 08.01 Academic Press Inc 07.31/08.15 American Chemical Society 07.01 American Institute of Physics 08.01 American Medical Association 08.01 American Psysiological Society 07.01 ASLIB 08.01 ASME 07.01 Birkhauser Verlag 07.01 Blackwell Scientific Publications 07.15 Blackwell scientific Publications Australia 07.01 Bowker Saur 07.01 British Library National Bibliographic Service 07.01 British Medical Association 08.15 Butterworth Heinemann 07.15 Butterworth Heinemann USA 08.01 Cambridge University Press 08.01 Chapman and Hall 07.01 CRC Press, Inc. 07.15 C.A.B. 07.15 Economics Newspaper 07.01 Elsevier Science Publishers Amsterdam 07.15 Elsevier Science Publishers UK 07.15 Elsevier Sequoia 08.01 Euromoney Publications 07.01 Frank Cass and Co 08.01 Haymarket Publishing Services 08.01 Institute for Scientific Information 07.15 Institution of Electrical Engineers 07.01 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 07.15 International Political Science Abstracts 07.01 IOP (Physics Trust Publications) 07.15 Karger AG 07.01 Kluwer Academic 07.01 Longman Information and Reference 08.01 Mechanical Engineering Pubs Ltd 08.01 Metal Bulletin PLC 08.30 Munksgaard 08.01 OUP 07.15 Pergamon 07.15 Plenum Publishing 07.15 Portland Press (ex Biochemical Society) 07.15 Rapid Communications of Oxford Ltd 07.15 Raven Press Inc 07.15 Rockefeller University Press 08.01 Routledge Journals 07.15 Royal Society of Chemistry 08.01 Royal Society of Medicine Services Ltd 07.01 Sage Publications 08.01 Springer 07.15 Taylor and Francis 08.01 Turpin Transactions Ltd 08.01 Walter De Gruyter 08.01 Wiley and Sons 08.01 ----- Date when prices are forecast to be sent by publishers Date prices due No of Publishers As a who will supply percentage by date given July 1st 15 28% July 15th 17 31% August 1st 20 37% August 15th 1 2% August 30th 1 2% 54 100% 88.4 FROM THE MAILBOX The mailbox is: tuttle@gibbs.oit.unc.edu. >From Susan C. George, Physical Sciences Librarian, Dartmouth College, Susan.C.George@Dartmouth.EDU: I passed along the University of Washington statement to my faculty and one of them raised an interesting question: Is it known to what extent subscription cancellations drive subscription rates upward? Could it be that if we and everyone else subscribed to _The Journal of Useless Crap_, it would cost so little (comparable, say, to _Na- tional Enquirer_) we could afford it? When all but one institution has cancelled its subscription, will that last subscription cost $500,000 per year? Any thoughts? ----- >From Carol Fleishauer, MIT, FLEISH@mitvma.mit.edu: I appreciated Janet Fisher's "The Art and Science of Journal Price Set- ting." Librarians should be aware that publishers have serious economic pressures of their own, and Janet is an articulate spokesperson on this topic. However, I would like to take issue with her statement that "the number of copies sold to libraries is dropping due to sharing resources, interlibrary loan, and collective buying decisions." In fact, publishers are selling fewer copies to libraries because library budgets are diminish- ing in real terms. Resource sharing is our best RESPONSE to this situation, but is not the REASON for reduced buying. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Statements of fact and opinion appearing in the _Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues_ are made on the responsibility of the authors alone, and do not imply the endorsement of the editor, the editorial board, or the Uni- versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Readers of the NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES are encouraged to share the information in the newsletter by electronic or paper methods. We would appreciate credit if you quote from the newsletter. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES (ISSN: 1046-3410) is published by the editor through the Office of Information Technology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as news is available. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, Internet: tuttle@gibbs.oit.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), Janet Fisher (MIT Press), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State Universi- ty), Daniel Jones (University of Texas Health Science Center), James Mouw (University of Chicago), and Heather Steele (Blackwell's Periodicals Divi- sion). The Newsletter is available on the Internet, Blackwell's CONNECT, and Readmore's ROSS. EBSCO customers may receive the Newsletter in paper format. To subscribe to the newsletter send a message to LISTSERV@GIBBS.OIT.UNC.EDU saying SUBSCRIBE PRICES [YOUR NAME]. Be sure to send that message to the listserver and not to Prices. You must include your name. To unsubscribe (no name required in message), you must send the message from the e-mail address by which you are subscribed. If you have problems, please contact the editor. Back issues of the Newsletter are available electronically. To get a list of available issues send a message to LISTSERV@GIBBS.OIT.UNC.EDU saying INDEX PRICES. To retrieve a specific issue, the message should read: GET PRICES PRICES.xx (where "xx" is the number of the issue). +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ *****ENDOFFILE*****ENDOFFILE*****ENDOFFILE*****ENDOFFILE*****ENDOFFILE*****