Newsletter on Serial Pricing Issues 143 (September 9, 1995) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/nspi/nspi-ns143 Volume 0 number 143 ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NO 143 -- September 9, 1995 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS 143.1 LETTER TO LIBRARIANS FROM ELSEVIER'S CHAIRMAN, Herman P. Spruijt 143.2 AN INTERESTING JOURNAL MARKETING PLOY, Jeannette Buckingham 143.3 FROM THE MAILBOX 143.1 LETTER TO LIBRARIANS FROM ELSEVIER'S CHAIRMAN Herman P. Spruijt, Elsevier Science B.V., P.O. Box 2400, 1000 CK Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Amsterdam, August 1995 Dear Librarian, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the newly- appointed Chairman of Elsevier Science, effective May 1st of this year. Continuing the tradition set by my predecessor, James Kels, I want to pro- vide you with an overview for the coming year as we announce our journal prices for 1996. We have finalized Elsevier Science journal prices during the past few weeks and we are currently dispatching this information to our major subscription agents worldwide. Libraries and the remaining agents will receive printed price lists within two weeks. The Outlook for 1996 The pricing outlook for 1996 is particularly difficult for our subscribers in the Americas, with an average price increase of 23.9% in U.S. dollars. The overall average 1996 price increase for Elsevier Science journals, based upon prices in the countries of publication, is 11.0% and includes page growth of 4.9%. This applies to the entire list of Elsevier Science journals published in Amsterdam, Lausanne, New York, Oxford, Paris and Shannon. As you are no doubt aware, the U.S. dollar has been badly battered on international monetary markets recently, reaching all-time lows relative to many European currencies. This is the single most influential factor affecting our 1996 subscription prices to American subscribers. Enclosed is a chart (Attachment A) showing ten-year trends in the relationship of the U.S. dollar to currencies in those countries where Elsevier Science jour- nals are published and originally priced. [Sorry, not able to reproduce. - Ed.] You will notice the continuing downward trend of the dollar during the past decade and, most notably for 1996 subscriptions, its performance in the past twelve months. A Special Arrangement for 1996 We recognize that the impact of a weakened dollar will be keenly felt by our American subscribers, especially for our largest, highest priced ti- tles. In an effort to share some of the impact of the exchange rate shift, we have implemented a short-term policy in which Elsevier Science will absorb 5% of the 1996 price increases for selected titles. This initiative covers 32 of our most prestigious titles or subscription combinations cost- ing more than Dfl. 10,000, or its equivalent in Swiss francs, and published in Amsterdam and Lausanne, our publishing offices where the dollar's deval- uation is most dramatic. Please see Attachment B for a list of titles and further information on this program. This 5% price reduction is guaranteed through December 31, 1995, after which time dollar prices for these titles will be re-calculated at the standard exchange rates applied to our list overall. Distributing Currency Transactions Over 12 Months Two years ago, in order to mitigate the effects of short-term currency fluctuation, Elsevier Science introduced a policy of firm U.S. dollar pric- es for our American customers. This process involves distributing currency transactions evenly over a twelve-month period. In the past year, Elsevier Science has continued to sell dollars in monthly installments, with the dollar exchange rate used for our 1996 projections benefitting from a stronger dollar last fall. The enclosed Chart (Attachment C) [not included; compares the publisher's 1996 exchange rates with the July 20, 1995 bank rates in New York and with the 1995 Elsevier exchange rates. -Ed.] demon- strates further the benefit that has accrued to American customers as a result of this currency policy. A Continuing Commitment As the new chairman, I remain committed to the high levels of quality that the Elsevier, Pergamon, North-Holland and Excerpta Medica imprints have long represented. We continue an active collaboration with our partners in the scientific communication chain -- researchers, editors and librarians - - to maintain rigorous editorial and production standards in the print environment. At the same time, we are actively exploring the many opportun- ities offered by electronic developments.... ---------- ATTACHMENT B Titles Offering 5% Savings for 1996 [Elsevier's list also gives 1996 Dfl/SFr price and amt of dollar savings.] AMSTERDAM $ Price thru $ Price after Journal Title Dec. 31, 1995 Jan. 1, 1996 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (Complete) 8837 9302 Brain Research (Complete) 12234 12878 Chemical Physics Letters 6569 6915 Journal of Chromatography (Complete) 7861 8274 Journal of Chromatography: A 6519 6862 Journal of Crystal Growth 6207 6534 Journal of Molecular Structure (Complete) 6384 6720 Mutation Research (Complete) 5862 6171 Nuclear Instruments & Methods (Complete) 11625 12237 Nuclear Instruments & Methods: A 6933 7298 Nuclear Physics (Complete) 14625 15395 Nuclear Physics: A 6089 6410 Nuclear Physics: B 9413 9909 Physica: A, B, C, D (Complete) 11981 12611 Physica: A, B, C 10425 10973 Physica: A, B, D 8292 8729 Physica: A, C, D 9714 10225 Physica: B, C, D 9951 10474 Physica: A, B 6415 6753 Physica: A, C 7955 8374 Physica: B, C 8212 8644 Physica: B, D 5902 6213 Physica: C, D 7442 7834 Physics Letters (Complete) 10635 11195 Physics Letters: B 5851 6159 Surface Science (Complete) 10460 11010 Surface Science (Incl Sur Sci Letters) 7507 7902 LAUSANNE Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry (Complete) 6626 6975 Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 6073 6393 Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 5968 6283 Materials Science and Engineering (Complete) 7042 7414 Thin Solid Films 6384 6721 143.2 AN INTERESTING JOURNAL MARKETING PLOY Jeanette Buckingham, University of Alberta, jbucking@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca. [Received July 20, 1995. -Ed.] I have been approached by a faculty member who had had two small articles accepted for publication by a relatively new British journal, titled _Endo- crine_ (published by Macmillan). Subsequently, he was sent a bill for ap- proximately $900 in page charges, accompanied by a yellow sheet with the following message: "BE A HERO!! If your institutional library subscribes to ENDOCRINE--no one at your institution will be billed page charges. Please send your librarian a note requesting that your library subscribe..." The journal is not a high priority among our users (except for the poor fellow with the $900 page charges), has not yet been accepted for indexing for Medline, has not been requested on interlibrary loan, and is at the end of a very long list of desiderata we can't afford. This practice may be common in other disciplines, but I find it a pretty low form of blackmail. Having been an editor in a previous life, I sympa- thize with the problems of starting new journals; as a librarian, I am less sympathetic to additional redundant journals, especially those who invite us to subscribe while holding a gun to the heads of our clients. My feeling -- or one of my more printable feelings! -- about this effort on the part of the editors/publishers of _Endocrine_ to market the journal by threats of page charges smacks of a publication about to bite the dust. You might be interested that two years after starting life as _Endocrine Jour- nal_ it changed its name to _Endocrine_ -- another half-baked marketing ploy perhaps? Macmillan should know better. Could anyone give me a little perspective on this, please? Thanks for any advice you can provide. 143.3 FROM THE MAILBOX The mailbox is: tuttle@gibbs.oit.unc.edu. >From Barbara Via, University at Albany (bv848@cnsvax.albany.edu): I am new to the list and am wondering if there has been discussion/concern over MCB University Press' taking over _Collection Building_ and also _The Bottom Line_, two periodicals formerly published by Neal Schuman. These two titles have always been very reasonably priced. The MCB University Press Library Science titles that I am familiar with, _Library Review_ and _Li- brary Management_, are priced at about $1200 US and $3199 US respectively! Does anyone know if _Collection Building_ and _Bottom Line_ will be going up astronomically in price as a result of the change in publisher? ---------- >From Dorothy Ruyak, Williams & Wilkins Publishers (druyak@wwilkins.com), writing on July 24, 1995 in response to discussion on various listservers: In April, Williams & Wilkins enhanced its customer service capabilities when it moved to a new computer system called Publisher's Advantage Comput- ing System. The advantage to us is greater flexibility in processing work, easier to access information in responding to customer telephone calls, and quicker response to special situations of interest to our customers. Advan- tage is a product of T and B Computing out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. One of the first activities on the new system was to send renewals to subscribers in 1994 who had not renewed. We focused on those subscribers who subscribed through a subscription agent in the past, but who, according to our records, had not renewed for 1995. Because of the conversion and the way the records were maintained on the old system, a number of renewal notices were sent to those who had already renewed through a new agent. In some cases, institutional subscribers received as many as 54 separate, seemingly duplicate, notices. We apologize for any inconvenience these notices may have caused, but thank you for your patience. Records were corrected as we received information from you. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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 27514-8890; Telephone: 919 962-1067; FAX: 919 962-4450. Editorial Board: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Christian Boissonnas (Cornell University), Jerry Curtis (Springer Verlag New York), Janet Fisher (MIT Press), Fred Friend (University College, London), Charles Hamaker (Louisi- ana State University), Daniel Jones (University of Texas Health Science Center), Michael Markwith (Swets North America), James Mouw (University of Chicago), and Heather Steele (Blackwell's Periodicals Division). The News- letter 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@UNC.EDU saying SUBSCRIBE PRICES [YOUR NAME]. Be sure to send that message to the listserv- er and not to Prices. 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