======================================================================== Date: Fri, 16 Feb 90 21:19 EST Subject: PRICING NEWSLETTER, NO. 17 ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NUMBER 17 -- FEBRUARY 16, 1990 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS LIBRARY MATERIALS PRICE INDEX COMMITTEE MEETING, Mary Eliza- beth Clack and Frederick Lynden CARIBBEAN PERIODICALS, Rosa Mesa ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES DISCUSSION GROUP ON SERIALS PRICING, Deana Astle ROMANIAN LIBRARIES, Tom McFadden HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS, Chuck Hamaker CHANGES IN SOME EUROPEAN SUBSCRIPTION PRICES, Siegfried Ruschin LIBRARY MATERIALS PRICE INDEX COMMITTEE MEETING AT ALA MIDWINTER Mary Elizabeth Clack, Serial Records Librarian, Harvard College Library, Cambridge MA 02138, DataLinx: CLACKMB; and Frederick C. Lynden, Assistant University Librarian for Technical Services, Brown University Library, Providence RI 02912, BITNET: AP010037@BROWNVM. At the Sunday January 7, meeting of the Library Materials Price Index Committee, the following occurred: 1) ACADEMIC BOOK PRICE INDEX - Figures for the 1988/89 Academic Book Price Index were distributed. The overall percentage increase was 5.30 percent. 2) LATIN AMERICAN COST STUDY - Figures for the costs of Latin Ameri- can books were distributed. 3) FOREIGN PERIODICAL PRICE INDEXES - Fred Lynden reported on a meeting held at Harvard with Mary Beth Clack, Lynden, Steve E. Thompson, Sally F. Williams, and Peter Young. A product of this meeting, a list of questions vendors should answer before prepar- ing a price study, was distributed. The LMPIC agreed to establish a subcommittee, to be chaired by Thompson and consisting of the "Harvard" group. This group will do research on questions related to the preparation of foreign periodical price indexes by ven- dors. Interest has been expressed by Casalini, Harrassowitz, Nijhoff, and Swets. 4) CD-ROM PRICE INDEX - Pamela Mason prepared a CD-ROM price inven- tory. The number of titles included moved from 131 to 227. The overall price change moved upward by 6.6 percent. 5) COMMENTS ON REVISION TO U.S. PRICE INDEX STANDARD a) The LMPIC members agreed that the definitions should be updated. b) The LMPIC agreed that a change to a 3-year base to match the CPI would be reasonable. c) The LMPIC members disagreed with Duane Webster that price indexes should be used "to track price changes for higher priced titles," and believed page prices are extremely dif- ficult to track. Duane Webster is looking for analysis, something which can be done for specific problems. The LMPIC felt that his new Office of Scholarly and Academic Publish- ing should do this type of work. Price indexes are an objec- tive measure of change and should not be used to follow up on unfair practices. d) There needs to be an explanation of why Library Produced (rather than commercial) microfilm is indexed. Efforts to develop an index for commercially produced microforms failed. e) Efforts to develop an index for scores were also unsuccess- ful due to the lack of a national source for data as well as the complexity of scores with parts, etc. f) No index has been developed yet for software and CD-ROMs because there are so many variables, although there is now a prototype CD-ROM index. Variables such as upgrading, site licenses, personal copies, etc. make indexing difficult. The LMPIC felt the next revision, not this revision, should carry criteria for producing electronic products. g) The LMPIC agreed it would be worthwhile to include the LC and Dewey Classification System in the appendix, which is not considered part of the standard. h) Editorial comments were felt to be of great value. The price index standard revision has a due date of March 31, and LMPIC members felt this was too soon for completion of a thorough revision. The meeting on Monday, January 8, 1990, included the following re- ports: 1) U.S. PERIODICALS - Peter Young (Faxon) and Kate Carpenter (Uni- versity of Illinois at Chicago) reported that the 30th Index will be published in LIBRARY JOURNAL, April 15, 1990. In the coming year, the Committee will address questions which have arisen about the representativeness of the titles included in the index and whether the index reflects changes in total scholarly output in its subject categories. 2) U.S. SERIAL SERVICES - Mary Elizabeth Clack reported that the Index will appear in the April 15 issue of LIBRARY JOURNAL. The revision of the Law category will be undertaken this year. 3) U.S. COLLEGE BOOK PRICES - K. Soupiset distributed final tables which will appear in CHOICE in March. For 1989, the average price per title was $40.52. 4) FOREIGN PERIODICALS PRICE INDEX - A subcommittee chaired by Steve Thompson, Brown University, will be appointed to contact vendors and gather comparable data on the size of the vendor's database, type of subject breakdown, parameters which could be used to select the population for the price index, currencies used, defi- nition of periodical, coverage of price, single-year rates versus multiple-year rates, etc. 5) CD-ROM PRICE INVENTORY - A report prepared by Pamela Mason, Na- tional Agriculture Library, was distributed. As a result of the ensuing discussion, it was decided that the Committee's Summer 1991 program will address "Pricing Issues with the New Technolo- gies." CARIBBEAN PERIODICALS Rosa Mesa, Latin American Bibliographer, University of Florida, Gainesville FL. We are interested in information about the availability of acquisition of serials or periodicals published in the Caribbean, including sub- scription costs. We are especially interested in price increases. Anyone with information can contact Peter Stern, Latin American Li- brarian, at PASLAC@UFFSC. ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES DISCUSSION GROUP ON SERIALS PRICING, Deana Astle, Clemson University Library, Clemson SC; BITNET: DLAST@CLEMSON The ACRL discussion group on serials pricing held a lively session Sunday morning January 7 during ALA. Three distinguished presenters offered insights into journal pricing from the perspective of the scholar, the abstracting/indexing provider, and the university press. The session was moderated by Ann Okerson, soon to be named the ARL pricing guru, who introduced the topic by observing that we are trying to creep up on enlightenment. HENRY BARSCHALL, whose foray into journal cost analysis has brought him perhaps more attention and notoriety than his chosen field of nuclear physics, discussed a scholar's view of academic journal pric- ing and related matters. The problem of the high cost of journals is not one which can be solved in the U.S. alone. Any solution must be operative and effective on an international basis. The number of publications is governed by the amount of agency research support. From 1961 to 1987, these funds have expanded in the U.S. from $46 billion to $101 billion (120%); in Japan from $4 billion to $39 billion (875%); the UK from $8 billion to $14 billion (75%); West Germany, $4 billion to $19 billion (375%); and France, $3 billion to $14 billion (367%), for an overall increase of $114 billion or 170 percent. Where more research is generated, Bar- schall observed, it must find an outlet for publishing, and publica- tions increase. The number of abstracts in physics has risen from 24,200 in 1962 to 143,000 in 1988. During this same period, the membership of the Ameri- can Institute of Physics rose from 18,000 to 39,400, and the number of PHYSICS REVIEW pages from 9800 to 48,800. While indicative of the explosion of support for physics, it also reflects the changing nature of the authors published in PHYSICS REVIEW. In 1962 foreign authors represented only 25 percent of the authors in PHYSICS REVIEW, in large part because of page charges which many were forbidden by their gov- ernments to pay. Now, 52 percent of PHYSICS REVIEW authors are from outside the U.S. Barschall stated that page charges were invented by physicists to increase the number of subscriptions to a journal by reducing the price to subscribers, thus increasing the dissemination of informa- tion. At that time, photocopiers were not available, and scientists had to own a copy of a journal to get good access to articles. At their inception, page charges averaged $2 per page. By 1963 they had reached $50, and in 1990 the average page charge for physics journals is expected to be $172. PHYSICS REVIEW now has a page charge of $210. Though this is a voluntary fee, it does have a bearing as to how soon an article will be published. Originally it was assumed that research funds would be used to pay page charges, but with today's more restricted funding, scientists do not want to spend their scarce dollars this way. In response to this trend, the sources of revenue for such journals as PHYSICS REVIEW have been shifting from authors to libraries. In 1976, 35% of revenue was from libraries and 65% from authors; in 1988 libraries provided 89% of the revenue, and authors only 11%. Librarians, Barschall stated, do not benefit from page charges, for they have driven authors away from society journals to commercial ones. Most authors in the U.S., he observed, prefer to publish in professional journals and will use them if there is money in their research funds to pay for the page charges, otherwise they will tend to take their work elsewhere. Barschall sees multiple publication as another serious problem. It is quite common, he stated, to publish research in several different ways. It will appear first as a preliminary report (abstract), then as a letter describing ongoing research, and finally as an article dis- cussing the formal result. All this is entirely proper. If an author is targeting different audiences -- e.g. engineers and medical spe- cialists -- the same result may properly be treated in two different articles. These groups use different language and do not read the same journals. The real problem, according to Barschall, is the proliferation of conferences and workshops, and the subsequent publication of the pro- ceedings. Between April 1989 and April 1990, for example, one confer- ence per week is scheduled in nuclear physics. The same experiment can be and often is reported in five different meetings; it can also ap- pear in a similar number of journal articles and proceedings. "Most conference proceedings are junk," stated Barschall, and we must be careful what we buy. When publishers include conference proceedings as an issue of a journal, we are forced to buy them whether we want them or not. (Shades of the German publisher situation in the 1930s! - DLA) Barschall encouraged librarians to write to publishers who send proceedings as part of a journal and tell them we want the journal without the proceedings. Change will not come quickly, but we should not give up. Barschall does not like being trapped into buying the proceedings as part of the journal, and suggests that by getting pub- lishers to change this practice we can effect some savings without damaging the collection. EUGENE GARFIELD of ISI then spoke on creating an audit of publishers for cost effectiveness. The issue of rising journal prices, he said, is rehashed about every 25 years, and for-profit publishers are not always the culprits we think they are. ARL has added to the tension with their recent serials report, and though he does not dispute the conclusions, he considers the methods by which the information was gathered and analyzed somewhat simplistic. In any audit, as was pro- posed in his editorial in THE SCIENTIST, expenses of non-profit pub- lishers should be examined as well. The not-for-profits' perks are the privates' profits. An audit of not-for-profit firms would look at a number of factors including tax exemption, page charges, preferential postage rates, subsidies, etc. When these are examined, the differences between them and the for-profit publishers might not be so great. In any such analysis, it may be difficult to obtain and properly inte- pret relevant data. It is very difficult, for example, to determine accurate profit figures since "profit" depends on perspective. We must be very careful if we try to set limits on the profits publishers can make, for this intrudes into the issue of freedom of the press. There is also a potential for misuse of statistics, since the same figures can be given many different interpretations. In an audit, we need to look at what is being audited and why. If an audit determines the cost effectiveness of various publishers, Gar- field asked, would librarians make journal purchase decisions based solely on these factors? He hopes not, for not all factors are equal. Such things as whether journals include review articles or research articles need to be weighed, for example, since there is different value received. The size of the audience is another significant fac- tor, as is peer rankings of journal quality. Impact, he stated, is used to describe the effect of citations. Qual- ity evaluation, however, requires more detailed content and context analysis. There is less danger in this approach when organizations are being evaluated than when it is used for a person. Citation data should not be used as the only criterion for judging faculty. Comprehensive audits would help librarians make better decisions and would help publishers know what to improve. They would, however, be of limited use to scientists who are the ultimate producers and users. There has been much in the scientific press about the need for science journals to be more accountable to authors, especially in terms of speed of acceptance of publication, and many researcher authors have vented their frustrations over them. Audits have other problems. Publishers are reluctant to pass out the information needed for such a process, as this could provide crucial data to rivals for authors and advertisers. For-profits and not-for- profits are both commercial enterprises, and care must be taken in addressing solutions to the problems. ROBERT SHIRRELL of the University of Chicago Press then discussed scholarly associations and their role in publishing. He stated they are very important players in the field of scholarly communication. There is no good source of statistics on associations and their pub- lishing patterns. For example, there are no useful statistics on the number of journals, the number of associations, the number of journals published per association, etc. Associations are very diverse, ranging in size from the very small to the American Chemical Society. They publish everything from newsletters to dozens of books and journals. There are several different arrangements for publishing journals. In general, though, an association may manage the publication of a jour- nal on its own, or it may work with a publisher -- either commercial or university. Most assocations, he stated, do work on their own with their journals. Twenty six of the 50 journals published by the University of Chicago Press are done in cooperation with scholarly associations or other non-profit organizations; Shirrell has sat on many of their publishing boards. Many associations will take no active part in launching new journals in the field. This activity is done by others -- usually for-profit publishers. When associations fail to start new journals, it is due in large part to their organizational structure. Member dues generally include the cost of a major journal. Since smaller, more specialized, publications would not be of interest to everyone, members object to having part of their dues go for such publications. Many associations also feel they do not have the staff, or in-house procedures to handle an optional journal. It does take money to launch a new journal, and there is a potential for failure. Societies tend to be financially conservative, and are reluctant to take the kind of risks associated with this effort, feel- ing that they do not have the proper expertise. Also, new journals are typically not as prestigious as the main journal, and some may feel this reflects badly on the association. Many associations object to new journals in principle, and choose therefore to expand their existing offerings, Shirrell stated. This has happened with the ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, which has steadily in- creased in size until it now issues 14,000 pages a year on all phases of astrophysics. The editorial board feels it is cheaper to publish everything in one journal and that this is ultimately to the benefit of the scientists. Assocations are usually not averse to the initiation of new journals by others, including commercial firms, and deliberately remove them- selves from the new journal arena. They prefer to have the leading general journal in their field, and they view themselves as the tradi- tional providers of high quality publications at low cost. Shirrell stated that it is desirable to have an association in charge of a publication. Its goal is high editorial quality and the widest distribution at the lowest possible cost. It is better to have a scholar in charge of a publication, because publishers tend to be more concerned with shareholders. A journal run by a scholar will reflect better the needs and wishes of the scholars themselves. Many assocations have changed from making the main journal mandatory to all members, to having all journals optional. These associations generally have structures which serve segments of their membership. Typically, in these arrangements, only the newsletter will be sent to all. Examples of such assocations are the American Chemical Society and IEEE. Formation of divisions within an association or society can facilitate the handling of specialized journals and also make it easi- er to launch new journals in the field. New journals are launched by associations in response to member de- mands. This usually happens when the main journal is not meeting the needs of the members and greater exposure is desired for their spe- cialty. Proposals for a new journal will go to the publications board of a society for evaluation. Typically questions get asked as to why the existing publications are inadequate, and whether what is being pro- posed is really a new field or just a fad. A new journal requires a minimum commitment of $100,000 to launch, and societies realize that support will build slowly. The title must be perceived to be of real service to scientists in the field and to the members of the associa- tion before a journal is launched. Publishing needs of their members, not pressure from librarians, is what really drives the decisions. In general, associations are not actively seeking to produce more specialized journals and will not move in this direction without mem- ber approval and encouragement. It is inevitable, then, that most new journals will be started by commericial publishers. Associations will move in this direction only if they see they can do it better or if there is a need for an additional title. The good news, Shirrell stated, is that association publications have high quality for low cost; the bad news is that any new publication is a strain on the budget of an association and is not started easily. There are difficult choices about the allocation of resources for societies. Question and answer period: Mike Keller of Yale asked, "What is the endgame?" Prices are going up, subscriptions are going down, the number of pages is going up, and the situation cannot reasonably continue. We need information distribution faster and more cheaply. Garfield: What Mike is describing is the electronic journal, but this is an illusion. The exponential growth in journals and articles has actually tapered off in the last few years. Coverage is not going up the way it did in the past. The worldwide output will have to give. Some journals will die; twigging will go on -- research does not re- main static and proliferation of sub-specialties cannot be contained. Science is in a constant ferment, and there are many dynamic forces we cannot control. We are paying now for the result of military research, and the commercial press prevents the cartelization of the societies. The great growth in journals has occurred because of the unresponsive- ness of societies. For example, in the UK, TETRAHEDRON was created because chemists had pressure to publish and could not get profession- al societies to publish their results. Keller: Most science is done with government support. A great deal of publishing takes place in commercial journals. Thus, researchers pay for it twice, once to publish the research and once to put it on the shelves. The electronic journal may be feasible. Universities have a large capital investment in computers so that the cost of electronic journals may not be so much. We are being driven to this. Garfield: Electronic journals will be more expensive than what we are getting now. Low print run journals could better be put on CD ROM if readers would accept them. Keller: Yale is already receiving six electronic journals and is pay- ing no subscription price. Person from New York Public Library: Electronic journals are not an illusion. There is already an infrastructure for them -- it is merely a matter of bringing order and discipline to them. Barschall: Only this year has a standard been created for CD ROM pub- lishing. CD ROMs cannot be read after about ten years, which is their projected lifetime. New technologies are on the horizon that will make CD ROMs obsolete. One takes chances with five year obsolescence. It is really too early to jump headlong into the electronic journal. IEEE has begun experimental production of some journals on CD ROM. Ab- stracting journals is where the most CD ROM activity is now. The elec- tronic journal will not be any cheaper than paper, since hardware and other peripherals must be factored in. Arnold Hirshon, Virginia Commonwealth University: (In response to the issue raised about microfilm being touted as the saviour many years ago) We worry too much about packaging. Most faculty did not have microform readers in their offices, but they do have terminals and printers. Garfield: The realities of substituting the electronic journal for journals as we know them is too simplistic. Ross Atkinson, Cornell: It is the function of the research library to facilitate scholarly communication. Publishing is a service to facili- tate this. As costs increase, how should libraries assume more respon- sibility for moving more information around? Barschall: Any scheme must be an international one. Organizations in other countries function differently from ours. Some countries prohib- it page charges, in that they cannot contribute to the cost of publi- cation. We must have a scheme that would work everywhere before there will be any significant impact on scientific publishing. Garfield: (How to control multiple publication) This cannot and should not be controlled. As soon as we start trying to legislate against duplication we get into problems. Most authors do not publish articles twice. NIH is attempting to exert a little less pressure on publishing by asking for the most important papers instead of a long list (when grant applications are submitted). This may not make much of a differ- ence, but the thought is ok. The ultimate solution will be economics. Libraries must be more selective in what they buy. Vicky Reich, Stanford: Are there enough objective criteria available to do auditing of journals? What other hesitations does Garfield have about this process? Garfield: It is possible to have the beginnings of a witch hunt if disclosure is asked for. Also, this information cannot be forced from private organizations. Shirrell: I wonder about the audit idea. One journal may still be the cheapest, even if the publisher is wasteful. Publicizing review prac- tices to authors may be the most important thing here. Authors often do not know what to expect from given journals. Gale Garlock, University of Toronto: Some associations are doing good jobs. I am interested in faculty going back to associations and push- ing for more cost effective journals instead of finding more money to buy new ones. Shirrell: We must work with the faculty. They are now more aware of the issues because we have made them more aware. Okerson: Our problems are up to us to solve. ROMANIAN LIBRARIES Tom McFadden, University of California at Davis, Davis CA; E-MAIL: TGMCFADDEN@UCDAVIS.EDU Books and serials are urgently needed to replace those destroyed in the Central University Library in Bucharest during the 1989 revolu- tion. Hard cover is preferred, and subjects include medicine, comput- ing, management, economics, finance, English literature; anything, in fact, except the collected works of Ceausescu. Back runs of scientific and technical journal titles are especially important; the latest edition of CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS, for example, on the Library shelves was 1972. For additional information please contact: Opritsa Popa, H/SS Department, Shields Library, University of California, Davis CA 95616. EMAIL: OAPOPA@UCDAVIS.BITNET. Telephone: (916) 752-1126. FAX: (916) 752-6899. HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS Chuck Hamaker, Louisiana State University Library, Baton Rouge LA; BITNET: NOTCAH@LSUVM. Some of the most interesting and thoughtful writing is appearing in places other than library literature these days. The new issue of SCIENCE (January 26, 1990) contains a brief sidebar, "Data Too Cheap to Meter," which details a Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Compact Disk. This is the equivalent of seven volumes and 4,000 pages of data from the late 1970s Einstein x-ray satellite and contains a complete catalog of images. It cost $2,000 to master the disks, and $2.00 per disk for duplicates, so NASA, which funded the catalog, decided not to charge anything for it. About 300 sets were given away at the recent Washington meeting of the American Astronomical Society. IF this is typical (and no one has suggested it is not) the recent federal giveaways of nationally collected data to commercial publish- ers (who charge anywhere from $300 to $12,000 for data they've re- ceived essentially "free") is organized robbery. Where is a federal information policy protecting access to information paid for and paid for again? An unusually thought provoking article appears in the new issue of UNESCO's COPYRIGHT BULLETIN, XXIII, 3 p. 19-32. Written by Kanwal Puri, Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland (Australia) Law School, its title gives away the theme: "The Term of Copyright Protec- tion: Is It Too Long in the Wake of New Technologies." The author contends, correctly I believe, that the single most important issue in copyright law is the term, or length of time provided. "The very pur- pose of copyright protection is to allow recoupment for the initiative of creating the material and the investment risked in producing and marketing it." General copyright laws in most countries divide copy- right works into two categories: literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic; and sound recordings, films, broadcasts, and published "edi- tions" (where typography is protected). Terms for the first category are generally author's lifetime plus fifty years. For the second, 25 years from "publication." A street directory, for instance, is given protection for lifetime of the compiler, plus fifty years. Hardly a "creative activity?" -- but an artistic endeavor, like a film, is only given 25 years' protection. In patent law and industrial design, a much shorter term is involved, with no country in the world providing more than 25 years, and most much shorter time periods. "The consideration for the grant by the legislature of a monopoly for inventions and designs -- as for copy- rights -- is on the basis that in return for the right, the invention or the design must be available to all after a period, that by and large gives the inventor or the designer reasonable reward. Generally speaking, the factor to be borne in mind when fixing the maximum peri- od of protection for these monopoly rights is that reward for creativ- ity should be adequate in relation to the expenditure of time, skill, and expense incurred." As a public good, as well as in the interest of the public good, is it reasonable for a scientific article published by Elsevier or IEEE to be "their" property for lifetime of the author plus fifty years? Es- pecially, as we think about the future, is such a right reasonable if scientific information has a "pay per peek" future as envisioned in the recent AAP meetings in Washington this past week? Although recoupment of investment and "profit" on "risk" expenditure are reasonable, is the government-granted monopoly reasonable for 130 years for a ten-page article?? On the surface it's unreasonable, and the public good may well be best protected, in scientific, technical, and medical areas, by much short- er copyright terms. And, you thought the copyright wars were over?? If they are, then prepare for a very dark future for information access. And in case you thought only Americans were contentious when it comes to the price of journals, take a look at that bastion of respectabili- ty, the LIBRARY ASSOCIATION RECORD 91, 12 (December 1989), p. 710. Attacking the marketing practices of MCB University Press, Ltd. A librarian at the Manchester Business School chastises the press for taking over reasonably well established, small circulation management journals (modestly priced) or establishing journals with an obvious popular market need and, while initially publishing at a fairly low rate to get libraries "hooked" (his language, not mine), beginning a steep rise in price after a year or two. Allan Foster (the librarian) documents journals that went up from 1989 to 1990 from 60 percent to 84 percent in pounds sterling (BRITISH FOOD JOURNAL and JOURNAL OF ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT). See his letter for the rest of the list. Now that is about as direct as anything any American librarian has written. His letter follows one from the October RECORD concerning MCB's pricing of librarianship journals. And the redoubtable librarian, scholar, and wit, Maurice B. Line, is the Library Association's new president. The article announcing this notes as one of his more sterling qualities a low BST (a footnote defines this in the staid RECORD as Bull Shit Tolerance). May we all take a leaf from his book. Line believes, according to the article: "If you feel strongly about something and work hard enough, then you can make changes." He has little patience with those who stand on the sidelines and moan. In his book, A LITTLE OFF LINE, he recommends inflatable committee members to attend conferences "where they could be transported and maintained very cheaply." Libraryland, are you listening? -- off line. CHANGES IN SOME EUROPEAN SUBSCRIPTION PRICES Siegfried Ruschin, Linda Hall Library, 5109 Cherry Street, Kansas City MO 64110-2498. This is a follow-up to a previous report on the controversy between Springer-Verlag and German librarians (NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES, no. 3, April 29, 1989). In a letter, Dr. Hermann Joseph Dorpinghaus, Assistant Library Direc- tor at the University in Freiburg, Germany, writes that, in response to complaints from German librarians, Springer-Verlag has greatly reduced its German prices for journals produced in the U.S. These journals had been available to German subscribers only at much higher than the original American prices. According to a note to be published this month in BIBLIOTHEKSDIENST, the revised 1990 price list that Springer issued last August used an exchange rate of DM 1.91 per dollar. As a consequence, the Deutsche Mark prices for 17 titles increased by 1.2 percent, on the average, while the prices for 31 other titles were REDUCED by 11.37 percent, even though the price in dollars for these titles increased by 6 per- cent compared to 1989. Most interesting, the list also provided that, if the exchange rate changed by more than five percent by the end of 1989, a refund or additional charge would be in order. Consequently, Springer decided, at the beginning of this year, to grant its German subscribers an additional discount of five percent, because the value of the dollar had meanwhile declined from DM 1.91 to DM 1.71. Also, beginning with 1991, Springer's German price lists will include the original U.S. prices. The German librarians have thus largely succeeded in their effort to obtain journals at prices comparable to those charged in the U.S., though their request that they be free to buy the journals directly in New York, thereby eliminating differential prices altogether, has not been granted. Springer did not accede to this request, alleging that its fulfillment is precluded by the fact that the Deutsche Mark price is fixed in the Federal Republic and can therefore not be constantly adjusted to the varying exchange rate. Perhaps somebody can explain to us the logic of this argument. Dr. Dorpinghaus also writes that the "Erwerbungskomission" has been successful with the complaint that it had filed against Pergamon with an agency of the European Communities. Pergamon had been charging German subscribers at prices that markedly differed from those charged to British subscribers, a practice that apparently infringed interna- tional agreements and regulations. By now, Pergamon has reduced any remaining price difference to about 6 percent, and its journals will no longer bear a note saying that the prices in pounds sterling apply only to subscribers in the U.S. This means, according to Dorpinghaus, that agents in the United Kingdom may now supply the journals to for- eign subscribers at U.S. prices. As he points out, this development may be relevant also to libraries in the U.S. The process is not con- cluded, however, and the commission in Brussels is likely, in one way or another, to take a public, fundamental position on this issue. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 pub- lished as news is available by the American Library Association's Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Publish- er/Vendor-Library Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Serials Pric- ing Issues. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; ALANET: ALA0348; Paper mail: Serials 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. Committee members are: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Mary Elizabeth Clack (Harvard University), Jerry Curtis (Consultant), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Robert Houbeck (Univer- sity of Michigan), and Marcia Tuttle. EBSCONET customers may receive the newsletter in paper format from EBSCO. Back issues of the newslet- ter are available electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ====================================================================== ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE******* Date: Wed, 07 Mar 90 21:46 EST From: Marcia Tuttle ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NUMBER 18 -- MARCH 7, 1990 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR, Marcia Tuttle INSTITUTE ON COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT FOR THE ELECTRONIC LI- BRARY, Samuel Demas VIRGINIA COPES WITH RISING SERIAL PRICES, Kenneth O. Jensen CARNEGIE REPORT ON FACULTY ATTITUDES, Holly Melanson A CRISIS IN SCHOLARLY PUBLICATION: WHAT YOU CAN DO, Peggy Johnson HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS, Chuck Hamaker FROM THE EDITOR Marcia Tuttle Once again you newsletter readers are proving to be very special peo- ple! I have written a number of journal articles and, if my experience is typical, perhaps one in eight generates response. This morning I ran into David Taylor and asked if he had heard from anyone after his request for information about serials cancellation projects, in issue no. 16. His eyes lit up, his 7:55 a.m. smile broadened into a grin, "Oh, yes! I'll have to send them to you." Thanks for helping David with his book. MANAGING THE SERIALS EXPLOSION was well reviewed and is often cited. A second edition will be most welcome. I have promised many of you who reported/complained about multiple copies of BITNET newsletter issues that I would explain what was hap- pening. How does this sound? When I command the UNC VAX to send out an issue (the last one was 37k) to nearly 300 id's, it first makes a copy of the file for EACH SUBSCRIBER, then it sends them out. It seems that the UNC VAX is short of disk space. Thus, the computer usually runs out of space while it is making these copies -- and starts over when more disk space becomes available. Finally, one time it gets all the way through the list without running out of space, and the issue goes out -- every copy the computer has made. The result is that subscrib- ers whose id is near the top of the list get the most copies and those whose id's are near the bottom (the earliest subscribers?) get the fewest. This procedure also explains why it sometimes takes as long as two days after I upload the file for the issue to actually go out. I had coffee with Paul Jones, the Postman, last week and he told me that the VAX now has additional disk space. He managed to get some of it for the mail system so, for at least a few more issues you should get only one copy. I would appreciate knowing when someone does get more than one copy. There are other things we can do (if we MUST). Gordon & Breach update: Word came from a NEWSLETTER subscriber and has been confirmed by Mary Lane of the AMS that G & B has filed suit in Germany against the American Mathematical Society. The publisher has also appealed the recent Swiss Court decision that threw out their lawsuit against the AIP/APS. Two more articles on Gordon & Breach are: "Publisher Continues Its Fight Against Price Surveys," by Ken Kalfus in the February 5 SCIEN- TIST (page 5), an update on the lawsuits and related matters; and "Library Survey From Journal Publisher Sent Under Unsuspecting Founda- tion's Name," by Judith Axler Turner in the February 21 CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION. The latter article gives a detailed and fascinating history of the questionnaire sent on the letterhead of the Foundation for International Scientific Cooperation. See also Tom Gaughan's edi- torial in the March AMERICAN LIBRARIES. In the February 28 CHRONICLE Kim A. McDonald reports on the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in New Orleans. The article, "Scientists Urged to Help Resolve Library 'Crisis' by Shunning High-Cost, Low-Quality Journals," focuses on presentations by October Ivins (Louisiana State University), Robert Peet (Biology Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Fred Spilhaus (American Geophysical Union), and Karen Hunter (Elsevier Science Publishers). Ivins laid the groundwork for the dis- cussion by summarizing the present crisis and its antecedents. Peet discussed the situation at his institution. Spilhaus suggested that scientists refuse to publish in, review for, or purchase "low-quality, high-cost journals." Hunter defended the commercial publisher's high prices by pointing to the increased amount of scientific research that is worthy of publication. When I read Bill Britten's article in COLLEGE & RESEARCH LIBRARIES NEWS ("BITNET and the Internet: Scholarly Networks for Librarians," February 1990, p. 103-07), I learned something about the newsletter: You can subscribe yourself, without benefit of me! I had understood that only UNC's postman could add id's to the mailserver, but Bill found out differently. One can subscribe by sending the following mail message to either LISTSERV@UNCVX1 or MAILSERV@UNCVX1: SUBSCRIBE PRICES-L your_full_name The advantage of subscribing through me, however, is that I send a test message to make sure we can talk to each other before I have your id added to the list. Even with electronic newsletters the timing is sometimes bad. Just missing the last issue is this announcement from the Association of Research Libraries: Ann Okerson has accepted the position of Director, Office of Scientific and Academic Publishing. Ms. Okerson, who received her M.L.S. from the University of California, Berkeley, will have initial responsibility to identify and influence the forces af- fecting the production, dissemination, and use of scientific and scholarly information. Her past experience includes: Jerry Alper, Inc., Manager, Library Services; Simon Fraser University, Head of Serials Division, Senior Librarian - Head of Serials Section, and Senior Librarian - Acquisitions Division; and a one-year sabbati- cal to B.H. Blackwell in Oxford, England, where she worked on a variety of issues. Ann has already sent useful materials on serials pricing for the news- letter, and I look forward to a close working relationship. Chuck Hamaker told me that the University of Iowa Libraries NEWSLETTER for January 1990 uses this newsletter as a major example of the new electronic journal. They apparently redistribute it internally to "more than twenty people interested in this topic." Chuck says he himself sends it to five others and wonders about the "multiplier effect." Just for fun, I'd like to calculate our readership (very roughly!) for the BITNET edition. If you load the newsletter onto a LAN or forward it to your own distribution list, will you let me know approximately how many id's are involved? Do any ALANET or DataLinx subscribers do the same thing? INSTITUTE ON COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT FOR THE ELECTRONIC LIBRARY Samuel Demas, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, BITNET: EKZY@CORNELLA. Institute on Collection Development for the Electronic Library Integrating Electronic Publishing into the Concepts and Practices of Collection Development Sponsored by the Albert R. Mann Library of Cornell University The Faxon Institute for Advanced Studies Themes and Objectives: The systematic integration of electronic re- sources into the concepts and practices of collection development is a major challenge to libraries in the 1990s. Decisions concerning in- vestments in electronic information resources should fall under the purview of a comprehensive collection development policy. This will ensure intellectually coherent and cost-effective development of an institution's base of scholarly resources. This institute is designed to help collection development administrators gain the perspective, knowledge and skills needed to play an important role in decision- making on electronic information. The Institute will explore the implications of electronic publishing for library "collections" and how they are "built," finanaced and managed. In plenary sessions, speakers and panelists from a variety of backgrounds will assess the impact on our concept of "collections" of: changing patterns of scholarly communication, national networks, and the question of access vs. ownership. Workshops will provide state-of- the-art practical training in specific aspects of collection develop- ment for the electronic library. Case studies and exercises will be used to stimulate discussion of the challenge of including all perti- nent information, regardless of format, in the mix of resources which constitute our "collections." In the final session, the Institute Analysts will present, for discus- sion by Institute participants, a synthesis in the form of an agenda for developing the electronic library in the next decade. A monograph based on the Institute will be published. A primary outcome of the Institute will be recommendations addressing continuing education needs and formulation of curricula for future Institutes. Location: All meetings and room accommodations, and most meals will be in the Statler Inn and Conference Center on the Cornell University campus. Fees, housing and meals: Thanks to generous corporate support arranged by the Faxon Institute, an overall conference fee of $325 covers reg- istration. Double room accommodations and meals (from Sunday dinner through Wednesday breakfast) are included in the registration fee. Participants selecting double room accommodations will be assigned a roommate unless they specify another participant with whom they wish to room. Single rooms are available for an additional $35 per night. Registration: To ensure an atmosphere conducive to close interaction between speakers and participants, registration will be limited to 90 persons. Priority will be given to collection development officers from academic libraries. To register, complete the attached form and mail, with payment, before April 6, 1990. Cancellations will be ac- cepted until April 2, subject to a $20 processing fee. Preliminary Program Outline: Sunday, April 29: 2:00 - 6:30 Institute Registration - Statler Inn 6:30 - Opening Banquet - Statler Inn After dinner speaker: Robert Kahn, Corporation for National Research Initiatives Monday, April 30: Plenary Sessions: 9:00 - 10:00 Developing the Electronic Library Jan Kennedy Olsen 10:00 - 10:30 Break 10:30 - 12:00 Panel: Changing Patterns of Scholarly Communication: Implications for libraries Rowland Brown, Morris Glicksman, Peter Graham 12:00 Lunch - Statler Inn Workshops: 1:30 - 3:00 First Round (Choose one) * Selection criteria for electronic formats (CDROM, computer files, online resources and micro software), and guidelines for selecting among formats - Kathy Chiang & Nancy Evans * Legal and Ethical issues: negotiating equitable access to information - Brian Kahin & Peggy Seiden * Mounting files locally vs. providing remote access: financial, technical and organizational considerations in providing patron access to numeric, bibliographic and full text files - Howard Curtis, Emily Fayen, Brian Sweet 3:00 - 3:30 Break 3:30 - 5:00 Second Round (Choose one) * Collection managment and development policies for electronic resources - Tony Ferguson * Management issues/strategies: organizing for integration of electronic resources in libraries - Sam Demas * Financing access to electronic information while building print collections - Gene Wiemers, Carl Deal Evening: 6:00 - 6:45 Cocktail Hour (cash bar) 6:45 Dinner Tuesday, May 1 Plenary Sessions: 9:00 - 10:00 National Networks: Implications for Higher Education - Fred Weingarten, Office Technology Assessment 10:00 - 10:30 Break 10:30 - 12:00 Panel: National Networks: Implications for Libraries - Brian Kahin, Steve Metalitz, Ward Shaw 12:00 Lunch - Statler Inn Workshops: 1:30 - 3:00 First Round (Choose one) Repeat of sessions offered on April 30 3:00 - 3:30 Break 3:30 - 5:00 Second Round (Choose one) Repeat of sessions offered on April 30 Evening: 6:00 - 7:00 Reception 7:00 - 9:00 Dinner - Statler Inn Wednesday, May 2 Plenary Sessions: 8:30 - 9:45 Financing Electronic Information Resources Moderator: Malcom Getz, Vanderbilt 9:45 - 10:15 Break 10:15 - 12:00 Developing the Electronic Library: Agenda for the 1990's Institute Analysts Robert Hayes, Jan Kennedy Olsen Reaction/discussion by conference participants. Institute Faculty: Ross Atkinson, Assistant University Librarian for Collection Development and Preservation, Cornell University; Rowland Brown, former CEO of OCLC, Inc., consultant to OCLC and other organi- zations; Kathy Chiang, Computer Data Librarian, Mann Library; Howard Curtis, Head of Information Technology Section, Mann Library; Carl W. Deal, Director of Library Collections, University of Illinois - Cham- paign/Urbana; Sam Demas, Head of Collection Development, Mann Library; Nancy Evans, Reference Librarian, Carnegie Mellon University; Emily Gallup Fayen, Director of Information Systems, University of Pennsyl- vania; Tony Ferguson, Resources Group Director, Columbia University; Malcom Getz, Associate Provost for Information Services, Vanderbilt University; Morris Glicksman, Provost, Brown University; Peter Gra- ham, Associate Vice President for Information Services and Associate University Librarian for Technical and Automated Services, Rutgers University; Robert Hayes, Professor, UCLA Graduate School of Library and Information Science; Brian Kahin, Adjunct Research Fellow, Sci- ence, Technology and Public Policy Program, Kennedy School of Govern- ment, Harvard University; Robert Kahn, Corporation for National Re- search Initiatives; Steve Metalitz, Vice President and Counsel, Gov- ernment Relations, Information Industry Association; Jan Kennedy Ol- sen, Director, Mann Library; Peggy Seiden, Caregie Mellon University; Brian Sweet, Group Leader, Product Development, BIOSIS; Ward Shaw, Executive Director, CARL (Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries); Gene L. Weimers, Social Sciences and Humanities Program, Office of Technology Assessment, U.S. Congress; others to be announced. For more information contact: Samuel Demas A.R. Mann Library Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 BITNET: EKZY@CORNELLA VIRGINIA COPES WITH RISING SERIAL PRICES Kenneth O. Jensen, Director for Collection Development, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, VA, BITNET: KOJ@VIRGINIA In April 1989, a Study Group on Library Materials Pricing Policies was appointed by the General Professional Advisory Committee (GPAC) of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The Study Group was charged with considering ways to deal with the large annual increases in the prices of periodicals. The Study Group investigated and made recommendations on four major areas. 1. The cause and effect of the escalating costs of periodicals. 2. Strategies adopted by Virginia's academic and research libraries in the face of increased cost coupled with essentially static funding. 3. The role of technology and the benefits it could bring to bear to ameliorate the crisis. 4. The role of the total scholarly community in addressing the prob- lem. Nancy Marshall, University Librarian at the College of William and Mary, chaired the Study Group, which issued its report on October 31, 1989. Among other recommendations for short term actions, the Study Group advised that librarians and faculty "should review their sub- scriptions to high priced-low use journals. Only a single subscription to such journals should be retained at one library in the state, with the agreement that priority telefaxing of article copies will be given to other Virginia academic libraries." A separate committee has now been formed to implement this recommendation. Copies of the full report may be obtained from John Molnar, Council of Higher Education, 101 North 14th Street, Richmond, VA 23219. CARNEGIE FOUNDATION REPORT ON FACULTY ATTITUDES Holly Melanson, Coordinator of Collections Development, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada; BITNET: BIRDSALL@AC.DAL.CA The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has published some figures useful to the debate on quality control in scholarly publishing. THE CONDITION OF THE PROFESSORIATE: ATTITUDES AND TRENDS 1989 gathers information from a survey of 5,000 faculty members at a variety of educational institutions. It is no surprise that 54 percent of those surveyed say it is difficult to receive tenure without pub- lishing. Only 41 percent agreed with this statement in the 1969 sur- vey. However, there are signs that faculty members are disturbed at the amount of publishing being generated: 38 percent say that publica- tions are just counted and not qualitatively measured at their insti- tutions. A similar number agree that the pressure to publish reduces the quality of teaching at their university. Respondents at research universities agreed more strongly with the latter statement (52 per- cent) than faculty members at colleges and other types of institutions of higher education. These facts and figures can advance discussion with faculty of journal price increases and their root cause. A CRISIS IN SCHOLARLY PUBLICATION: WHAT YOU CAN DO Peggy Johnson, Interim Collection Development Planning Officer, University of Minnesota Library; BITNET: M-JOHN@UMINN1. (Johnson wrote a summary of the journal pricing situation for presen- tation to Minnesota's Senate Library Committee. Subsequent discussion led to the points under "What You Can Do." These excerpts from the report and discussion are reprinted from LIBRARY LINE: AN OCCASIONAL NEWSLETTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA LIBRARIES - TWIN CITIES, February 1990.) The consequences of the serials crisis are significant. The proportion of library budgets devoted to serials expenditures is increasing at a rate that threatens to consume the entire acquisitions budget. Never- theless, the serials holdings of the members of the Association of Research Libraries have decreased over the last three years and con- tinue to do so. In other words, research libraries are spending more, but buying less. These trends are having a very adverse effect on the University of Minnesota and, indeed, on our state. First, they prevent the Libraries from reclaiming ground that was lost over the last two decades with respect to peer institutions. Second, they cause libraries in Minnesota to become even more depend- ent on MINITEX, and this in turn places greater stress upon the inter- library loan system. Third, they are eroding the ability of libraries to support campus instruction and research. And, finally, they are causing unplanned and, in some instances, high- ly skewed budget allocations within libraries, some of which may not be in consonance with academic priorities. WHAT YOU CAN DO When these issues were discussed by the Senate Library Committee on December 7, 1989, several suggestions were offered. Taken together, these might be viewed as an "agenda for action" by scholars and li- brarians. --First, professors should resist the temptation to write in terms of "least publishable units" (LPUs). That is, submit one complete arti- cle on one's research findings rather than several smaller articles to more narrowly focused, specialized journals. --Second, scholarly and professional associations should regularly evaluate their relationships with commercial publishers. Faculty can encourage such scrutiny at professional meetings or by means of contacts with members of editorial boards. --Third, faculty who are members of scholarly associations could stim- ulate greater discussion of the growing crisis in scholarly communi- cation and request that these associations address this topic at annual meetings or through newsletters and journals published by the associations. --Fourth, faculty need to become as well informed as possible concern- ing this matter and explore whether it is always in the best inter- est of scholarship to relinquish copyright of their articles to commercial publishers. --Finally, scholars need to become more cognizant of the high cost of scholarly materials, and the fact that libraries are often required to pay considerably higher prices for subscriptions than individuals pay. HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS Chuck Hamaker, Louisiana State University; BITNET:NOTCAH@LSUVM. My complaint about MATHEMATICAL REVIEWS ON DISK is partially answered by William B. Woolf, "The MATHEMATICAL REVIEWS Database: The Power of Modern Technology," in AMS NOTICES, 37 (February 1990): 132-34. Woolf notes that 90 percent of the cost of MR comes from preparation of the data for the database. I think my point is still valid, however, that since paper subscriptions are already paying the way, they should consider striking out to new markets: find out if it works, experi- ment, see if lower pricing works -- and helps or hurts. If you don't throw the dice you can't win the crap shoot. The AMS Board believes, however, "that each user of the information (should) somehow partici- pate in the funding of its creation. The problem of determining pric- ing policies for the various products so as to accomplish this equita- bly is not an easy one; the AMS staff and Board of Trustees struggle with it regularly." My advice is still the same: go for a larger sub- scription base: it's the first time in almost 2 decades the opportuni- ty has come; last time it was technology. Include a CD ROM player in the initial subscription for first time subscribers, especially to third world countries. Take a chance on the future. Take a crack at U.S. AID -- anybody -- to get players into the rest of the world. And, publishers all, why don't you cooperate on that kind of a project? Get players and cheap pc's into Hungary, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Rhodesia, and Poland -- with surge protectors please. If you are really internation- al, get the Japanese to help bring them into the 21st century before we land there without them. (Tefko Saracevic at Rutgers would be a good contact; he's working on microfilm readers and basic subscrip- tions in microfilm to third world countries. You do read the ASIS annual conference proceedings don't you?) In a recent speech, Allan Bromley, President Bush's science advisor said the U.S. is threatened with the prospect of becoming "The first fully industrialized third-world nation." At the U.S. Education De- partment-sponsored conference he also pointed out "it is clear we are not educating students so that they can compete effectively in the international marketplace." (from the NASULGC GREEN SHEET Circular Letter no. 1, Feb., 1990, p. 12.) The same issue of the GREEN SHEET (p.7) reports a study from Walter W. McMahon of the University of Illinois -- a joint study with Hans de Groot of Erasmus University, Rotterdam and J. Frederick Volkwein of SUNY Albany -- noting that 11 private universities and 21 top public institutions representing 22 percent of the schools studied, generated 55 percent of the academic publications. If anyone knows McMahon, this part of his study, which generally focused on other concerns, would certainly be of interest. Has it been published? If academic publica- tions are this closely "produced" there may be some real solutions out there for our mutual problems. However: ARL statistics are out for 1988-1989. They include a new graph prepared by Kendon Stubbs, which provides dramatic evidence of the condition of America's research libraries. Because of changes in reporting, there is now a historical line of data on number of mono- graph volumes purchased from many of the ARL libraries, as well as data for number of serial titles purchased. Since 1985-1986 the li- braries providing this data indicate a 19 percent drop in books pur- chased and no increase in the number of serial titles purchased. Mono- graph unit price is up 38 percent since 1985-1986, and serials unit price is up 44 percent. This suggests that to have remained even, libraries would have had to increase BOOK BUDGETS AT THE SAME LEVEL AS SERIALS EXPENDITURES TO PURCHASE THE SAME NUMBER OF BOOKS AS THEY DID IN 1985-1986! Are the same forces at work in scholarly and scientific book prices as in serials? The answer, from these data, seems to be an unqualified yes. The January 1990 issue of the LIBRARY ASSOCIATION RECORD just arrived a bit waterlogged (as much of Louisiana is right now). The editor of MCB University Press's NEW LIBRARY WORLD has resigned after seven years with the journal, in protest of the doubling of the price to 100 pounds sterling. Edward Dudley (the editor) had a letter about this in the November, 1989, issue of the RECORD. That's the good news. Russell Bowden, in a brief note on the Barschall/Gordon and Breach suits seems to ignore the fact that G & B has a major British office and prints most of its journals in the UK. As many others have, he insists Gordon & Breach is an AMERICAN publisher. However, he notes that the Library Association agrees with others that the Barschall suits are a form of intimidation. "Just as publishers claim the right to fix prices at levels they believe the market can bear or that production costs jus- tify, so librarians and others must be free to criticise pricing poli- cies which they believe are unjustified." The bad news is that the Library Association Council has approved the sale of a large part of LA Publishing Ltd. to Bowker-Saur, part of the Butterworths publishing conglomerate (actually, it's part of the Reed conglomerate). Given the problems German libraries have had with ex- clusive arrangements with Saur distributing Bowker publications it is surprising the LA would sell them. This is an international problem, as Dr. Barschall reminded us. Going to Saur-Bowker-Butterworths: LI- BRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE ABSTRACTS (LISA), BRITISH HUMANITIES INDEX, CURRENT TECHNOLOGY INDEX, CURRENT RESEARCH IN LIBRARY AND IN- FORMATION SCIENCE, APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES INDEX AND ABSTRACTS, and THE JOURNAL OF LIBRARIANSHIP. Edward Dudley, the aforementioned editor who resigned when MCB doubled the price of NLW, has an article in the same issue which criticizes the decision. "Question for all of us is what Auntie plans to do with loads of unexpected money we get in ex- change for selling of the profitable bits of LAPL (Library Association Publishing Ltd.)? This question, asked by last year's LA President, Martin Sone, in LA Council is so far (18 Dec.) not answered. And what shall we do with the unprofitable bits?" (They held on to membership journals and the book division.) So Bowker gets bigger; will they force us in the Americas to buy the LA stuff from New York?? Colonial- ism redux. Ain't that part of why we had the Boston Tea Party? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 pub- lished as news is available by the American Library Association's Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Publish- er/Vendor-Library Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Serials Pric- ing Issues. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; ALANET: ALA0348; Paper mail: Serials 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. Committee members are: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Mary Elizabeth Clack (Harvard University), Jerry Curtis (Consultant), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Robert Houbeck (Univer- sity of Michigan), and Marcia Tuttle. EBSCONET customers may receive the newsletter in paper format from EBSCO. Back issues of the newslet- ter are available electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ====================================================================== ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE******* ======================================================================== Subject: PRICING NEWSLETTER, NO. 19 ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NUMBER 19 -- MARCH 19, 1990 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR, Marcia Tuttle GORDON AND BREACH RESPONSE TO `AMERICAN LIBRARIES' EDITORI- AL, Christopher E. Schneider FOUNDATION FOR INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION FORMING INDEPENDENT PANEL TO CONDUCT PRICE SURVEYS OF SCIENCE JOURNALS, Michael Klepper Associates, Inc. REPLY TO TOM GAUGHAN'S EDITORIAL AND NEWS STORY IN `AMERICAN LIBRARIES,' Maurice Levy NEWS FROM ARL'S OFFICE OF SCHOLARLY AND ACADEMIC PUBLICA- TION, Ann Okerson UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA'S `SAVE THE LIBRARY' RALLY, Randy Reichardt DIFFERENTIAL PRICING WORKSHOP AT IFLA, Nancy Anderson JOHN T. ZUBAL BUYS USBE, October Ivins NORTH AMERICAN SERIALS INTEREST GROUP FIFTH ANNUAL CONFER- ENCE, JUNE 2-5, 1990 FROM THE EDITOR Marcia Tuttle Well, for all of you loyal BITNET subscribers who may have believed, with, me that the multiple copies problem was over, I'm sorry. Howev- er, I have once again been assured that there is plenty of disk space and this issue will go out only once and very quickly. I guess I'd better ask you again to let me know if you get more than one copy. If you get multiple messages with the subject: NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES, NO. 19, you can go ahead and delete all except one. I will never send later editions or supplements. Each mailing will have its own consecutive number. That's a promise. Usually getting messages is fun, but this got downright depressing! On the other matter I asked you to respond to, I am still counting up the copies of the newsletter that you forward electronically and in paper. At this point, e-mail is leading paper, a good sign! At last count you have reported forwarding the newsletter to 168 other per- sons, many of whom send it, in turn, to even more readers. Several of you mentioned institutional administrators, faculty members, editorial boards, publishers, and other nonlibrarians who receive copies. A lot of other comments came in the mail after issue no. 18 went out, and I would like to pass on some of them here. Sidney C. Abrahams, former editor of ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA and currently at the Universi- ty of Tubingen, sent this message: I would strongly second Fred Spilhaus' proposal that scientists decline to publish in, review for, or purchase low-quality high- cost journals. I would add that scientists could very well also be advised to decline all offers to be associated with the edito- rial boards of such journals in addition to withholding any rec- ommendation to their libraries to purchase them. Clarification about the G & B lawsuit against the American Mathemati- cal Society comes from Mary Lane of AMS: We have not been served formally with the papers but G & B's lawyer has sent us copies of the documents filed in the German courts. The suit has two parts: one the injunction against dis- tributing their pricing surveys and a second part for citing unfair competition. Peggy Johnson, University of Minnesota - St. Paul Campus, sends a follow-up report to her article in the last issue: I have received responses from six of our faculty who took the time to write lengthy letters, so the article served its purpose of both raising "consciousness" and provoking reflection on the causes and consequences of the situation. We have been pleasantly surprised. This effort seems to have been far more effective than our other attempts! GORDON AND BREACH RESPONSE TO AMERICAN LIBRARIES EDITORIAL Christopher E. Schneider, International Sales Manager, Gordon & Breach, Science Publishers, Inc., 50 West 23rd Street, New York NY 10010 Because of NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES's immediate readership and the objective forum that it has for its contributors, we offer the following comments on Tom Gaughan's editorial in the March issue of AMERICAN LIBRARIES, "A Splendid Wake for a Corporate Suicide." Gordon and Breach's actions following publication of the serials price survey in PHYSICS TODAY were guided by a single principle: fairness. We sincerely believe that the survey's methodology was superficial, unscientific, and grievously flawed, and after detecting these flaws sought correction, which was denied. It is only because we believe such surveys constitute unfair compara- tive advertising that we initiated civil suits against the AIP, APS, and Mr. Barschall, in jurisdictions where their survey was widely distributed and where the primary form of relief available to a pub- lisher is a correction of any misstatements. Make no mistake: Gordon and Breach brought suit against a competing publisher, who is falsely stating that our prices are much higher than they really are. There also seems to be confusion over a questionnaire distributed by the Foundation for International Scientific Cooperation. The Founda- tion has announced that it will create an international panel t define and develop criteria for future surveys that assess the relative cost- effectiveness of science publications. Having suggested that a panel be formed by the Foundation, Gordon and Breach mailed (albeit prema- turely) the questionnaire which was sent to librarians who, as ANONY- MOUS respondents, will assist the panel in their endeavor. Had we been performing insidious covert activities, surely we would not have used our own postage meter, and, indeed, surely would have requested the librarian's name and affiliation. Simply stated, we intend to protect our business from inaccurate com- parison and intend to foster exacting survey methodology. And if, as Mr. Gaughan says, "the social system of scientists values the free exchange of differing views," we feel that their professional system values, above all, the adherence to rigorous methodology. FOUNDATION FOR INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION FORMING INDEPEN- DENT PANEL TO CONDUCT PRICE SURVEYS OF SCIENCE JOURNALS News release from Michael Kiepper Associates, Inc., Marketing Com- munications, 805 Third Avenue, New York NY 10022; telephone: (212) 644-1100; FAX: (212) 644-1866; contact: Frank Forest, Vicki Banner. NEW YORK, March 6 -- The Foundation for International Scientific Coop- eration announced today that it will create an independent, interna- tional panel to define and develop criteria for future surveys that assess the relative cost-effectiveness of science publications. The panel was conceived and proposed to the Foundation by Gordon & Breach Science Publishers. Panelists, said Dr. Maurice Levy, executive director of the Founda- tion, will include international representatives from the scientific community, the publishing industry, and survey groups. Professor Lewis Klein of Howard University has been selected to chair the panel. "During the past decade, rising prices have put pressure on institu- tions and individual readers to purchase more selectively, thereby cutting down on the number of subscriptions," said Levy. "We need to establish a classification for different types of journals based on publication price and the scope of content. This will allow consumers to more accurately judge comparative value." Said Dr. Klein: "This move is long overdue, given the growing number of journals and increasing market segmentation. It's ironic that we're only now introducing the scientific method to the assessment of sci- ence publications." The Foundation for International Scientific Cooperation is a non-prof- it organization that encourages an appreciation and understanding of science among international audiences. It is currently analyzing the results of a survey designed to assist the panel's members. REPLY TO TOM GAUGHAN'S EDITORIAL AND NEWS STORY IN `AMERICAN LIBRAR- IES,' Maurice Levy, Director, Foundation for International Scientif- ic Cooperation, c/o Frank Forestieri, Michael Klepper Associates, Inc., Marketing Communications, 805 Third Avenue, New York NY 10022; telephone: (212) 644-1100; FAX: (212) 644-1866. March 16, 1990 Dear Sirs: This communication is in reply to Tom Gaughan's editorial and news story in the March issue of AMERICAN LIBRARIES. I am the Director of the Foundation for International Scientific Cooperation which has been commissioned by Gordon and Breach Science Publishers to Assemble an impartial, international panel to analyze and define criteria for surveys that assess the relative cost effectiveness of scientific publications. It was the hope of the company that this would put an end to acrimony and develop objective criteria for future surveys. As part of this exercise, they mailed for the Foundation, a question- naire to librarians to ascertain some of the basic background informa- tion of the study. This questionnaire was not solely directed to the American Institute of Physics Study as has been reported by your jour- nal, but included other studies and asked librarians to provide still other studies which had also been influential in their decisions. The survey also requested names of publications of all publishers which had been cancelled as a result of such surveys. The purpose was to see if there was a pattern which perhaps had as much to do with quality as with price. The questionnaire was totally anonymous. Respondents were not asked to supply their names or addresses and a postpaid return envelope to the Foundation's address in Washington was supplied by Gordon and Breach so that the confidence could be preserved. Gordon and Breach has now been accused of seeking information by his (SIC) means for its lawsuit against what it proports (SIC) to be an unfair survey published by the AIP. I do not believe this is true. This information is only being used for statistical analysis for our panel. There is no way a response from an unknown person in a jurisdiction in which there was no lawsuit can be used in any way. I believe the problem occurred because someone at Gordon and Breach prematurely mailed the questionnaire before final authorization had been received from the board. In fact, all of the Directors had not been fully apprised of the situation. The panel is presently being assembled under the coordination of Pro- fessor Lewis Klein of Howard University. I hope the survey will pro- vide an objective method for the evaluation of scientific literature and a valid basis for price comparison between publications. Sincerely, (signed) Maurice Levy/FF Maurice Levy Director ML/ff NEWS FROM ARL'S OFFICE OF SCHOLARLY AND ACADEMIC PUBLICATION Ann Okerson, Director, ARL/OSAP, Association of Research Libraries, 1527 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone: (202) 232-2466; FAX: (202) 462-7849. 1. As reported in Newsletter 18, the (British) Library Association has approved the sale of much of its publishing program (i.e., LISA, BRITISH HUMANITIES INDEX, etc.) to Bowker-Saur (owned by Butterworths owned by Reed). The sale is to be concluded shortly. This matter was recently reported in "Council approves sale of LAPL serials," by George Cunningham, in the LIBRARY ASSOCIATION RECORD, 92 (1) January 1990, p. 4. (Thanks to Chuck Hamaker for this.) Librarians concerned about a sale of not-for-profit serials to the for-profit sector -- past experience tells us that this is a certain road to substantial price increases -- ought to write to: Russell Bowden, Executive Director, The Library Association, 7 Ridgmount Street, London, ENGLAND WC1E 7AE. 2. The Publishing Enterprise in General, and Where It Is Going. (a) "The Great Publishing Crash of 1989," by Frank Kiernan, in 7 DAYS, January 24, 1990, pp. 12-19. (This is a weekly New York magazine.) This piece examines takeovers, large advances, high stakes, and an industry facing financial difficulties as a result. (b) "Debate Grows in Publishing Over Tough Business Tactics," by Roger Cohen, in THE NEW YORK TIMES, Monday, March 5, 1990, pp. A1 & D9. The article suggests that there may not be the proper business expertise in the industry now that the stakes are so high. Both articles deal, at least indirectly, with the matter of publishing "quality" books and literature. 3. Scholarship, how "good" and how "necessary" is it? (a) Schaefer, William D., "Much `Scholarship' in the Humanities is Done Badly and Probably Shouldn't Be Done at All," in THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, March 7, 1990, pp. B1-3. A former executive director of MLA and currently a professor of English at UCLA describes the PMLA effort to publish only articles good enough and significant enough for the entire membership. He views with despair the "twaddle" that passes for scholarship. (b) Shenefelt, Michael, "Confessions of a Teacher," in NEWSWEEK, March 5, 1990, pp. 10-11 (Column called "My Turn"). Should 203 schol- arly articles about Milton really have been written, let alone pub- lished, in 1988? What does this suggest about the quality of writing and teaching in our colleges? Both the above articles are interesting in that they offer a humani- ties viewpoint, as opposed to the similar comments about sciences that we are more used to reading. 4. Peer Review. A major contribution in this field in the newest issue of JAMA (JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION), March 9, 1990, vol. 263, no. 10. The entire special issue is devoted to pub- lishing selected proceedings from last May's First International Con- gress on Peer Review in Biomedical Publication. For the first time, a collection of considered comments and research on peer review appears. The organizers plan to hold the second conference in 1992. 5. National Science Board. SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING INDICATORS, 1989. Washington DC, USGPO, 1990, just released. Always worth perusing for trends in science and engineering education, employment, R & D, mar- kets, and public policy, this biennial for the first time (article on pp. 112-13, "Library Costs for Serials") highlights the problem of scientific journal costs for libraries and the ARL work on this front. 6. NISO Standard, ANSI Z39.16-1979, AMERICAN NATIONAL STANDARD FOR THE PREPARATION OF SCIENTIFIC PAPERS FOR WRITTEN OR ORAL PRESENTATION. This standard has been circulated to ARL for ballot and revision. Rather than commenting on it, I am quoting selected portions: 2. IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK TO BE REPORTED. Before preparing scien- tific or technical papers, authors should consider whether they have meaningful advances in knowledge to report . . . 2.3. AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATE PUBLICATION. A manuscript should not be submitted for publication if the work described (or a substan- tial portion of it) has already been published or accepted for publication elsewhere. . . 2.4. RESTRAINT IN NUMBER OF PAPERS PUBLISHED. The description of a single series of experiments -- even if the series is extensive -- should not be distributed over two or more papers unless this would substantially aid readers and facilitate their comprehen- sion. . . Publication of fragmentary work should be avoided. The statement of purpose says that the standard is directed primarily at authors, a group generally not falling within the scope of NISO. Since most authors are unaware of the standard and both they and pub- lishers do not necessarily follow it, ought it to be abandoned -- or, how can it be promoted? DUPLICATES EXCHANGE UNION Karen Muller, ALCTS Executive Director, American Library Associa- tion, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago IL 60611; BITNET: U19466@UICVM. Issues ago the Newsletter queried readers about alternatives to USBE. Here's information on one. The Duplicates Exchange Union (DEU), a voluntary, nonprofit network of libraries for the exchange of periodicals, books, documents, and other library material, invites new memberships. Each DEU member prepares a list of material available for exchange at least once a year and sends this list to each of the other members. Other members may request items from the offering library, and the items are distributed on a first come, first served basis. Items are shipped library rate, and the only cost is postage, which must be refunded if the amount exceeds $1.00. Begun in 1942, the DEU is spon- sored by the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, a division of the American Library Association. The DEU is open to all types and sizes of libraries. Interested li- brarians can receive a descriptive brochure from : Duplicates Exchange Union, ALCTS, American Library Association, 50 E. Huron Street, Chica- go IL 60611. UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA'S `SAVE THE LIBRARY' RALLY Randy Reichardt, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; BITNET: USERLRAN@UALTAMTS. On February 28, a "Save the Library" Rally was held on the steps of the Administration Building of the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Between 400 and 500 people watched as speaker after speaker made pleas to the President of the University to help stop the Library from de- teriorating. Each speaker told of how cuts and shrinking collections affected his or her research, and many stressed that the Library is the "heart and soul" of the University. Speakers included five faculty members, the President of the Graduate Students' Association, the Acting Chief Librarian, and the President of the University. Stephen Downes, the GSA President, displayed a handful of books that he had to purchase in Vancouver, not available at the University of Alberta. Dr. Werner Israel, University Professor of Physics, noted that while the Library budget actually has not been cut in actual dollars, the money spent on sci-tech subscriptions be- tween 1982 and 1989 went up 74 percent, while the average cost of those journals went up 133 percent, four times the cost of living. Dr. Israel: "Up to this decade, we had a Library to be proud of, the sec- ond finest in the country and one of the best on the continent. Now we are headed downwards. In 1988, we spent $670 per student on the Li- brary; McGill spent $790, Toronto $800, and the University of British Columbia $840. These figures tell their own story." Dr. Israel also cited his recent stay at Kyoto University, where most facilities were in various stages of deterioration, except the li- brary, which he noted "...was a model, with a complete range of every- thing essential and no effort spared to keep the collection up to date. The Japanese understand the priorities of an academic institu- tion and how to distribute limited resources." Juliet McMaster of the Department of English presented President Paul Davenport with a Save the Library petition that included over 2,100 names. The Save the Library Committee intends to continue its fight to secure better funding for the Library. It was also noted that the Library cancelled serials in 1987 and 1989, and plans to do so again in 1990. In 1987, 8 percent of periodical subscriptions were lost, and 10 percent in 1989; this year, 10 to 20 percent more could go. DIFFERENTIAL PRICING WORKSHOP AT IFLA Nancy Anderson, University of Illinois Library, Champaign/Urbana; BITNET: NDANDERS@UIUCVMD. For those attending the 1990 IFLA General Conference this summer in Stockholm, there is an all day workshop on Thursday, August 23, for the first 50 persons to sign up. This workshop is sponsored by Acqui- sition and Exchange jointly with Serial Publications, UAP Office, and Liber. Theme: `Will the Chain Break? Differential pricing as part of a new pricing structure for research literature and its consequences for the future of academic communication.' The morning program will be the presentation of the final report on the differential pricing project (questionnaire results and analysis) and discussion (contribution by publishers, booksellers, librarians, authors, and editors). The after- noon topic will be the consequences of the differential pricing policy for the future of academic communication. REGISTER WITH: Mr. Ulrich Montag, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Postfach 340150, D-8000 Munich 71, Federal Republic of Germany. JOHN T. ZUBAL, INC. BUYS USBE October Ivins, Louisiana State University Library, Baton Rouge LA; BITNET: NOTORI@LSUVM. (Extracted from her regular "Serials Prices" column in SERIALS REVIEW, vol. 16, no. 1.) A call to follow up on reader responses to the discussion of USBE's bankruptcy in column 6 (SR 15, no. 4: 65-68) produced some surprising and welcome information. John T. Zubal, proprietor of the firm that bears his name, purchased part of the stock, name, and mailing list of bankrupt USBE (Universal Serials and Book Exchange), as approved by the bankruptcy judge on March 16, 1990. The operation has been moved from Washington DC to Cleveland OH, and is expected to become opera- tional on April 2, 1990. Mr. Zubal states: "We are responding to a need in the library community and plan to operate the new USBE on a membership basis." USBE will be managed by Mr. Zubal's wife, Marilyn Zubal, who has been in charge of the back issue department of their firm for twenty-five years. Both John and Marilyn Zubal will attend the June 1990 meeting of the North American Serials Interest Group. Mr. Zubal will run John T. Zubal, Inc., which will continue to be operated as an independent firm specializing in antiquarian books and serial back files. Plans call for USBE to accept library duplicates and charge a set issue price of $7.00, which is higher than the old USBE price of $5.00, but still "reasonable." Since USBE records are in disarray, the new USBE will accept library orders at the member rate throughout the remainder of 1990. Membership renewals will be mailed during Fall 1990 for 1991; a membership fee of $100 is anticipated. Memberships will be restricted to institutional, corporate, and medical libraries. Inquir- ies may be sent to Marilyn Zubal; USBE; 2969 West 25th Street, Cleve- land OH 44113-5332; telephone: (216) 241-6960; FAX: (216) 241-6966. NORTH AMERICAN SERIALS INTEREST GROUP FIFTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE, JUNE 2- 5, 1990, from conference announcements We are pleased to announce final plans for the Fifth Annual NASIG Conference to be held June 2-5, 1990, at Brock University, St. Catha- rine's, Ontario, Canada. Brock can accommodate 573 people in the main sessions and provide overnight accommodations for at least 420. Brock University is situated on top of the Niagara escarpment over- looking Lake Ontario, approximately 11 miles from Niagara Falls. The university can be reached in less than one-and-a-half hours from both the Toronto and Buffalo International Airports. Niagara Falls, the Welland Canal, Fort George and Old Fort Niagara, historic Niagara-on- the-Lake, the Shaw Festival, several major Canadian wineries, shop- ping, cultural activities, and major sporting events in either Toronto or Buffalo, are all nearby. We are featuring three popular sites for our tours, as well as a special opportunity to attend the Shaw Festi- val. For further registration information please contact Ester Sleep (Canada) at (416) 688-5550, ext. 3718 or Susan Davis (U.S.) (716) 636- 2786. Program Highlights: Sunday, June 3 Keynote Speaker: Lucretia McClure, Director, Edward G. Miner Library, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester; President-Elect, Medical Library Association The Crisis of Rising Serial Prices in a Canadian Context. Gayle Garlock, Associate Librarian, Collection Development and Preservation, University of Toronto CISTI: Meeting the Needs of the Canadian Scientific and Tech- nical Community. Brenda Hurst, Head, Acquisitions, Canadian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information The Elephant and the Mouse Revisited: Periodical Prices and the Canadian Market. Becky Rogers, Space Planning and Ad- ministrative Librarian, and Patricia Grieg, Associate Di- rector for Public Services, University of Western Ontario The EDI Horizon: Implementing an ANSI X12 Pilot Project at Faxon. Frederick E. Schwartz, Manager, Electronic Data In- terchange Service, The Faxon Company Managing Electronic Subscriptions. Patricia E. Sabosik, Editor and Publisher, CHOICE Monday, June 4 Panel: The Peer Review Process: Strengths and Weaknesses Lewis Gidez, Director of Publications, Federation of Ameri- can Societies for Experimental Biology Bruce Squires, Editor-in-chief, CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION JOURNAL Bruce Dancik, Chair, Department of Forest Service, Universi- ty of Alberta Ann C. Weller, Deputy Librarian for the Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago Tuesday, June 5 A Longitudinal Study of Journal Prices in a Research Library. Kenneth Marks, University Librarian, and Steve Nielsen, Fiscal Officer, Utah State University A Cost-per-Use Method for Weeding a Journal Collection. Doro- thy Milne, Science Collections Librarian, and Bill Tiffany, Head, Acquisitions/Periodicals, Memorial Univerity of New- foundland Serials Cataloging: Time for a New Perspective! Sheila S. Intner, Associate Professor, Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science Residential rate for the conference is: Single room $US220, $Can255; double room $US190, $Can$220. Closing date for registration is May 15. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 pub- lished as news is available by the American Library Association's Association of Library Collections and Technical Services, Publisher/ Vendor-Library Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Serials Pricing Issues. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; ALANET: ALA0348; Paper mail: Serials Department, C.B. #3938 Davis Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC 27599-3938. Committee members are: Deana Astle (Clem- son University), Mary Elizabeth Clack (Harvard University), Jerry Curtis (Consultant), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Robert Houbeck (University of Michigan), and Marcia Tuttle. EBSCONET customers may receive the newsletter in paper format from EBSCO. Back issues of the newsletter are available electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ====================================================================== ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE******* ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 27 Mar 90 19:47 EST From: Marcia Tuttle ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NUMBER 20 -- MARCH 28, 1990 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR, Marcia Tuttle HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS, Chuck Hamaker EDITIONS BRIEL (CAMBRIDGE MA), Bob Lincoln WHERE GOES THE DEUTSCH MARK? Danny Jones ANY INFO OUT THERE? Vince Courtney USBE ALIVE AND WELL IN CLEVELAND, OHIO, Press release LIBRARIES FACE SERIALS CRISIS, Michael Renshawe ACRL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SECTION TO ADDRESS ACCESS TO SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION AT 1990 ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE, Press release FROM THE EDITOR Marcia Tuttle The report in Newsletter 17 on the ACRL program in Dallas, had a coup- le of errors. First, as Carol Hutchins told us non-physicists, we used PHYSICS REVIEW instead of PHYSICAL REVIEW in reporting Dr. Barschall's illustration of the growth and change in physics research. In the same paragraph, we misquoted some of the figures. That paragraph should read as follows: The number of abstracts in physics has risen from 24,200 in 1962 to 143,000 in 1988. During this same period, the membership of the American Institute of Physics rose from 18,500 to 39,400, and the number of PHYSICAL REVIEW pages from 9,800 to 48,800. While indicative of the explosion of support for physics, it also re- flects the changing nature of the authors published in PHYSICAL REVIEW. In 1973, 24 percent of PHYSICAL REVIEW authors were for- eign, in large part because of page charges which many were for- bidden by their governments to pay. Now, 52 percent of PHYSICAL REVIEW authors are from outside the U.S. Joanna Wagar from Northern Michigan University Library says: It would be interesting to learn how libraries respond to faculty requests for new periodical or serial titles. Her BITNET id is USERSW12@UMICHUM; I hope she'll send a summary of the responses for a future issue of the Newsletter. Issue 16 reprinted a letter from Danny Jones (University of Texas Health Science Center Library) to the editor of the EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY, complaining about the publication of an unsolicited added volume and suggesting that the price of the journal be lowered. Danny has forwarded copies of the response from both the editor and the publisher of EJB, as well as his own response to the publisher. The editor, Prof. P. Christen, wrote: I am familiar with both camps: University and Institute libraries with their limited budgets on the one hand and editors and pub- lishers who try to increase the reputation and visibility of their journals on the other. I still think that a collection of the reviews into a handy separate volume is a useful tool for scientists and students. Professor Christen promised to discuss the issue with the publisher and to keep Danny informed. A letter from Dr. Nicola Klupsch, Journals Marketing, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, expresses concern about the complaint. She said: Our main aim in publishing the collected reviews on an annual basis is to make these accessible to advanced students of bio- chemistry and related fields. We had hoped that you, as are all subscribers to the EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY, would be pleased to receive a complimentary copy of a publication that is otherwise on sale to the scientific community. Danny's response to Dr. Klupsch reads as follows: In your letter you refer to this volume as a free copy. I cannot agree with you on this. Certainly there were costs associated with the printing, binding and distribution of this "free" vol- ume, which ultimately must be paid from subscription income. While indeed we were not charged additionally for the volume, I can only conclude that the subscription which my library paid for the EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY was sufficient to cover these additional costs for a publication which I consider extrav- agant and wasteful. I cannot possibly know the financial position of the journal but this incident certainly suggests to me that it is generating more income than necessary to maintain the journal. I would again suggest reducing the subscription cost for next year. Robert Wedgeworth called to say that persons wishing to review and respond to the draft report of the ALCTS Task Force on the Economics of Access to Library Materials (EALS) may request a copy from the ALCTS office at 50 East Huron Street, Chicago IL 60611. Response is due to Wedgeworth by May 1, 1990. The following query comes from Sylvia Martin at Vanderbile (BITNET: MARTINSO@VUCTRVAX): Am curious as to what libraries might be doing about electronic publishing in their collections. Have you heard any comments, decisions, guidelines? Your newsletter is certainly one of the titles worth handling (and perhaps preserving) in a more formal manner than is now being done. Just wondering if any serious thought has been given to this by anyone. HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS Chuck Hamaker, Louisiana State University Library, Baton Rouge; BITNET: NOTCAH@LSUVM. The March 1, 1990, issue of NATURE (page 3) includes a brief note, "Errant Survey Draws Fire," by G. Christopher Anderson. Frank Forrest, a spokesman for Gordon & Breach, is noted as indicating "results from it (the Foundation Survey) could potentially be used as evidence in court to prove that Gordon and Breach was indeed damaged by the arti- cle in PHYSICS TODAY. (The Barschall article). Chris Schneider is noted as saying that the use of the letterhead and the signature "was due to secretarial error." Forrest also is noted as claiming the sur- vey will be "for market research purposes." Since so many scientists worldwide read NATURE, librarians should be prepared to provide addi- tional information as the NATURE article gives very little background. Have just seen the new issue of BOOK RESEARCH QUARTERLY (Winter 1989- 90). William S. Lofquist has a statistical series "U. S. Book Indus- try," on pages 79-83. The most significant finding of this report regards grade school textbooks. "Elementary textbooks noted a 1989 second quarter price increase of 18.4 percent over the same period in 1988. This price increase led the pack!! The two largest producers of textbooks are Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and U.S. Macmillan (which is now cooperating with McGraw Hill in textbooks). HBJ was hurt badly by Robert Maxwell's attempt at an unfriendly takeover last year, and took on an incredible load of corporate debt essentially through stock buy- back to fend him off. Macmillan, of course, Maxwell bought. His U.S. holdings now include Jossey-Bass, SRA, and a host of smaller fry. Foreign or offshore ownership/takeover bids of publishing have perhaps finally given us a bread and butter issue. Is this appropriate for a GAO study (i.e., the effect of foreign involvement in the U.S. pub- lishing on grade school textbooks)? Second quarter price increases are clearly aimed not only at the new school year (1989/90), but also may have a very clear definition by June of total sales. As Texas and California make up the driving force in textbook sales, libraries and school boards in those states would make powerful allies in curbing oligopoly pricing in textbooks and in damage to the education infra- structure. Elementary textbooks stand at an index number of 213.8 in Lofquist's tables, second only to hardbound elementary textbooks (215.4). Is Maxwell now using scarcity pricing tactics on a market big enough to matter? I would suggest ALA might want to become involved in this, if we define it clearly enough. Wedgeworth may even want to revise the EALS report to point out the clear and present danger. RJR Nabisco cracker prices are up about 30 percent since the takeover; will Macmillan and HBJ textbooks, and ultimately our school boards, pay a similar price for lack of protection from foreign practitioners? I'd hate to be protectionist, but the old publishing game of "sell a few and sell them dear" is not appropriate for the textbook market, even when two players dominate the field. EDITIONS BRIEL (CAMBRIDGE MA) Bob Lincoln, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; BITNET: LINCOLN@CCM.UMANITOBA.CA. I hope that some person on the network has some experience with Edi- tions Briel in Massachusetts. I have written to the address and re- ceived information from them on their publications -- The Patristic Bible, and the Encyclopedia of Eastern Christianity. These items are of a serial nature, as they are still in the process of publication. The catch here is that all orders are to be prepaid, in U.S. funds, to the address in Cambridge. I called in February and was told there was no phone. Now, I find out that a phone has been installed, with a number, but they are so overwhelmed with work, no staff, etc., that phone calls are discouraged. The publisher and the associated publish- ers given are new to me, and I've been acquiring things for twenty years. This could be a legitimate offer, or it could not. The person at the press has written that 100 percent of all prepaid orders have been shipped if they were received before 15 January 1990, and 70 percent received between January 16 and February 15, 1990, have been shipped. The publisher and its holding company are negotiating for permanent office and warehouse space in New England. All orders at the moment are being shipped from three different warehouses outside of the U.S. My question to you is, has any library here paid and received materi- als from this publisher? My instincts here are that this could be a very good offer, and acquisitions purchase, or that it could not. The address that I have received information from is: Editions Briel, 1430 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 306-126, Cambridge MA 02138-3810; phone: (617) 498-9709. Any information would be appreciated. My e-mail id is: LINCOLN@CCM.UMANITOBA.CA. Thanks very much. WHERE GOES THE DEUTSCH MARK? Danny Jones, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Anto- nio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78284-7940; BITNET: JONES@UTHSCSA. I've heard conflicting speculation about the value of the Deutsch Mark next fall. Since about 25 percent of my serials budget goes to German publishers, I wonder if any one is following this issue and what it will mean to American library budgets? Perhaps publishers or vendors who read the newsletter could speculate on the possible scenarios and how they will affect serial prices for 1991. ANY INFO OUT THERE? Vince Courtney, State University of New York at Fredonia; BITNET: COURTNEY@SNYFREBA Our library staff are debating the value of attributing costs of seri- als to individual departments. Does any reader of the newsletter know of published or unpublished research or other papers tackling this issue? We're interested in both pro's and con's. Literature searches have pulled in very little that's useful. Send replies to my address (COURTNEY@SNYFREBA) and I'll synthesize for the newsletter, if there's interest. Thanks to all. USBE: ALIVE AND WELL IN CLEVELAND, OHIO Press release dated March 16, 1990. The new management and owners of the Universal Serials and Book Ex- change are pleased to announce that USBE is again in operation, ready to meet the needs of all libraries. During the first year of revived operations at the new location in Cleveland, USBE will waive member- ship fees to all libraries using its services. Membership fees will be re-instated in January, 1991. Membership in USBE is open only to institutional, public, and corpo- rate libraries and will enable libraries to purchase any serials held by USBE for the low flat rate of $7 per bibliographic issue, plus shipping charges. With holdings of more than five million back issues in all scholarly subjects and representative popular magazines and trade journals in stock, USBE is the logical first source for back issues. Each member library will be entitled to one vote in USBE's annual election of advisory board members. Members will elect five advisors to consult with USBE's management on matters of importance to the membership community. Five librarians will be elected annually to the advisory board; the first election is anticipated for Spring, 1991. USBE is currently preparing a booklet detailing services and policies; it will be sent to all libraries in the U.S.A. and Canada and to se- lected libraries elsewhere in the next few weeks. Libraries using USBE's services are encouraged to send their dupli- cates and surplus to USBE. Such contributions will enable USBE to update stock continually and maintain a high success rate in supplying issues. USBE needs scholarly periodicals dated 1988 to present, espe- cially in the fields of art, mathematics, economics and business, allied health sciences, physics, chemistry and biology. USBE may be reached by phone at (216) 241-6960; FAX: (216) 241-6966. The USBE management team is headed by Marilyn Zubal who comes to USBE with nearly 25 years' experience in back issues work at John T. Zubal, Inc. LIBRARIES FACE SERIALS CRISIS Excerpts from an article in FROM THE LIBRARIAN THE MCGILL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES NEWSLETTER (vol. 1, no. 1, Winter 1990), edited by Michael Renshawe, Preservation and Collections Librarian, McGill University Libraries, 3459 McTavish Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1Y1; BITNET: AD70@MCGILLA. ....Caused by rapidly increasing prices for subscriptions to serials, the crisis has severely affected every major research library, includ- ing McGill's.... What you may not be aware of is that the crisis is reaching a critical point at McGill. During the fiscal year 1988/1989 alone, McGill Libraries incurred a cumulative deficit of over $600,000 based entirely on subscription costs. Hundreds of subscriptions to useful duplicate or peripheral journals had to be cancelled. Libraries especially dependent upon STM journals, such as Health Sciences and Physical Sciences and Engineering, were foregoing monographic acquisi- tions in order to pay for serials. Price increases were so steep that much of the Libraries' monograph budget would have had to be diverted to serials, had not a special subvention of $628,000 been awarded by the Quebec government. This was the second, and final, year for such a special subvention, intended to shore up our weakened acquisition of scholarly monographs. This year subscription costs continue to soar and the deficit is grow- ing once again at the same alarming rate. Without additional funding from the University or the government, hundreds of thousands of dol- lars worth of solid academic journals will have to be cancelled with devastating effects on research and teaching.... We need your help. Ask editors and publishers to justify price in- creases for libraries. Encourage the return of journal publishing to learned societies. When possible, submit articles and papers to re- spected but less costly journals. Raise the cost issue at national and international gatherings of scholars. And most importantly, become aware of the costs libraries must pay in order to acquire the key journals in your discipline. Robert Maxwell, owner of Pergamon Press, has been quoted as believing that "scientists are not generally as price-conscious as other professionals, mainly because they are not spending their own money." Help us prove Mr. Maxwell wrong. ACRL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SECTION TO ADDRESS ACCESS TO SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION AT 1990 ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE Press release dated March 19, 1990. "Access for Success: AdDressing Scientific Information" is the theme for the 1990 ACRL Science and Technology Section (STS) program at the American Library Association's Annual Conference in June. Ivars Peter- son, author of MATHEMATICAL TOURIST: SNAPSHOTS OF MODERN MATHEMATICS and mathematics and physics reporter for SCIENCE NEWS, will be the keynote speaker of this program, which will take place Tuesday, June 26, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mr. Peterson, whose keynote address is entitled "The Electronic Grapevine: The Changing Face of Scientific Communication," will discuss how computer networks, electronic mail and bulletin boards, and an ever-increasing number of facsimile ma- chines are rapidly transforming the way scientists communicate ideas and research results. Following Mr. Peterson's talk, the program will divide up into 6 dif- ferent sessions led by various experts. Participants will select a total of 3 sessions to attend. Cynthia Bower of the University of Arizona will speak on "Current Trends in Federal Information Dissemi- nation." Ms. Bower will review two major trends in the distribution of federal governmental information that have taken root in the past decade -- privatization and digitization. Implications for librarians and the researcher, as well as future developments in federal publish- ing, will be covered. Margaret Lindman, Chair of the Curriculum and Instruction at North- eastern Illinois University, and Jill Althage, Director of the Curric- ulum Library at the same institution, will consider "The Library as a Launch Pad for Learning About Science." Dr. Lindman and Ms. Althage will present ideas, materials, and resources that can be used to in- trigue young people and adults about science. H. Robert Malinowsky, editor of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ANNUAL REFER- ENCE REVIEW and science librarian at the University of Illinois at Chicago, will discuss "Accessing Scientific Online Databases: Concerns and Issues." "Conference Proceedings: The Reference Dilemma" is the title of Col- leen Power's presentation. Ms. Power, librarian at California State University at Chico, is an expert on the role of conference papers in research and in library collections. Her talk will consider the prob- lems of locating conference proceedings from a reference perspective. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Marcia Tuttle will discuss the cooperative strategies that librarians and scientists need to develop in order to combat the extremely high costs of access to scientific information, in "Librarians and Scientists: Divided we Fall." Anna Wang of Ohio State University will speak on "The Library at Sci- entists' Fingertips: Issues Involved in Disseminating Scientific In- formation in Multiple Formats." Ms. Wang will examine the issues that libraries face in dealing with a variety of information formats, in- cluding mircrocomputer and CD-ROM applications, locally mounted data- bases, electronic conferences, licensing agreements, networking, copy- right, resource sharing, bibliographic access, document delivery, and user education. The 1990 STS Annual Program will conclude with a summary and wrap-up session led by members of the STS Conference Program Planning Commit- tee. Over 500 people are expected to attend this year's program, the proceedings of which will be published by the American Library Associ- ation. For more information about the 1990 STS Conference Program, contact Caroline D. Harnly, Chair of the 1990 STS Program Planning Committee. Ms. Harnly may be reached at San Freancisco State Universi- ty, J. Paul Leonard Library, 1630 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco CA 94132; (415) 338-1454. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 pub- lished as news is available by the American Library Association's Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Publish- er/Vendor-Library Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Serials Pric- ing Issues. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; ALANET: ALA0348; Paper mail: Serials 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. Committee members are: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Mary Elizabeth Clack (Harvard University), Jerry Curtis (Consultant), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Robert Houbeck (Univer- sity of Michigan), and Marcia Tuttle. EBSCONET customers may receive the newsletter in paper format from EBSCO. Back issues of the newslet- ter are available electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ====================================================================== ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE******* ======================================================================== Received: (from MAILER@UNCVAX1 for TUTTLE@UNC via NJE) (RSCS8002-8002; 777 LINES); Fri, 27 Apr 90 22:43:16 EST Received: from JNET-Daemon by UNCVX1.BITNET; Fri, 27 Apr 90 19:52 EDT Received: From UNC(MAILER) by UNCVAX1 with Jnet id 0426 for PRICES-L@UNCVAX1; Fri, 27 Apr 90 19:52 EST Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 19:47 EST From: Marcia Tuttle Subject: PRICING NEWSLETTER, NO. 21 To: PRICES-L@UNCVX1 ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NUMBER 21 -- APRIL 27, 1990 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR, Marcia Tuttle 1991 SUBSCRIPTION PRICING, Joel Baron MORE ON EDITIONS BRIEL, Richard P. Jasper THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IN SCIENCE LIBRARIES, A.F. Spilhaus, Jr LIBRARY MATERIALS PRICE INDEX COMMITTEE'S U.S. SERIALS SERVICES INDEX, Mary Beth Clack CHANGE IN PUBLICATION PLANS FOR SCIENCE CITATION INDEX AND SOCIAL SCIENCE CITATION INDEX, Siegfried Ruschin "FUNDING FUTURE ACQUISITIONS," Barbara Winters "ACQUISITIONS ADMINISTRATION REQUIREMENTS," Barbara Winters FROM THE EDITOR Marcia Tuttle It has been a month since the last issue of the Newsletter. My sched- ule has interfered, but I'm trying to catch up now. I've received lots more news (and corrections!) that we just don't have room for at the moment. I plan to begin the next issue as soon as I can and hope you'll have it within about 10 days. Thanks for your patience! In this issue we have the full text of Fred Spilhaus's talk during the AAAS Annual Conference in February. This talk has been much quoted and cited, and there was a feeling that it should receive broader distri- bution. It is the first time the Newsletter has had footnotes, but, no, we're not metamorphosing (I looked that up; it's a real word!) into an electronic journal! Thanks, Fred! Jim Thompson (University of California - Riverside; THOMPSON@UCRVMS) sent the following note: Gordon & Breach Science Publishers, after several years of criticism for such practices as labelling an issue as a volume, has come up with another wrinkle. CHOREOGRAPHY AND DANCE, from G & B's Harwood affiliate, is now out at SF 322 -- approximately $221 -- for the corporate rate (library rate upon request). And what can you expect to get for your money? According to the masthead, "each volume com- prises an irregular number of parts, depending upon size" (1:2, October 1989). There is no indication of publishing frequency. In other words, you pay up front, but you don't know what you're going to get or when you're going to get it. Have fun claiming! From Lelde Gilman at UCLA: Thomas Karger just left my office this a.m. after a chat about Kar- ger's projected price increases for journals next year. He said that Faxon has indicated to him that Elsevier and Springer Verlag will probably increase prices by 18 - 22 percent. So, Karger is maybe thinking of 8 percent (12 percent in the dollar range). Exchange rate for Swiss francs, 1.58 to $1.00. The Swiss have inflation of around 5 percent for the first time. He also feels, and I agree, that the $$$ will go down against all European currencies. The de- velopment of Eastern Europe will make this almost a certainly. Tons of bucks pouring in there, the $$$ just can't be strong. Looks like bad times ahead if the price increases are as projected. 1991 SUBSCRIPTION PRICING Joel Baron, The Faxon Company, 15 Southwest Park, Westwood MA 02090; Faxon Courier: JBARON. Although we have no hard data in hand at this point, I am concerned about the potential levels of 1991 title inflation. Here's what it's looking like to me. At the time publishers announced their 1990 prices the dollar was running at unusually high rates against most foreign currencies. Else- vier set their conversion rate at 2.18 guilders to the dollar, a fac- tor that actually gave the dollar much more purchasing power than it had in commercial markets at the time; although Springer Verlag sets their own dollar prices, it is still significant to note that the W. German mark was somewhere between 1.80 and 1.85 when they were making their pricing decisions; and Pergamon, although a UK company doing business in pounds sterling, sets U.S. prices in dollars, U.K. prices in pounds, all other prices in W. German marks. The British pound cost around $1.70 at that same time. Since then, however, the dollar has normalized, returning to more traditional levels against foreign currencies. Elsevier reset their conversion rate at 2.00 guilders on 1 January, and the W. German mark is currently converting around 1.69. The pound sterling has actually weakened slightly against the dollar and now costs around $1.62. What this means is that the average Elsevier non-USA journal has al- ready increased 9 percent within the same subscription year. Since the other publishers mentioned set their prices in US dollars, we probably won't see a mid-season price increase. The point is, however, that these publishers will all start their pricing meetings by looking at an A PRIORI rate increase in the vicinity of 7 to 9 percent. Last year, Elsevier's home currency price increases totalled 11.2 percent. Using that as a benchmark, let's be positive and say that the average non-USA publisher would be looking at an 8 to 10 percent in- crease for the year covering normal domestic inflation, volume infla- tion, and page inflation. So far there haven't been any major scien- tific breakthroughs this year, so volume and page inflation could well stay within the ranges of the past year. Finally, in addition to the general postal increases we will see in 1991, it looks like we're going to see a whopping increase in second class rates, the rates at which most periodicals mail. At a USPS briefing I attended in Washington, they were talking about increases similar to those the publishing industry saw two years ago, and those were around 26 percent. This is a very tough one to project but post- age can run 7 to 11 percent of total manufacturing costs, which can be anywhere from 30 to 60 percent of revenues. I'm going to say that a $100 title will increase anywhere from $2.00 to $4.00 due to the post- al increase. In summary, the price increases for non-USA titles in 1991 could look like the following: Currency value 7 - 9 percent Inflation (CPI, volume, page) 8 - 10 percent Postage 2 - 4 percent Range 17 - 23 percent Since it's unlikely that all factors would come in either at the maxi- mum or the minimum, I'd suggest that we could see 1991 title inflation in the very high teens, possibly breaking into the low twenties for some publishers. For USA titles, we saw 10 percent increases in 1990 and close to that in 1989. Assuming a continuation of that pattern, and taking the 1991 postage increases into account, we could easily see total price infla- tion for USA titles just breaking into the low teens for 1991. Let me stress that it's a little early to be making projections, and we as yet have no hard data from publishers. It is always conceivable that the US dollar will strengthen once again, although the central banks seem determined to intervene in order to prevent that from hap- pening. There does, however, seem to be reason for us to be concerned. MORE ON EDITIONS BRIEL Richard P. Jasper, Acquisitions Department, R.W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta; (404) 727-6866; BITNET: LIBRPJ@EMUVM1. In response to Bob Lincoln's query last issue about Editions Briel, I can say that we have been making similar inquiries at Emory University. A number of faculty members on our campus were very interested by the brochure Briel distributed late last year. From an acquisitions point of view, we were somewhat leery of prepaying expensive orders to a company with whom we were unfamiliar. For that reason, I wrote Editions Briel earlier this year requesting photocopies of the title, contents and index pages of the several works in which our faculty members were interested. Having such copies, I explained, would help allay our concern. (By the way, and she doesn't know it, this suggestion came to me roundaboutly from Jane Maddox, North American liaison for Otto Harrassowitz). A couple of weeks later I received a call from James Stanton of Editions Briel, who gave me much the same information Bob Lincoln conveyed in the last issue. Mr. Stanton's main point seemed to be that the European groups involved with the publications were very concerned about the possibility of being burned by American libraries! At any rate, Mr. Stanton indicated that the company was willing to make an exception in our case and ship, with an invoice, a couple of volumes of one of the titles we requested. After several weeks, we still have not received the volumes. (Note: Nor have we issued a purchase order for them, but Mr. Stanton did not indicate that anything other than our verbal request was necessary.) Consequently, we are continuing to reserve judgment. Assuming the volumes arrive and are what they purport to be, we would be more comfortable prepaying these orders. We would prefer, of course, to be able to acquire such materials through an established vendor of library materials, and we have considered (although we haven't pursued this strategy at this point) asking one of our usual vendors to make inquiries with Briel. In general, however, our library avoids prepaying monographic orders if at all possible, keeping in mind the cautionary words expressed many times by the Publisher/Vendor/Library Relations Committee of ALCTS, which has warned of the risks involved in prepaying monographic orders. Which brings me to a final point: The Publisher/Vendor/Library Relations Committee exists in part because there have been so many prepayment problems in the past. In addition to facilitating relations among publishers, vendors, and libraries, PVLR handles specific complaints brought forward from this constituency. Libraries experiencing problems with publishers and/or vendors should contact a member (I'm one) of the committee, which is chaired by Helen Reed of Duke University (HREED@ECSVAX). The committee even has an official complaint form, copies of which are distributed at each ALA conference. Like Bob Lincoln, I'd be interested in hearing from other libraries regarding their experience to date with Editions Briel. THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IN SCIENCE LIBRARIES: THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY IS THE PROBLEM AND THE SOLUTION Presentation at AAAS Meeting -- New Orleans, February 17, 1990. A.F. Spilhaus, Jr., Executive Director, American Geophysical Union, 2000 Florida Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20009. - Representative Dingell and his team of inquisitors and informants - Frenzies whipped up by the press over hot topics like cold fusion - Government regulation of the peer review process - Punitive taxation of non-profit organizations - Escalating postal rates - Tenure and increasing demands on researchers' time - Space station and the superconducting supercollider - Global change and mapping the genome - The financial crisis in science libraries These are a few points that begin to describe the changing environment in which scientists are pursuing knowledge. As scientists we do a lot of bellyaching about what is being done to us. We do all too little to influence our own future. We are only rarely effective at lobbying the legislature. We are very much divided on how to allocate resources between huge projects and individual efforts. And we are nearly hope- less when it comes to setting priorities for research. It is time to reverse course and to begin to take control of our own future. The funding crisis in science libraries is a good place to start. Scientific communication is in considerable turmoil today. There are many factors that keep this pot boiling. They include growth in sci- ence, changes in funding patterns, changes in the technologies for communication and archiving, changes in the business world, and chang- es in society and societal values. We must learn to manage responses to these changes so that science benefits. First, we need to under- stand the problem and then to develop strategies for its solution. It is my hope that after this session you will go away convinced that the scientific community and scientists, individually and together, con- trol the scientific communication system. There are two basic fundamentals of scientific communication which should be in our minds at all times. First, scientists are the produc- ers, the only producers of the raw material for the communication process. These same scientists are also virtually the only consumers of basic research materials. (I am talking here only about basic re- search, not about work in engineering, medicine or the transfer from research to application.) The scientist's control stems from the fact that there is no other source of information input and no other market for scientific communication. The second fundamental is that every valid step in the communication process must add value in terms of providing easier access to information. The filtering and upgrading that takes place in the editorial process, indexing, text editing, translation, providing useable formats, archiving and retrieving are all value added services that improve access to the information. By access, I mean not just physical access to a document, but also being able to get from the document what you need in the form in which you need it. I am now going to run through the production of a traditional journal to give you a quick look at where the costs come from that go into prices. I will then suggest both short and long-term strategies for ensuring value and addressing the libraries' financial problems. Acquiring and reviewing manuscripts is the first step. The cost for this phase is largely absorbed by volunteers. At AGU, we estimate that the average paper is seen by two or three reviewers and takes up to a day of direct involvement by each reviewer.-1- Thus, the scientific community is providing an upfront subsidy, in the form of time, equiv- alent to $500 to $1,000 per paper submitted. This time must be ab- sorbed in research budgets or out of other precious hours belonging to the individual. Both social and funding pressures are making it more and more difficult for people to give this time. Thus, the cost of gaining the commitment of these volunteers and of working with them is building up. Tools that permit the editor and reviewer to do a quick and competent job such as electronic mail and FAX are expected. After acceptance, the manuscript goes through text editing and type- setting. Here technology may be driving up prices without providing any return. For example, pressure to ensure that complete manuscripts are available electronically may require making all corrections on magnetic tape. Additionally, authors are insisting on submitting manu- scripts electronically or on floppy disk even though publishers may not be able to use that format. Compounding the crime, some publishers are reluctant to admit to authors that they can't save money using state-of-the-art technology. At the other end of the spectrum, pub- lishers may be asking for camera-ready copy from their authors. There is a lot of flexibility in this phase. Costs can vary substantially depending on what course the publisher chooses. These differences can significantly affect price. Over one-half of the total cost of a pub- lication can be in text editing and typesetting. The manufacturing part, the press work, the paper, and the mailing are next. The use of color and special formats, speed of delivery, and the type of paper all have a significant impact on costs. In addition to manuscript processing and manufacturing, when you pay for a scientific publication, you are paying for the marketing effort associated with it, for the publisher's risk, and for his return on investment. Often scientific societies spend very little on marketing. We want to provide a high quality and stable service to our core users. A new book or a new journal produced by a society often has community consensus and, therefore, a built in market before it comes off the press. These characteristics of society publishing tend to reduce the risks vis-a-vis a venture by a publisher without a member- ship base. As for profit, none of us can do without it. However, in a society with a Board of Directors made up of people who are on university library committees, people who are publishing and hoping for wide dissemination, and people who make and receive grants for research, the pressure to keep prices down is unrelenting. I believe that if the journals of most of the societies that are members of the American Institute of Physics were priced equivalently to their competitors on a per kiloword basis, those societies could be making huge profits. How do costs translate into price? There is no question you can alter the cost and, therefore, the price, by changing the process. Process should be examined carefully in every step to ensure that value appro- priate to cost is being added. All other factors being equal, price is inversely proportional to the number of subscribers. On the other hand, profit for small circulation publications can be extremely sen- sitive to the number of subscribers. Most of the costs for a small circulation scientific journal are in- curred whether one copy or two thousand copies are printed. These are the fixed costs: manuscript acquisition, editing, typesetting and press set-ups. Incremental costs, those that vary with the number printed, include paper, postage, presstime, and mailing. To illustrate the relation of profit to the number of subscribers, consider the following example. If a journal has fixed costs of $90K and increment- al costs of $10 per volume, then at a subscription price of $100, 1,000 subscribers produces $100,000 or exactly the amount I need to break even. For each additional subscriber, the income is $100 and the cost $10, so the profit is 90 percent of the income. The flip side is that I can only save $10 when I lose a subscriber, so my loss is $90. This means that if the journal is close to the break-even point and is price sensitive, the loss of a few subscribers can drive it under. Journal prices have been going up faster than inflation. This is a result of the factors that are keeping the system in turmoil. The growth of the scientific community has increased the number of active researchers and therefore the number of papers. In AGU we have seen an annual membership growth of 6 to 7 percent over the last 15 years. Journal pages published have grown with the membership. You must put that percentage on top of inflation. The number of institutional sub- scribers in the U.S. has been decreasing on the order of 1 to 3 per- cent per year; this means a corresponding price increase. Because very little cost can be saved when a subscription is lost, the remaining subscribers must bear the load. Almost 10 percent above inflation is needed to compensate for just these two factors. In addition, consider the effects of uncertainty. How many subscribers will there be next year? Should we allow for 1 percent drop or 3 percent drop? What are the postal rates going to be? President Bush's budget implies U.S. domestic postage increases up to almost 40 percent for some non-profit journals later this year. Then, there is the technological pressure. The skills employed by publishers are becoming more technical. Is this the year when we have to start getting everything onto magnetic tape? When does the indexing have to be improved? And it goes on and on. If the publishing habits of the community do not change and the decrease in institutional subscriptions continues, there should be no surprise at annual price increases at least 10 percent above inflation into the foreseeable future. Another important factor is the trend toward acquisition of profes- sional and scholarly publishing companies by large conglomerates. A recent article in PUBLISHERS WEEKLY,-2- the newsmagazine of the indus- try, states that the acquisition prices for these publishers have doubled over the last 5 years from around twice revenues to an average of 4 times revenues today. These takeovers are thought by investment bankers to be attractive. They view the market as providing consider- able flexibility in price because the material is "perceived by users as absolutely vital to their work and is generally paid for by their employers." Maxwell Communications (better known to scientists by its maiden name, Pergamon Press) bought MacMillan in October 1988 for 2.8 times its revenues. My arithmetic says that profits are going to have to go up by a factor of 3 to pay for that acquisition. There is a lot of talk by the conglomerates about the advantages of size, international buy- ing power, critical mass, etc. There is a grain of truth in all of this, but you can bet that the "flexibility in pricing" will also be an important factor in raising profits. More about Maxwell later. There are two other potential sources of revenue for scientific publi- cation. Advertising, often suggested as a panacea, won't work in most cases. I am sure you have noticed that the AAAS' SCIENCE gets thin when the economy is down and fattens up when the economy is up. The reason is that every page of advertising helps to support another page or more of editorial matter. For SCIENCE this may be okay. However, does a research journal that goes up and down with the vagaries of the economy really serve the science? Other problems with advertising are that research scientists, in most cases, are not perceived as big buyers and research journals have low circulations. The prospects of getting enough advertising to make it worthwhile are rather small in most cases. The other major income item is page charges and reprints. Page charges do help stabilize institutional prices because they reduce the frac- tion of the first copy cost that the insititution must pay and thereby reduce risk. They are particularly valuable for very large multi-dis- ciplinary journals that would otherwise have astronomical subscription prices. If page charges take half the costs and, hence, cut the price in half, there will be more institutions subscribing than at the high- er price. The price can then be even lower for all subscribers. The same argument holds for dual subscription rates which are prevalent among society publications. The concept is that most individuals can- not afford to pay the institutional price or anything like it. If, using my previous example, a society publishes a journal at around $100 and is able to make an individual subscription available at $30, the $20 that is above the incremental cost of production is net income generated by the sale. This income, in turn, can be used to reduce the cost to institutions while meeting the same financial objectives. If the number of institutions and individuals is comparable, the institu- tional rate could come down to $80. Dual subscription prices add value because they contribute to circulation. However, they do not work unless individuals take it upon themselves to ensure that their insti- tutions subscribe at the appropriate rate to those journals that they themselves have the privilege of taking at personal rates. Now let me turn to what you can do if you don't like the pricing of certain journals. The simple answer is don't support, either intellec- tually or financially, any journal that you think is overpriced. Many such individual decisions would add up to a statement by the communi- ty. Purchase is a value judgment. The value in dollars of a journal subscription is determined by what rational purchasers will pay. Thus, if you buy or recommend purchase of a journal, by definition it is not priced beyond its value. We make the decision. If we refuse to buy journals that are marginal, they will either change their ways or they will drop out of the race. There is a need to examine the value of journals in many ways. Bar- schall and others have recently used citation statistics and price.-3- AGU did such a study in the mid-70s.-4- We found that the kiloword equivalents per dollar ranged from a high of over 80 for the ASTRO- PHYSICAL JOURNAL down to 3 or 4 for MARINE GEOLOGY, TECTONOPHYSICS, and ASTROPHYSICS AND SPACE SCIENCE. In citations per dollar the spread was even greater. There are, of course, lots of elements to the value judgment such as continuity, the treatment of special subfields and speed of publication. No one study can be conclusive. The decisions are a very individual matter and should be dealt with by individuals. As a scientist you have it in your power to control the future of scientific journals. There are both short and long term strategies that you can pursue. You can start immediately. Decide on the value of the publications that you read and contribute to. Are they worth what your library is paying for them? If not, urge that your library dis- continue its subscription. The second thing you can do is don't submit papers to such a publication. Make your judgment of price and value a primary consideration in all your interactions. Your paper in a mar- ginal journal helps the journal more than it helps you. If you can find another appropriate source, don't reference papers in such jour- nals. Their citation statistics will then be even lower than low. If enough people take these approaches, marginal journals will change. They will improve or disappear. Don't allow your name to be used with a journal that does not repre- sent values and qualities that you can actively support. You may be surprised at how important your name is on the masthead of a journal. You may be flattered, but in putting it there you are causing the library a problem. If just one good paper appears in each issue, that journal may be viewed as critical. Don't let your papers or your name keep a bad journal alive. Right now, North America is about half the market for scientific journals and without good North American papers, no international journal can survive. I have some things to offer for a long-term strategy as well. Let's consider preparing regular reports on indicators of the value/price relationship for scientific journals. We should be monitoring and reporting on such indicators as price per 1000 characters, price per citation, time from submission to publication and impact factor. We must take care, however, not to be misled by statistics. Bad ones that are frequently cited include price per title and percentage increase in price per title. These take no account of the size of publication. Another problem is comparability. There are many factors that affect comparability that should be considered when using any indicator. For example, impact factors vary with the size of a discipline's constitu- ency and perhaps with the discipline's referencing practices. As a long-term strategy we must consistently pursue value and buy rational- ly as authors and as readers. A major asset of the scientific community is ownership, through its scientific societies, of at least half, if not more, of U.S. scientif- ic publishing. It is incumbent on the officers, directors and members of these societies to ensure both that the publications produced by their societies are the finest values available and that these publi- cations are financially secure. We must meet the highest standards of review. We must produce our publications in a way that serves the needs of the community they serve without wasting resources. And we must price and sell the publication so that the societies and their publication programs are financially secure and able to expand and to meet new technological and other economic and societal challenges. Small societies must protect themselves from the risk of absorption of their publication programs by voracious sharks. There is nothing wrong with an arrangement with a competent commercial publisher so long as the scientific community retains control through the contracts. It should be borne in mind that self publication by societies, even small societies, is a perfectly possible and potentially profitable activi- ty; many succeed in it. One of the best services I know of that helps such small societies is that of Allen Press in Lawrence, Kansas. Arly Allen has designed marketing programs and all sorts of other assist- ance in publications management especially for the society that is too small or does not care to have that kind of expertise on staff. Societies must become aggressive and highly competitive. Our scientif- ic journal publication enterprise, both for profit and not-for-profit, is locked in a struggle with large conglomerates that have very little interest in scientific communication publications per se. Their inter- est is in profit. I believe we can win this struggle, but the next 10 years are likely to be extremely difficult for us. There will be temp- tations to take short-term gains by making arrangements with these goliaths. There will be suggestions that government take a larger role. There will also be efforts to push us out of our traditional markets. To rephrase an old expression: "It's two a.m., do you know who is milking your journal right now?" Does John Wiley and Sons pub- lish anything you use? They are reputed to do a generally good job, but Wiley is one of the few remaining independent for-profit U.S. scientific publishers of medium size and is prime meat for the sharks. One of the big risks during the next 10 years may lie in arrangements with online services. When publishers license their materials to these services, they can lose control of pricing. If a few services become dominant, those services can begin to push up prices to the users and reduce payments to the original publishers because there will be no other means of dissemination. Robert Maxwell appears to be headed in this direction and ready to do everything he can to lock up the scien- tific community. He has recently recruited three not-for-profit execu- tives in the electronic area, one from the American Chemical Society and two from the NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE. Let me quote from an editorial in the November 1988 issue of COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES-5- in which Jim Thompson, librarian at the University of California - Riverside, quotes Maxwell as follows: "I set up a perpetual financing machine through advance subscrip- tions as well as the profits on the sales themselves. It is a cash generator twice over. It's no use trying to compete with me." And another quote: "If Pergamon could win the trust of scientists, it would establish the standard journal in each specialization and that would give it a series of publishing monopolies...scientists are not generally as price-conscious as other professionals, mainly because they are not spending their own money." In response to Maxwell, I say to you it is time for us to become price conscious. It is time for us to become rational buyers. It is time for us to begin to help solve the library crisis. But, even if we do solve the value for price problem, will that solve the library crisis? Probably not. Remember that increases in popula- tion, changes in technology and decreasing institutional subscriptions are still going to keep costs ahead of inflation. In particular, im- proving the access to the increasing tide of material that is coming out will require considerable effort. At some point, we may have to recognize that we need more money for the information system. When we can honestly say we need more, when we have looked at the values and decided that we must have something we cannot afford, then it is time for us to go out and get more money. Let's remember that obtaining information and assimilating it are critical to doing science. You, as a contributor to and purchaser of scientific journals, must begin to accept the responsibility that comes with the complete con- trol you have of the system. Only then will there be any chance of moving toward the goal of maximizing the accessibility of research results to scientists worldwide. Through your choice of publication outlet, you play a pivotal role in determining which journals the library must have. No publisher or editor can create an outstanding journal without the support of discipline leaders. There have been suggestions that legislation or regulation declare a preference for not-for-profit publications. Let's remember that the for-profit publisher is in the business to make money; you cannot fault him just for trying to do so. Not-for-profit publishers have other objectives and their prices are likely to be closer to the costs of the service they provide. That does not necessarily mean that they are providing an effective or efficient service. It is up to you to ensure that your societies are providing the service you need and, through your purchase and submittal decisions, to ensure that commer- cial publishers meet your expectations. Any shelter from competition can only lead to a less effective and less efficient not-for-profit sector. The power of life and death over any journal is held by the community of scientists using it and no one else. Refusal to buy is the only rational way to combat unreasonable prices. REFERENCES 1. Judy C. Holoviak, "Who Pays for the Quality of Scientific Jour- nals?" SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING -- AN ENDANGERED SPECIES; Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Society for Scholarly Publish- ing, 33-36. Washington DC, 1989. 2. Gayle Feldman, ed., "The View from Wall Street," PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (February 9, 1990), 38-39. 3. Henry H. Barschall, "The Cost-Effectiveness of Physics Journals," PHYSICS TODAY (July 1988), 56-59. 4. William H. Kaula, "Journals," EOS; TRANSACTIONS, AMERICAN GEOPHYSI- CAL UNION: 58 (1977): 331-32. 5. James C. Thompson, "Journal Costs: Perception and Reality in Dia- logue," COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES (November 1988), 481-82. LIBRARY MATERIALS PRICE INDEX COMMITTEE'S U.S. SERIAL SERVICES INDEX Mary Beth Clack, Harvard College Library, Cambridge MA. The ALA-ALCTS-RS Library Materials Price index Committee invites ap- plications for the position of compiler of the U.S. Serials Services Index which appears annually in the April 15 issue of LIBRARY JOURNAL and in the BOWKER ANNUAL. The Index measures the rate of change in average price of U.S. serial service titles in six categories, and the study is done in conjunction with The Faxon Company. Familiarity with price studies, the national standard for price indexes and serials services (ANSI-Z39.29-1983) preferred. Letters of application with supporting documents describing qualifications may be sent to: Kathryn H. Carpenter; Chair, ALCTS,LMPIC; Collections Development Dept. (M/C 234); The University Library; Box 8198; University of Illinois at Chicago; Chicago IL 60680. FAX: (312) 413-0424; Phone: (312) 996-2730; BITNET: U15139@UICVM. CHANGE IN PUBLICATION PLANS FOR SCIENCE CITATION INDEX AND SOCIAL SCIENCE CITATION INDEX Siegfried Ruschin, Librarian for Collection Development, Linda Hall Library, 5109 Cherry Street, Kansas City MO 64110-2498 The Institute for Scientific Information has sent us a questionnaire regarding the future form of the "Journal Citation Reports," which up to now had been supplied as part of the two citation indexes. I as- sumed that this meant that, beginning with the 1989 annual volume, subscribers would have to pay an additional price for the "Journal Citation Reports." From my telephone conversation and correspondence with ISI it seems that this assumption was correct. Since we paid for 1989 and 1990 some time ago, we have taken exception to what we consider a change in the condition of sale. The list prices previously announced for the SCIENCE CITATION INDEX still obtain, and it so appears that there is no compensation for the contemplated re- duction in coverage. I recently heard that future "Journal Citation Reports" will be avail- able only on CD-ROM. I have not confirmed this with ISI. (This was confirmed by Dr. Garfield in his talk at the ACRL Journal Costs Dis- cussion Group at ALA Midwinter. -ED) FUNDING FUTURE ACQUISITIONS: FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR THE 1990S Barbara Winters, Head, Acquisition Services Department, Virginia Commonwealth University Library, Richmond VA 23284-2033; BITNET: BWINTERS@VCUVAX. The Acquisitions Committee of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services' Resources Section is sponsoring a program on "Funding Future Acquisitions: Financial Resources for the 1990s" at the summer conference of the American Library Association. This program is cosponsored by the Library Administration and Management Association's Fund Raising and Financial Development Section (LAMA- FRFDS). Tricia Masson, Acquisitions Librarian, Brown University, is chairing the Program Planning Committee. The program will identify both continuing and emerging demands on the resources supporting acquisitions for academic, public and special library collections, with an emphasis on changing directions in col- lection devleopment that have resulted from new approaches to research and the introduction of new technologically-available formats. Speak- ers will also explore the universe of funding possibilities available to meet these anticipated demands; identify approaches and character- istics of successful grant proposals, including a discussion of the influence of institution size and collection strengths and project appropriateness and presentation in the granting agency's decision process; discuss problems encountered by grant recipients, particular- ly those encountered by recipients of "matching" grants; and, discuss innovative uses of awarded grants in creating a base for continued support. Speakers include Michael Keller, Collection Development Officer, Yale University Library; Denise Wallen, Co-editor of the "Funding for..." series, Oryx Press; Harold Cannon, Director of Office of Challenge Grants, National Endowment for the Humanities; Suzanne Walters, Direc- tor of Marketing, Denver Public Library; and Merrily Taylor, Universi- ty Librarian, Brown University. Judith Paqutte, Assistant Head for Collection Planning, University of California at Santa Cruz, will moderate. The program will be held on Sunday, June 24, 1990, from 2:00 to 5:30 p.m. FRFDS is sponsoring a Fund Fair immediately preceding this program (11:30 - 2:30). Location of both will be announced. ACQUISITIONS ADMINISTRATION REQUIREMENTS: CURRENT AND FUTURE Barbara Winters, Virginia Commonwealth Univ; BITNET: BWINTERS@VCUVAX "Acquisitions Administration Requirements: Current and Future" is the topic for discussion at the American Library Association's (ALA) Ac- quisitions Administrators Discussion Group meeting, to be held at the ALA summer conference in Chicago. Tamara Frost Trujillo, Associate University Librarian for Automated and Technical Services at Califor- nia State University, Sacramento, will speak. Synthesizing results from an informal survey she conducted about how libraries organize acquisitions functions, Trujillo will discuss such topics as how ac- quisitions departments are presently organized and whether the work of acquisitions in the future will be relegated to support staff, taken up by other departments in the library, or expanded in existing organ- izational models, what kind of expertise is needed to lead the depart- ment, and so forth. Joyce Ogburn, Order Librarian at Penn State, who has been very active on the ALCTS Education Committee and has done a significant amount of work in the area of competencies for acquisitions librarians, will moderate. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 26, 11:30 - 12:30 The location of the meeting will be announced. The Acquisitions Administrators group is one of the two newest provi- sional discussion groups petitioning the Resources Section Executive Committee for formal recognition. It was convened by Barbara Winters in June 1989 at the Dallas ALA conference to provide a forum for in- formal discussion of problems relating to the administration of acqui- sitions departments, to provide a reporting session on activity of other conference programs of interest to acquisitions librarians, and to establish a network of acquisitions administrators to provide on- the-job direction and support for new acquisitions librarians and continuing education for existing acquisitions librarians. The group is open to administrators of acquisitions/serials departments in li- braries of any size and type. Its petition for formal recognition will be reviewed by the RS Executive Committee for possible approval at the Chicago conference. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 pub- lished as news is available by the American Library Association's Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Publish- er/ Vendor-Library Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Serials Pric- ing Issues. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; ALANET: ALA0348; Paper mail: Serials Department, C.B. #3938 Davis Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC 27599-3938. Committee members are: Deana Astle (Clem- son University), Mary Elizabeth Clack (Harvard University), Jerry Curtis (Consultant), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Robert Houbeck (University of Michigan), and Marcia Tuttle. EBSCONET customers may receive the newsletter in paper format from EBSCO. Back issues of the newsletter are available electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ====================================================================== ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE******* ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 11 May 90 16:40 EST From: "Marcia Tuttle" To: TUTTLE Subject: PRICING NEWSLETTER, NO. 16 Date: Tue, 13 Feb 90 16:43 EST ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NUMBER 16 -- FEBRUARY 13, 1990 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR, Marcia Tuttle LEARNED JOURNALS SEMINAR: PRELIMINARY INFORMATION, Mike Keller UNITED KINGDOM SERIALS GROUP: 13TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, Marcia Tuttle FIRST EUROPEAN SERIALS CONFERENCE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON LIBRARY SERIALS CANCELLATIONS, David Taylor AHE VENDOR DIRECTORY FOR ACQUISITIONS LIBRARIANS, Associa- tion for Higher Education of North Texas ALCTS TASK FORCE ON THE ECONOMICS OF ACCESS TO LIBRARY MATE- RIALS (EALS), Marcia Tuttle READ IT AND WEEP, Bob Schatz DANNY JONES TAKES ON THE , Danny Jones MEMO TO GERMAN LIBRARIES, Acquisition Commission of the German Library Institute CALL FOR PAPERS, Jennifer Cargill FROM THE EDITOR Marcia Tuttle The news is coming in so fast the editor hasn't had much time to think! I am closing out this issue and sending it, even though I have more information in hand. But issue no. 17 is practically on your screen right now .... LEARNED JOURNALS SEMINAR: PRELIMINARY INFORMATION Mike Keller, Yale University Library, BITNET: MKELLER@YALEVM. The sixth annual Learned Journals Seminar, sponsored by the Associa- tion of Learned and Professional Society Publishers and the Serials Publishers Executive of the Publishers' Association, will be held in London at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on Friday, March 30, 1990. Seven papers are to be presented: Paper 1, by Brigid Ogilvie of the Wellcome Trust, speaking for the funding agencies: The Grant Giving Body. Paper 2, probably by a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry: The Use of the Literature. Paper 3, by an editor from a learned society: Editorial Policy; Learn- ed Society. Paper 4, by an editor from a commercial publisher: Editorial Policy; Commercial Publisher. Paper 5, by a publisher from a learned society: Economics; Learned Society. Paper 6, by a publisher from a commercial firm: Economics; Commercial Publisher. Paper 7, by Mike Keller: Selection and Acquisition. "The papers are intended to highlight for discussion some of the mat- ters raised by the ARL report without being a specific defence of nor attack on the report itself. It is hoped that the relationship between need and funds will be discussed together with standards and costs in publishing." MY paper will represent the "carrefour." "The dark corners will arise when the expectation of equivalence of problems in publishing between the two sides is not quite equivalent. The commercial publishers will suggest that there is no difference between the two sides whilst the learned societies will be aware of differences but cynical of the naive exaggeration of the report." The audience will number between 90 and 130 and will consist of senior publishers, agents, and librarians from around the world, though with a strong European bias. It has been the policy of the seminar sponsors to waive the registration fee for American librarians. UNITED KINGDOM SERIALS GROUP: 13TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND ANNUAL GENER- AL MEETING. Marcia Tuttle The 13th UKSG conference will be held April 2 - 5 at the University of Southampton. Registration is L120.75 or $200 for members and L143,75 or $237 for nonmembers. The fee includes lodging and meals, as well as all other conference activities. The program is as follows: Monday, April 2: Registration Opening of exhibition and sherry reception Buffet dinner Concert of classical music Tuesday, April 3: Keynote Address: "Serials: Publishing for No-One?" Bernard Naylor, Southampton University Current Dilemmas: "Why I Publish," Tony Burkett, Loughborough University (academic); Craig Thornber, ICI Pharmaceuticals (research chemist); and Robert Welham, Royal Society of Chemistry (learned society publisher) "How I Cope," David Baker, University of East Anglia (academic librarian); and Roger Brown, Beecham Group (industrial librarian) New Applications: "Serials and Document Supply: Is There a BLDSC Alternative?" Alan MacDougall, Loughborough University "LA-NET and Serials Applications," Sandy Norman, Library Associa- tion "Group 4 FAX," John Wales, ICI Chemicals & Polymers, and Andrew Braid, British Library Document Supply Centre Wednesday, April 4: Interactive Information: "CD-ROM Panel," Derek Law, King's College London; Steve Hall, Chadwyck-Healey; Cally Brown, Pergamon Compact Solution "New World in the Morning: Artificial Intelligence, The Dawn of a Solution for Serials," John Riddick, Central Michigan University Workshops and Leaders: Third World Serials, Hedley Sutton, British Library India Office Library Price Indices, John Urquhart, Newcastle-upon-Tyne University Choosing Secondary Sources: The Online, Hardcopy, CD-ROM Dilemma, Anne Collins, Leeds University Do It Yourself: The Problems of the Small Library, Lyndsay Rees- Jones, GEC Electrical Projects Ltd Library/Trade Relationships, Albert Prior, Swets UK Ltd. Training for Serials, Hazel Woodward, Loughborough University Afternoon Visits: University of Southampton Library Historical Southampton Walking Tour Exbury Gardens (200 acres of woodlands and spring flowers) Beaulieu National Motor Museum and Palace House & Gardens British American Tobacco Company Ltd. Library Portsmouth Polytechnic Library HMS Victory and Mary Rose Exhibition, Portsmouth Conference dinner and evening cruise on the Solent (with disco) Thursday, April 5: Preparing for Europe: "Prices for Europe," Sally Morris, Churchill Livingstone (publish- ers' view) and Jean-Claude Baroux, Dawson Europe (subscription agents' view) "Standards for Europe," by Verina Horsnell, Digital Equipment Ltd. Information for Europe," by Eric Gaskell, Commission of the Euro- pean Communities Closing Address: "Is There a Future for Librarians Now?" Dick Fletcher, New Media Registration forms are available from Marcia Tuttle, as is information about a week's holiday visit (Tuttle's Tour) to Cornwall following the conference. FIRST EUROPEAN SERIALS CONFERENCE, 10 - 12 September, 1990, Noordwijk- erhout, The Netherlands (from the UKSG Conference Announcement) As a joint initiative with Gauthier-Villars and Swets Subscription Service, the UKSG will be holding the first European Serials Confer- ence at the Leeuwenhorst Congress Center, Noordwijkerhout, near Am- sterdam. The Conference will address a wide range of issues relevant to librarians, information providers, publishers and agents operating within the European context. Anyone interested is invited to register with the UKSG Administrator in order to receive a programme and booking form: Mrs. Jill Tolson UK Serials Group Administrator 114 Woodstock Road Witnet Oxon OX8 6DT UK Tel: 0993 703466 FAX: 0993 778879 REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON LIBRARY SERIALS CANCELLATIONS David C. Taylor, Undergraduate Librarian, C.B. #3942 House Under- graduate Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chap- el Hill NC 27599-3942; BITNET: TAYLODC@UNC.BITNET. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been reviewing its periodical subscriptions systematically for the past eight years. Librarians and faculty in charge of book fund allocations were given incentive to cancel little-used serials by reallocating part of their cancelled subscription renewal funds to their new subscription funds. Over a period of six years, several hundred subscriptions were can- celled because of this program. By 1986, the only way most departments could initiate new subscriptions was to retrieve money through cancel- lations. Nevertheless, in 1988/89, after three straight years with no increase in the materials budget, book purchases were down nearly 40 percent because serials costs were eating up the funds. Therefore, a major cancellation of serials was mandated. All librarians and faculty in charge of book fund allocations were required to prepare two lists of periodicals in their libraries or subject areas that could be can- celled if budget inadequacies continued. The first list was to amount to five percent of the subscription total for that area; the second, an additional five percent. Because of this project 380 titles costing $60,000 were cancelled in 1989, and another $75,000 worth of sub- scriptions were identified that could be cut if necessary. Another budget crunch in January 1990, has now triggered the decision to make these additional cancellations. Have other libraries, large or small, conducted major subscription cancellation projects in the last year or so? What methods worked for your library? How many titles have been cancelled and how many dollars saved? Cancellation projects are extremely time consuming, so libraries tend to do them only when desperate. It is not clear, despite all the dis- cussion of high serials prices, whether many libraries are making significant cancellations or not. If they are, this may be having a major impact on publishers and dealers. I would be very grateful for any answers from librarians around the country, for a second edition of a book on serials in libraries. I would also be happy to compile the results and share them with sub- scribers to the NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES. AHE VENDOR DIRECTORY FOR ACQUISITIONS LIBRARIANS Association for Higher Education of North Texas The Association for Higher Education of North Texas is pleased to announce the publication of the first edition of the AHE VENDOR DIREC- TORY FOR ACQUISITIONS LIBRARIANS. This directory has been created by a group of practicing acquisitions and collection development librarians from six major North Texas uni- versities. It is a working tool for librarians actively engaged in seeking vendor sources for library materials. In compiling the AHE VENDOR DIRECTORY, the librarians realized that the wealth of information concerning the specialties and services of a broad cross section of domestic and foreign vendors would be of value to librarians everywhere. Therefore, AHE is offering the directory nationwide. The directory includes information on 134 vendors worldwide who are currently in use in the North Texas area or who were recommended for inclusion. Each entry in the directory gives address, phone, office hours, chief executive officer, and local representative, as well as information concerning the specialties and services of each vendor. These entries are preceded by a detailed index. The directory is available from AHE, 17811 Waterview Parkway, Suite 125, Dallas TX 75252-8016, for $15.00, plus $2.00 postage and han- dling ($5.00 outside U.S.A.). Prepayment is preferred; $2.00 will be added if invoicing is required. Please add 8 percent sales tax if applicable. Tax exempt organizations must supply certificate of exemp- tion. The Vendor Study Group is part of the Acquisitions Subcommittee of the Library Committee of the Association for Higher Education of North Texas (AHE). AHE is a regional, not-for-profit, educational corpora- tion, providing diverse support services to nineteen public and pri- vate colleges and universities in partnership with sixteen private- sector corporations and two public libraries. The group was chaired by Zary M. Shafa from the University of Dallas. Other group members were Julie S. Alexander, The Univeristy of Texas at Arlington; Kristine L. Murphy, Southern Methodist University; Thom- as E. Nisonger, The University of Texas at Dallas; Glenda A. Thornton, University of North Texas; Audrey V. Vanderhoof, Texas Christian Uni- versity; Katherine P. Jagoe and F. Anita Whelan, Association for High- er Education of North Texas. For further information contact Katherine Pearson Jagoe, Director of Library Programs and Services for the Association for Higher Education of North Texas at (214) 231-7211. ALCTS TASK FORCE ON THE ECONOMICS OF ACCESS TO LIBRARY MATERIALS (EALS), Marcia Tuttle Two meetings were scheduled for ALA Midwinter. At the first session, after brief reports from the NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES and constituent organizations, discussion turned to the draft report of the task force. George Soete, representing ARL, had drafted the report and revised it after responses from many task force members. The group was very pleased with the result. It was decided that the preliminary report would be distributed at the end of January to the group nomi- nating task force members (the national libraries and related library associations) and to this newsletter. Comments would be solicited with a deadline of May 1, and the final report would be presented at the EALS 1990 Annual Conference Program. As of this date no copy of the report has come. It will be printed in the newsletter when it arrives. The task force's program has a working title of "Information Resourc- es: A Strategic Investment for the Future." It is scheduled for June 26, 1990, 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. As developed by Robert Wedgeworth and Tess Carey the proposed program has as its basic objectives to: 1. Present a summary report as charged that addresses all of the issues relevant to the economics of access to library materials. 2. Elevate the level of the discussion to the national policy level. 3. Introduce major speakers from government, industry and the university community to address their interests in a national policy context. The newsletter will carry more information about this program as it becomes available. READ IT AND WEEP Bob Schatz, Sales Manager, Scholarly Book Center, Inc., 451 Green- wich Street, New York NY 10013-1711, (212) 226-0707 (submitted by Richard Jasper, Emory University). (This memo accompanied a reprint of a WALL STREET JOURNAL article. It is entitled: "End of a Boom: Book Publishers Face A Painful Austerity After Lavish Spending; Heads Roll, and Big Advances To Top Authors Are Cut; Is the Worst Yet to Come?" ED.) The Wall Street Journal has been kind enough to sell us reprints of an article appearing on the front page of the November 21st edition. If you haven't read it, we suggest you do so now. While on the surface of it, this article appears to be about trade books (not the main stock-in-trade of either university libraries or book wholesalers to those libraries), it does not take much effort to read a more significant message between the lines: one should not be surprised by either rising prices or reduced discounts to wholesalers from the large, multi-level publishers. The enormous prices paid by publishing giants to expand their empires is bound to come at a cost to the rest of us. While losses on disap- pointing `bestsellers' have been experienced in the trade divisions of these publishing empires, who for a second believes that other divi- sions will not be called upon to make good on these debts? Now that trade publishing and scholarly publishing are increasingly tied to- gether through publishing conglomerates, there is no reason to believe this will not happen. For those of us who depend on the good business practices of publish- ers for our well-being, and that of our customers, outrageous author advances and inflated corporate buyouts become a matter of great con- cern. We wholesalers need only look at discount reductions in recent years from Gale, Elsevier and Academic Press to remind ourselves of the effect of publishers' profits on booksellers' health. Our fear, frankly, is that more is on the way. In an effort to keep you up-to-date on important events in publishing, as well as to solicit your support in efforts we may have to make to defend our (and your) discounts in the future, we wanted you to have a chance to read this article. Perhaps, instead of "Read It And Weep" we should have headed this page "Forewarned is Forearmed.' The question remains, though, as to whether we have sufficient armaments to with- stand what may be coming. It's something to think about. DANNY JONES TAKES ON THE Danny Jones, University of Texas Health Science Center Library, San Antonio TX, BITNET: JONES@UTHSCSA I understand a number of libraries were as dismayed as I when they received the EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY's "free" extra volume. I hear some have just thrown it away. I'd like to urge them to send it back with a strongly worded letter to the editor. Here's what my letter said: February 8, 1990 Prof. Dr. P. Christen Biochemisches Institut der Universitat Zurich Winterthurerstrasse 190 CH-8057 Zurich Switzerland Dear Professor Dr. Christen: I am writing to express my concern upon receiving the EJB REVIEWS 1989. Such duplication of recently published material in my opinion is extravagant and wasteful and is not to be condoned or encouraged. We have decided not to accept the volume and are returning it to our subscription agent, Otto Harrassowitz in Wiesbaden, with instructions to return it to the publisher. While we would certainly prefer to receive credit against our 1989 payment for the journal, we will not accept EJB REVIEWS 1989, regardless. I shall communicate with my col- leagues in other libraries and encourage them to do the same. If the EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY, which cost $1643 in 1989, can afford the cost of printing, binding, and mailing an additional volume of articles it has just published in 1989, then I would suggest the price of the journal is too high and should be reduced instead of supporting redundant publication. Rather than improving communication and information dissemination among scientists, I believe that republication of these review articles might actually cause them confusion and possibly waste their time. Furthermore, I would urge you to cancel plans to publish a volume of EJB REVIEWS in 1990 and issue a credit or refund to all subscribers for the amount that would be saved by not publishing it. And perhaps for 1991 you could even reduce the price of the journal! Respectfully yours, Daniel H. Jones, M.L.S. Assistant Library Director for Collection Development xc: Springer-Verlag, Berlin E. Hoffmann, Reviews Editor K. Dorn, Otto Harrassowitz Agency MEMO TO GERMAN LIBRARIES: TRANSLATION Acquisition Commission of the German Library Institute TO: All University Libraries, State Libraries, Special Libraries in the Federal Republic The Acquisition Commission has provided information in BIBLIOTHEKS- DIENST 1990 about the suit currently pending in the Frankfurt State Court by the U.S. publisher Gordon & Breach. This information was provided at the request of American colleagues who assumed -- justifi- ably -- that an unfavorable result of the suit against Professor Bar- schall and APS would greatly impede price comparisons worldwide. U.S. colleagues requested by a FAX message of 30-1-90 that the Acquisition Commission inform you of the following circumstances: A "Foundation for International Cooperation" with a director "Maurice Levy" distributes at present to all scientific libraries in the USA a 5-page questionnaire in which besides many questions about budget and collection there is also -- quite harmlessly -- the question if one has read the article by Barschall in PHYSICS TODAY and on the basis of reading it has cancelled or added journals, which are then to be list- ed. ARL has in the meantime found out that the "Foundation" is so far unknown in the USA, that the postage meter used in the mailing is registered to G & B, and that the address to which the questionnaire is to be returned is that of an employee of a Washington law firm. ARL fears that answering the questionnaire might provide material to G & B to document with concrete examples business damages on the basis of the article by Barschall. The German libraries are therefore requested to leave the questionnaire unanswered -- if it is sent. The members of the Acquisition Commission herewith forward this re- quest and enclose copy of the letterhead of the ominous questionnaire for your information. We call your attention to the fact that current- ly a representative of G & B is visiting German libraries and likewise asks questions in connection with the cancellation of G & B journals. Here also, reticence is recommended. (signed) DR. H.J. Dorpinghaus CALL FOR PAPERS Jennifer Cargill, Rice University Library, BITNET: CARGILL@LIBRARY.- RICE.EDU. Readers of the pricing newsletter may be interested in this opportuni- ty to contribute to a forthcoming publication on resource sharing. We are issuing a CALL FOR PAPERS for volume 2 of ADVANCES IN LIBRARY RESOURCE SHARING. Volume 1 will be published in 1990 by Meckler. We are interested in proposed papers on all aspects of resource sharing: cooperative ventures, technological advances/implications, cost stud- ies, future role of resource sharing, as well as other topics. Inter- ested participants should submit a proposal for a paper by July 15, 1990, to Jennifer Cargill, 7499 Brompton Blvd., Houston TX 77025- 2266. Notification of acceptance of the proposal will be sent to the author(s) during August 1990. Deadline for submission of the final paper is January 1991. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 pub- lished as news is available by the American Library Association's Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Publish- er/Vendor-Library Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Serials Pric- ing Issues. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; ALANET: ALA0348; Paper mail: Serials 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. Committee members are: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Mary Elizabeth Clack (Harvard University), Jerry Curtis (Consultant), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Robert Houbeck (Univer- sity of Michigan), and Marcia Tuttle. EBSCONET customers may receive the newsletter in paper format from EBSCO. Back issues of the newslet- ter are available electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ====================================================================== ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE******* ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 11 May 90 16:45 EST From: "Marcia Tuttle" To: TUTTLE Subject: PRICING NEWSLETTER, NO. 15 Date: Sat, 27 Jan 90 20:26 EST ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NO. 15 -- JANUARY 27, 1990 Editor: Marcia Tuttle FROM THE EDITOR, Marcia Tuttle INFORMATION ALERT, NO 1 & NO 2, Duane Webster RESOLUTION ON FREE SCHOLARLY DISCOURSE, ALA Council GORDON AND BREACH RESPONSE TO AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL SURVEY, reports from Nancy Anderson, Chuck Hamaker, and Dana Sally HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS, Chuck Hamaker LEARNED SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS PRICING, Alan Singleton AN AUTOMATED JOURNAL USER STUDY AND SERIALS STACK MAN- AGEMENT SYSTEM, Jeffery Beam FROM THE EDITOR Marcia Tuttle The ALA Association of Library Collections and Technical Services Board of Directors has not yet made all of the decisions about the future of the NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES, but one thing is certain: there will be no paper edition of the newsletter, effective after issue no. 13. A memo went to all paper subscribers. Those on the waiting list are being informed and given the reasons for discontinu- ing the paper edition (the great expense and the loss of timeliness) and detailing the various ways to subscribe electronically. Present electronic subscribers may receive requests for paper copies from your colleagues in your own and other institutions. We hope you will share. A DataLinx message from Susan Davis at SUNY Buffalo will be of inter- est to persons concerned about the impact of the demise of USBE. Susan says that the May 1989 issue of ONLINE has a list of back issue peri- odical dealers (complete with phone numbers) on page 102. The next issue of the Newsletter will have a piece on ALCTS' Duplicates Ex- change Union. Travis Leach, University of Arizona, sends this message: With hind- sight to the 1989 Charleston conference, librarians interested in the preconditions on the publication of research material may want to read "Making Authors Toe the Line," by John Maddox, Editor-in-Chief of NATURE, in NATURE 342 (no. 6252), December 21/28, 1989, p. 855. And in the same issue, a letter from Dr. Lennart Philipson and colleagues at Heidelberg, on page 849. In addition to the Gordon and Breach response to the AMS survey, noted below, Christopher E. Schneider, International Sales Director for G & B, has a letter in the January 3 CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION (page B4). He responds to Judith Turner's article (October 25) about the publisher's legal action against the American Institute of Physics, the American Physical Society, and Dr. Henry H. Barschall. Immediately below Schneider's letter is one from Albert Henderson, Principal, Henderson Associates, Bridgeport CT. Deana Astle has sum- marized the letter: He states in part, "Publishers are simply forced to raise prices to stay in business." He further states, "Concerned members of the learned community who wish to contribute a useful study might compare the growth of library budgets, staffs and buildings to the growth and changing needs of their clientele since 1960. They would provide a more useful perspective on the journal pricing ques- tion. Ultimately, I believe they would show the responsibility lies more with the educational and political establishments than with the publishers." Henderson blames Barschall for delving into territory he was not familiar with and concludes, "If, when cancelling a subscrip- tion, academic institutions accepted the blame for increased prices to others, we might release valuable energy for more productive challeng- es than lawsuits and diatribes." Astle concludes her report as fol- lows: "This attitude is a little unsettling, but does show that we have more education to do. He perceives rising journal prices as nec- essary and blames libraries for forcing up the costs when they cancel subscriptions." The Newsletter's readers are alert! Joan Grant just reported that the January 24 CHRONICLE has a letter (pages B3 and B4) from Harry Lustig, Treasurer of the American Physical Society, and Kenneth W. Ford, Exec- utive Director of the American Institute of Physics, responding on behalf of their societies and Dr. Barschall to Chris Schneider's let- ter printed in the January 3 issue. The men answer G & B's claims: 1) "that its journals are more specialized than those of other publish- ers, and thus are both more costly to produce and more useful to sub- scribers;" 2) "that the comparisons in the survey were unfair because of the need to adjust for postage, copying licenses, and free supple- mental publications;" 3) "that the survey included an unfair selection of journals;" and 4) "that one of its journals is a handbook [and no other handbooks are included in the study]." The letter concludes, "... the evidence is mounting that G & B is pursuing its commercial interests through threats and lawsuits against those who conduct or publish studies that provide information about its journals' prices ests of the entire scholarly community." Richard Jasper, Acquisitions Librarian at Emory University, sends this message: At ALA I met Stephen Lustig, Academic Sales and Marketing Director of Cassell PLC in London. He had heard from one or more Amer- ican librarians that they maintained separately budgeted amounts for U.S. and non-U.S. publications. He's wondering if that constitutes discrimination on the part of libraries against non-U.S. publishers. An interesting idea.... His address is Artillery House, Artillery Row, London SW1P 1RT; phone 01-222-7676; FAX 01-799-1514. Finally, those of you who have promised to write or report on various matters and meetings, now is the time. INFORMATION ALERT, NO. 1 & NO. 2 Duane Webster, Association of Research Libraries, 1527 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036, Telephone: (202) 232-2466. TO: ARL Directors (dated January 19, 1990) It has come to our attention that a survey on the collections of sci- entific, technical and medical journals in libraries is being distrib- uted to a portion of the membership. The survey is sponsored by The Foundation for International Scientific Cooperation and seeks, among other items, to determine if the ARL Serials Prices Project report prompted cancelation of journals. To date we are unable to determine the purpose of this survey or the nature of the organization conducting the survey. There is no such organization listed in the Washington, D.C., phone directory, although the foundation gives a Washington mailing address. We seek any information you may have on this enterprise. Did you re- ceive the survey? Did you or your staff respond to the survey? May we have a copy of your response? Do you know anything about the founda- tion? Do you know the person signing the letter as Director, Maurice Levy? Please FAX a response to me at (202) 462-7849 if you have relevant information. ---------- TO: Directors of ARL Libraries (dated January 24, 1990) I have received follow-up information concerning the survey on the collections of scientific, technical, and medical journals in libraries sponsored by the Foundation for International Scientific Cooperation. Postal authorities indicate the survey was mailed using a postage meter registered to Gordon & Breach. The P.O. Box for return of the survey is rented by an individual in a Washington law firm. As you are aware, Gordon & Breach is conducting a lawsuit against Dr. Barschall, the American Institute of Physics, and the American Physical Society. Legal counsel has suggested information provided by this survey could be used to assess damages for future litigation. I welcome any other information you may have regarding this and other surveys. [NOTE. Although Webster's memoranda are addressed to ARL library di- rectors, his issue is of far broader concern. The survey mentions the American Institute of Physics and American Mathematical Society jour- nal pricing surveys, as well as ARL's Serials Prices Project. Library directors should be informed if the survey has been returned. If news- letter readers who are not ARL directors have information about the foundation (or have received or responded to the survey) I will be happy to receive it and pass it on to ARL. --Marcia Tuttle] RESOLUTION ON FREE SCHOLARLY DISCOURSE American Library Association Council Document #46, approved at Mid- winter 1990 meeting Whereas, The costs of publication and other library materials and services, including scientific and technical journals, are rapidly increasing; and Whereas, Escalating costs confront the library community with serious problems regarding the selection of publications and other library materials and services including scientific and technical journals; and Whereas, Analysis, publication, and dissemination of studies and other information concerning the comparative costs of such materials and services are of vital importance to the library community by assisting it in using library funds in a manner which best serves the needs of its patrons; and Whereas, The many benefits of such studies to the library community include assisting in collecting, analyzing, comparing, and summarizing data in a readily accessible form; and Whereas, Library professionals are capable of evaluating such studies to determine whether or not they include criteria relevant to purchas- ing and subscription decisions; and Whereas, Disagreements concerning the accuracy of data criteria as- sessed, the method of analysis employed, and conclusions derived may be freely challenged and debated in the scholarly arena; and Whereas, The appropriate method by which to respond to or challenge the analysis, publication, and dissemination of such studies is to participate freely and openly in an intellectual debate in a public forum; and Whereas, The use or threat of litigation or other legal action for the primary purpose of discouraging such studies is inappropriate, as such action impedes scholarly discourse and makes it more difficult for libraries to best serve the needs of their patrons by depriving them of valuable information regarding the comparative costs and benefits of library materials and services; now, therefore be it RESOLVED That the American Library Association endorse, encourage, and support the analysis, publication, and dissemination of studies and other information concerning the comparative cost of publications and other library materials and services, including scientific and techni- cal journals; and be it further RESOLVED, That the American Library Association, while in no way seek- ing to limit the legitimate use of legal action, disapproves the use of litigation for the purposes of discouraging the publication of such studies and information rather than engaging in a free exchange of views and scholarly debate. SUBMITTED BY: Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) GORDON AND BREACH RESPONSE TO AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL PRICE SURVEY, Reports from Nancy Anderson (University of Illinois), Chuck Hamaker (Louisiana State University), and Dana Sally (Univer- sity of North Carolina - Chapel Hill) The January issue of the NOTICES OF THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY carries on pages 92-93, a paid, two-page advertisement by Gordon and Breach responding to the AMS journal price survey published in the November issue of the NOTICES. Titled, "AMS Continues Gross Distortion in Surveys; Abrogates Agreement with Gordon and Breach," the ad is entirely text, presented as a press release. The publisher claims that at the time of an earlier pricing survey, when informed by G & B of "many methodological and factual inaccuracies," AMS agreed to exclude G & B titles from its surveys. According to Chuck Hamaker, "The state- ment claims that using G & B's amended methodology, cost per 1,000 characters for APPLICABLE ANALYSIS would be 48 cents for 1988, rather than the 93.5 cents published in the survey. To get to this figure, G & B apparently deducted their $5.00 photocopying fee from the regular library rate, deducted for postage and handling, and subtracted 15 percent for `SIP' (Serials Incentive Plan) participation. A proper comparison, according to G & B would deduct postage and handling from the list price." Gordon and Breach summarizes its position near the end of the advertisement: "The problem with non-analytical surveys like this is that they do not really assess all of the factors in- volved in publication. For example, a publisher may publish a journal of high quality, having a limited audience; or he may have the policy of publishing a journal of low quality comprising material already covered by other publishers, and enjoy a wider number of subscribers. Our policy is to try to choose the best material regardless of the size of the market and produce and price as necessary...." In the same issue of the NOTICES William Jaco, Executive Director of the American Mathematical Society, has an editorial (pages 2 and 18) entitled, "Journal Price Survey - Threatened." After reviewing the history of the Gordon and Breach objections to the series of AMS jour- nal pricing studies, Jaco says, "There is simply no basis for the attack made by G & B on AMS. G & B are entitled, if they wish, to dispute the methodology, even though we find their arguments to be thin and self-serving. An open flow of information (and if needed an open debate) is in the best interest of all concerned. From this line of reasoning, we agreed to print the `advertisement' of G & B, even though the tone for the `advertisement' is regrettable. What G & B ought not to do, in our opinion, is to threaten the collection and dissemination of information by letters from legal counsel." HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS Chuck Hamaker, Louisiana State University, BITNET: NOTCAH@LSUVM. Research Library Group (RLG) members should ask their coordinators and collection development librarians for copies of the CMDC Steering Committee Meeting Agenda dated December 29, 1989, for the January 4 Steering Committee meeting in Chicago. In addition to an update on the RLG Long Term Serials Project, there are some startling analyses of number of libraries subscribing to chemistry, business, and mathemat- ics journals, with the mean price of journals held ranked by number of libraries holding them. Contrary to popular belief, titles held by the LARGEST NUMBER OF LIBRARIES have the highest average prices, while titles held by the FEWEST libraries have the lowest mean prices!! The January 1990 issue of BIBLIOTHEKSDIENST includes an article by H.J. Dorpinghaus, "Sing Preisvergleiche in Zukunft noch erlaubt? Ver- lag Gordon and Breach klagt vor dem Frankfurter Landgericht gegen amerikanischen Physikprofessor." It discusses the G & B suits, with a comment on differential pricing to Europe of the company's titles, and the "unpleasant memory" of the attempt to charge for a copylicense, which is "illegal" (discussed in BIBLIOTHEKSDIENST 21, 1987, 386-88). He also notes that the judgment of the Frankfurt regional court hand- ling the case "may be very relevant for German librarians who concern themselves with price comparisons." Over the transom have come innumerable articles from unlikely places showing that issues serials librarians have been grappling with are beginning to surface in more general environments. This trend is sig- nificant because solutions to the problems we are all facing are not solely in library hands. An article in PULP AND PAPER, vol. 64 (Janu- ary 1990), pages 122-23, by Ellen R. McCrady from Provo UT, is enti- tled "Book Preservation Pressures Speed up Conversion of Acid Paper to Alkaline." As a general discussion for the layman, it is excellent. About thirty percent of printing and writing paper being produced today is alkaline, and some in the industry believe it will reach the fifty percent mark this year. P.H. Gladfelter, probably the largest producer in the industry, is one hundred percent alkaline today, and five of the top ten producers have announced plans to convert com- pletely. The major reasons for converting to alkaline are, the article notes, usually economic. It is cheaper to produce! That's good news for librarians, and good publishers looking for ways to save money should be aware of this as well. It will make all of our jobs easier. News of conferences this spring is like springtime, sprouting out all over. EBSCO and the Cape Fear Library Association, in association with the North Carolina Library Staff Development Program and Duncan Smith of the School of Library and Information Science at North Carolina Central University, are sponsoring "SERIALS: GETTING OUR FAIR SHARE." The conference will feature a panel including Deana Astle of Clemson, John Tagler of Elsevier, and Ree Sherer of EBSCO. Paul Ribbe will also speak, and Becky Lenzini of CARL will present an overview of how auto- mation is changing serials librarianship. Dates: April 23, 24, in Durham NC. Cornell's Albert R. Mann Library and the Faxon Institute for Advanced Studies in Scholarly and Scientific Communication are sponsoring an INSTITUTE ON COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT FOR THE ELECTRONIC LIBRARY. The theme of the institute is the systematic integration of electronic resources into the concept and practice of collection development. Ross Atkinson (Cornell), Peter Graham (Rutgers), Brian Kahin (Harvard Law), Peggy Seiden (Carnegie Mellon), and others will be workshop leaders and panelists. Registration must be before April 1, and is limited to 90 persons. Florida State's annual conference will include a collection develop- ment/management session with Barbara Meyers of Meyers Consulting Serv- ices, Duane Webster, and others. Deana Astle will be a reactor to one panel as well. A Collection Development and Acquisitions Conference is being planned for St. Louis the middle of May. Contact Katina Strauch of the College of Charleston for details. The BALTIMORE SUN on January 17, 1990, carried an editorial by Michael Zimmerman, who teaches biology at Oberlin College. "SLAPPing Down Speech" details a practice given a name by Penelope Canan and George Pring of the University of Denver in their article, "Strategic Law- suits Against Public Participation," in SOCIAL PROBLEMS 35 (December 1988), pages 506-19. Zimmerman places recent Gordon & Breach actions in the context of other lawsuits aimed at silencing activists. The ARL NEWSLETTER of December 27 announces a new Serials Information Packet. It contains the full text of the final report of a Study Group on Library Materials Pricing Policies, appointed by the General Pro- fessional Advisory Committee of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The study group was charged with considering ways to deal with the large annual increases in the prices of periodicals. Also in the packet are copies of Duane Webster's response to John Merriman's article in NATURE; an article from the MCGILL REPORTER, entitled "Sky-High Serials Prices Fuel Library Financial Crisis," the 1989 AMS journals pricing survey; and a guest editorial from the Octo- ber 1989 issue of the BULLETIN OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, "Will Libraries Exist in the Year 2000?" by Anne M. Pascarelli (volume 65, pages 859-65). The January 15 issue of CURRENT CONTENTS has a thought provoking arti- cle by Stephen Lock, who will retire this fall as editor of the BRIT- ISH MEDICAL JOURNAL. "`Journalology': Are the Quotes Needed?" discus- ses how criteria identifying a "scientific" article have changed over time. In addition to supporting proposals for a yearly published "self-audit" by journal editors, he suggests that editors publishing inappropriately reviewed material may end up being sued for "damages" for acting irresponsibly. The article is well worth reading. It was first published in the Council of Biology Editors publication, CBE VIEWS, volume 12 (1980), pages 57-59. PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY, January 12, has a lot of important stuff, includ- ing a note that Cambridge University Press has just purchased Eyre & Spottiswoode from Octopus. A new twist on Takeovers? A special section of the issue, "PW International," has a lot of information on Japanese markets, and Gayle Feldman's section, Professional Publishing, has an article by Robert Weber, "Mapping the Future in Professional Publish- ing." Using the technique of "future mapping" he explores several scenarios, all of interest to libraries. Finally, an ad in that issue notes that Maxwell Macmillan International publishing group will dis- tribute, or represent, worldwide, G.K. Hall, Twayne, and a host of other very familiar names. Takeover fever, as we know, hit RJR Nabisco, whose junk bond debt is being paid, according to the latest issue of the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, through such devices as a thirty percent jump in the price of Nabisco crackers on our grocery shelves. A company of major concern to libraries, UMI, was part of the Bell & Howell sale to a Texas style takeover and amazingly is as unsensitive as any big conglomerate, UMI has raised prices on such things as the NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS on microfilm by about 29 percent for the backrun. NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE backrun is up twenty percent since last year, and the NEW YORKER is up twenty percent. Hey, remem- ber we are libraries, not S & L's. The feds bailed out the S & L's; there is no evidence they are going to save our boat. Serials librar- ians should do their own comparisons of such price increases and ask for an explanation. If we don't ask, they think we don't mind! Letting publishers know we noticed is still our most effective action. Don't be afraid to ask any publisher to rescind or explain a price increase. They ain't sueing nobody for asking directly and some even complain bitterly when we don't ask them directly. Get it from the horse's mouth -- but check his teeth, like any good horsetrader. Tom Leonhardt, University of the Pacific (phone 209 946-2434) is work- ing on a conference limited to 106 participants, for May 18-20th in the Sierra Nevada: Feather River Institute on Acquisitions and Collec- tion Development. At least this first conference will have a major speaker whose talk will be "Lonesome Dove Acquisitions in the West." Tom hopes that this regional conference will be a focus for librarians to get together and talk about common problems in acquisitions and collection development. He has maps for how to get there and says that registrants flying in will go through RENO and have an hour's shuttle trip to the old Feather Run Prep School. The October 1989, issue of INCITE (Newsletter of the Australian Li- brary and Information Association) carries a note from the Australian Serials Special Interest Group (ASSIG) concerning Marcia Tuttle's visit to Australia last this year. Speaking in Adelaide to about 115 librarians and library technicians, as well as Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, the ALIS newsletter notes that "despite a rig- ourous schedule and many flight changes due to the pilots' strike, (she) was always interesting, entertaining, and informative." (INCITE 10, 16 (Oct. 16, 1989), page 8). Several of Marcia's presentations and those of other librarians in Australia seem to have raised issues of interest to American librarians as well, and INCITE notes especially lively discussion following some of the papers. LEARNED SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS PRICING Alan Singleton, Development Manager, Institute of Physics, London; JANET, via BITNET: IOPPL@GB.RL.AC.UK. I have been following the discussions on pricing, particularly the contributions from Karen Hunter, Duane Webster, et al, with considera- ble interest. It seems to me a very worthwhile effort to give all these views as thorough an airing as possible. Amongst Pieter Bolman's reported statements at the IFLA meeting (News- letter, no. 10) there was one which really does need correcting. It ran, "Learned societies operate with their fixed costs covered and deal only with variable costs. This situation permits societies to have cheaper rates." This is not correct for many learned societies, particularly for those that are significant or substantial publishers. There are many types of learned societies, just as there are several kinds of commercial publishers. There are, no doubt, some societies who operate solely on the basis of honorary and voluntary officers who in some way donate their time to the publishing enterprise. Many oth- ers cooperate with other publishers (learned society or commercial) who carry out functions on their behalf. However, substantial socie- ties like the Institute of Physics, where I work, carry just as sig- nificant a burden of fixed costs as a commercial publisher. Indeed, we could even argue that it is greater, since in most cases we directly employ many professional, qualified staff to undertake the administra- tion of the refereeing system on behalf of the physics community in addition to those staff carrying out all the conventional publishing operations. We thus do incur such costs. In addition, they are not covered, for most societies, by a captive market of member subscriptions. In our case, for example, income from member subscriptions to the journals plays an insignificant role in the journals' finances. AN AUTOMATED JOURNAL USER STUDY AND SERIALS STACK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Jeffery Beam, Biology Library - Botany Section, Department of Biolo- gy, CB # 3280 Coker Hall, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill NC 27599-3280 (EDITOR'S NOTE. Academic branch libraries are susceptible to serious space, as well as financial, restrictions. I asked Beam to describe the system used in his library to combat these restrictions.) The John N. Couch Biology Library - Botany Section has, since 1982, conducted a journal use study for the purpose of identifying low use titles for cancellation or withdrawal. Last year, an online system which also includes a stack management function was developed. The original manual study consisted of two very large and cumbersome notebooks which held a statistic sheet for each serial title in the collection. The sheet was designed to record not only the volume and year of the journal used, but also the month of use and six types of user. The online system has been simplified to only 3 types of user and a count of the use. Lotus HAL 123 is the software used for the online system. Because this is a stacks management system also and journals are shelved in three areas, there are three separate files - one for the alphabetical stacks, one for the call number stacks, and one for our annex storage. The files consist of 8 columns. In column 1 each title is assigned a number. Column 2 provides an active/inactive code for the title with 1 representing active and 0 inactive. Column 3 holds the title. All pertinent title changes are recorded here, with cross references pro- vided in column 4 to the title at which the statistic is kept. (Jour- nals are usually shelved under the original title, with cross refer- ences on library stack end panels and in the user study, from newer titles to the original title._ The fourth column also provides the number of shelf inches occupied by the title. The inches are recorded only at the shelving title, not at cross references. In the call num- ber management file this column also contains the call number. Columns 5, 6, and 7 identify type of use - Biology Department user; Other, or non-departmental user; and In-house use. The final column contains a total number of uses for that title. At the top of each file is a self-calculating chart which gives the total number of inches in the stack area, the number of inches in use at the beginning of the statistical year, the number of inches used during the year, and the current number of inches remaining. This chart also records the number of active titles. A number of macros in the system allow for immediate computation and prevent the graduate assistants who input the statistics from altering any statistics inad- vertently or forgetting to save their work. The program is set up so that, despite the number of columns being larger than a screen, column 1 (the assigned number), column 2 (the active/inactive code) and column 3 (the title) are always visible. In all there are 878 entries in three files, including cross references. Cross references probably account for fewer than ten percent of the entries. The alpha file is the largest, containing 449 entries. For each of the three files a master file must be updated every time a title is added or deleted and whenever a bound journal is added to the shelf. To obtain the measurement for an added volume, a student assis- tant measures the volume when it returns from the bindery. The student records the measurement and passes it on to the graduate assistant in charge of the study. The graduate assistant records the addition of inches to only the master file and not the current year's file. It was decided to maintain the current year file only as a user study file and to use the master file as the stack management system. At the beginning of the year, then, a current year file faithfully reflects the current stack situation, but as the year progresses it does not reflect diminishing or increasing space. This prevents our having to record all bindery returns and other measurement changes in both files, which seemed redundant. Since going online with the study the amount of time to do the study has been reduced by as much as ninety percent. Yet the graduate stu- dent must still load books onto a book truck, take the truck and cir- culation file to our computer, and look at each volume and matching card, as well as discharge the circulation card if the item was signed out. More work will be saved when the time comes for another major shift of the journal stacks, which at the present zero growth circum- stance in Botany is about every two years. Never again will it be necessary to measure the whole stacks, make guesses as to growth pat- terns for particular titles, and rely only on personal experience with few hard statistics (circulation cards used to be reviewed) to support decisions to cancel or withdraw titles. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 pub- lished as news is available by the American Library Association's Association of Library Collections and Technical Services, Publisher/ Vendor-Library Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Serials Pricing Issues. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; ALANET: ALA0348; Paper mail: Serials Department, C.B. #3938 Davis Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC 27599-3938. Committee members are: Deana Astle (Clem- son University), Mary Elizabeth Clack (Harvard University), Jerry Curtis (Consultant), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Robert Houbeck (University of Michigan), and Marcia Tuttle. The NEWS- LETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES is available electronically on BIT- NET, ALANET, and DataLinx. EBSCO customers may receive the newsletter in paper format from EBSCO. Back issues of the newsletter are availa- ble electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ====================================================================== ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE******* ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 14 May 90 16:02 EST From: "Marcia Tuttle" To: TUTTLE Subject: (Copy) PRICING NEWSLETTER, NO. 22 Date: Sun, 13 May 90 11:40 EST ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NUMBER 22 -- MAY 13, 1990 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR, Marcia Tuttle ARTICLES TO LOOK FOR LAST WORD ON THE ACRL JOURNAL COSTS DISCUSSION GROUP AT MIDWINTER TETRAHEDRON ASYMMETRY, Susan C. George HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS, Chuck Hamaker SOURCES OF OUT OF PRINT SERIALS, Travis Leach JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF HOSPITALITY RE- SEARCH, Press Release NEGOTIATING SUBSCRIPTION AGENCY SERVICES AND FEES, Buzzy Basch CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR SERIES, Judith Niles FROM THE EDITOR Marcia Tuttle From Pat Wallace, Head, Serials Department, University of Colorado, Boulder (dated April 23): Last week the Serials Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder, received from Bowker an overnight Federal Express packet -- not your cheapest mail -- containing <> information brochures on Earth Day!! I am curious whether other libraries received similar mailings. Earth Day certainly is important, but this is an inappro- priate means to advertise that fact. It is disturbingly indicative of the kind of business practices which, cumulatively, drive serial prices upward. If prices for Bowker publications rise this year, I suspect I know one of the reasons. We continue to receive responses to the query about subscribers redi- recting the Newsletter to colleagues. You are creative subscribers, as is indicated by the responses from Bob Houbeck at the University of Michigan and Harry Lull at the University of New Mexico. Bob says: One could print off copies and catalog the paper version. Lots of processing and preservation issues to deal with, though, but not a bad solution. Another solution, which I'm inquiring about here, is dumping the Newsletter into a file and creating a record in our online catalog for the title with instructions on how to access it. Will have to consider, though, the ongoing costs of maintaining such a file. Another solution might be to try to get an online vendor to mount the newsletter, like other fulltext titles. Has anyone looked into that? (Related to that sort of solution, I'm looking into cre- ating bib records in our online catalog for fulltext titles availa- ble via online vendors -- which would expand the range of titles available to our patrons, though there are issues of staff costs and line changes that I need to work through first. Do you know if any- one else is doing that sort of thing?) This matter of providing broader access to the newsletter is really a cutting edge sort of problem. We're sure to get more of these sorts of collection development questions and it might be good to work through some solutions now. (Has it occurred to you, Marcia, that you are an electronic pioneer -- that the Newsletter will some- day become an example of "early" efforts to exploit the new communi- cations technologies? Put that on your resume.) And here is what Harry is doing: I receive the Newsletter on the university mainframe and then mail it to the VAX in the Centennial Science and Engineering Library. At that point, I distribute it to all of my staff in the building plus student supervisors. This comes to 16 staff and 3 students. I feel it is advantageous to send it to everyone because it gives them a broader understanding of serial collection development issues and relates directly back to public services. It also makes everyone feel a part of the bigger picture, and that is important when you are out in the middle of the desert. I hope to be able to route the newsletter electronically to more people in the UNM General Library. However, that is more of an issue that involves being comfortable with a VAX and having terminals on everyone's desk. I print out a copy for my office files and one to give to Linda Lewis, the collection development officer. She routes the paper copy to all the collection development coordinators outside of CSEL. I am attempting to get the newsletter accessible through Technet in New Mexico. This would mean anyone in the state who had access to Technet would get the newsletter. This would include institutions and businesses all the way from Los Alamos in the north to Las Cruc- es in the south and everything in between along the Rio Grande. Is this ok with you to reroute to other networks? I'll let you know when/if it happens. You bet it's ok!! From Robert Philip Weber: Do you happen to know the origins of the phrase (and concept) "li- braries without walls"? Is it attributable to any one person or to a group?? Is there a citation? I'm writing an article for PUBLISHERS WEEKLY on libraries on the Internet, and it would be helpful to know. If anyone can help Bob (and I hope it's not too late), please contact him on BITNET at WEBER@HARVARDA. Karen Muller, ALCTS Executive Director, sends this response to a re- cent issue's question about a methodology for attributing costs of serials to individual departments: At the 1986 RTSD Preconference on Technical Services Costs, Doug Phelps of Vanderbilt presented a paper describing Vanderbilt's meth- odology for attributing all technical services costs to academic departments. Doug's paper has now been published in COST-EFFECTIVE TECHNICAL SERVICES, edited by Gary M. Pitkin (Neal-Shuman, 1989). In response to Karen's response, original questioner Vince Courtney replies, Although the information on the "how's" is good, what I'm really hoping for is good argument pro or con on the attribution of serials costs to departments as a management device for libraries. We cur- rently attribute costs to departments in a very simplistic way. Our staff is split as to whether this is a "good" practice or not. While it makes some decisions and management data easy to make or collect, the practice clouds issues in many other respects. Thanks, again, for the information that has come in.... Regarding Ann Okerson's discussion of NISO Standard Z39.16-1979, AMER- ICAN NATIONAL STANDARD FOR THE PREPARATION OF SCIENTIFIC PAPERS FOR WRITTEN OR ORAL PRESENTATION, Yvonne Wulff, Associate Director for Collection Management, University of Michigan Library, writes: The "standard" cited does not really meet the criteria of a standard and should be abandoned. Items 2.3 and 2.4 are matters of profes- sional ethics. They are learned from mentors and enforced by peers. An obscure standard which has no practical effect on the behavior of authors or journal editors weakens the standard protocol and does nothing to improve the quality of the literature. Finally, from Marcia Anderson at Arizona State University Library (IACMLA@ASUACAD): I was just talking to the Business Manager of the Ecological Society of America and he mentioned that they were considering destroying the back issues of ECOLOGY and ECOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS due to costs of storing. I thought that at the very least, this information should be spread around so that any library requiring back issues could acquire them. The phone number is (602) 965-3000; the contact per- son's name is Noreen Murray; the Business Manager's name is Duncan Patten. ARTICLES TO LOOK FOR Various subscribers Holden, Constance. "Gordon & Breach Impanels a Journal Jury," SCIENCE 248 (April 20, 1990): 298-99. Discusses the "independent, internation- al panel to define and develop criteria for future surveys that assess the relative cost-effectiveness of science publications" that was "conceived and proposed" by the publisher. Also reviews the current lawsuits against AIP, AMS, and Barschall. Quotes Chuck Hamaker on the matter. Sadee, Wolfgang. "Publish or Perish, and the Journal Glut." PHARMACEU- TICAL RESEARCH 7 (1990): 433-34. This editorial addresses the issue of undue pressure to publish and comments on the following "undesirable or unethical practices" that may result: marginal experimental re- sults; multiple publication of the same results; salami slicing, or the least publishable unit; large number of coauthors; trivial re- search; and scientific fraud. The author urges funding agencies and promotion committees in the pharmaceutical sciences to "adopt new policies that emphasize the quality, rather than the quantity, of scientific publishing." The session at the AAAS annual meeting entitled "The Financial Crisis in Science Libraries" has generated a lot of discussion. Fred Spil- haus's talk was printed in full in Newsletter #21, and the entire session is covered in the April 30, 1990, issue of THE SCIENTIST on pages 17 and 19. After remarks by October Ivins and Henry Barschall, the article summarizes the talks by Robert K. Peet, Karen Hunter, and Spilhaus. This is the fullest account of the meeting that has appeared to date, and it includes photographs of all the speakers. A recent letter to NATURE points out a growing concern in referees' work in scientific journals. The author of "Blind Reviews" (19 April, p. 698) admits that it is very difficult to be objective about the work of an author who is known by "negative" reputation. J. Ellen Marsden of Cornell University's Department of Natural Resources readi- ly admits that "the potential for bias is unavoidable unless reviews are blind, that is the authors' names and institutional affiliations are removed before being sent to reviewers." Most scientists I've talked to about this have denied any difficulty distinguishing quality whether they know who wrote an article they are reviewing or not. It's nice to hear a working scientist who agrees it just ain't so. (Chuck Hamaker) The March 22 issue of NATURE, News and Views section, includes an opinion piece entitled "Towards the Electronic Journal." (Lois Pausch) Angie LeClercq, Special Assistant to Dean of Libraries Paula Kaufman at the University of Tennessee - Knoxville, sent the first issue of the Library's INFORMATION ISSUES (Fall 1989), which she edits. It consists entirely (4 pages) of a detailed article by Kaufman titled "A Crisis in Scholarly Publication -- Serials Price Escalation and New Title Proliferation." LAST WORD ON THE ACRL JOURNAL COSTS DISCUSSION GROUP AT MIDWINTER Various subscribers We can't win for losing on this one. From Ken Ford at the American Institute of Physics: A minor further correction in the first indented paragraph on page 1 of Newsletter 20. It is the American Physical Society, not the Amer- ican Institute of Physics, whose membership figures are cited. AIP is an umbrella organization whose members are ten Member Societies, one of them being AIP. The combined membership of our Member Socie- ties is around 100,000, of which APS accounts for about 40,000. Just for further clarification: AIP publishes journals for its Member Societies in addition to publishing its own journals and some 20 translation journals. Thanks also to John T. Scott at the American Institute of Physics for pointing out our error. From Heinz Barschall: You may wish to correct also the discussion of page charges....What I said was...that physics journals started page charges in 1932 at $2/page. By 1963 the charge had increased to 50 actual dollars, which is $172 in 1988 dollars. By 1989 the page charges for the PHYSICAL REVIEW had decreased to $40 in actual dollars. I did not say that paying the page charge has a bearing on how soon an article will be published; it does not have a bearing, although some years ago it did in some physics journals. AND NOW, LET'S LET THAT BE THE END OF IT!!! TETRAHEDRON ASYMMETRY Susan C. George, Physical Sciences Librarian, Dartmouth College; BITNET: SUSAN.C.GEORGE@MAC.DARTMOUTH.EDU. I have an "interesting" item to ask about. Last week I received the first issue of a new journal: TETRAHEDRON ASYMMETRY. It is part of a series of tetrahedron journals published by Pergamon. The problem with this particular one is that, it seems to me, the articles in this new journal could easily be a part of one of the already established and recognized tetrahedron journals. Instead, Pergamon has elected to start a new journal and price it at DM550/volume (and they will issue 2 volumes a year). I showed this to one of our Chemistry faculty mem- bers, and he was appalled; his views are the same as mine. We should purchase it, but right now my budget is so tight that I don't think I can afford it. What does the rest of the library world think and feel about this? I am concerned because this could proliferate and be a LARGE problem. I don't want to begin a battle with Pergamon (and Max- well), but this treatment is really a major frustration. HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS Chuck Hamaker, Louisiana State University; BITNET: NOTCAH@LSUVM. The May 1, 1990, issue of BOOKLIST (p. 1744) makes note of the concen- tration of reference book publishing that is a result of recent multi- national mergers and acquisitions. Maxwell Communication, through its purchase of Macmillan, owns Scribner's, G.K. Hall, and Marquis Who's Who. Reed owns, in addition to Butterworth and Bowker, K.G. Saur. The first two of course are UK parent firms. The French firm Hachette owns Grolier and Scarecrow. Gale is owned by the Canadian firm of Interna- tional Thomson. Someone in Reference should be working on whether these purchases have affected the price of reference books. Average prices, for example, over the last few years, or even title output of reference titles, price per page and a host of other measures could be used to try to find out what effect, if any, has been felt in this area. Any reference librarians up to the challenge??? At the recent ARL annual meeting in New Orleans a special presentation was made to Dr. Henry Barschall of the University of Wisconsin in "recognition of his contributions to the issues of scholarly communi- cation and freedom of expression." Dr. Barschall is the author of a study of the cost per thousand characters of physics journals weighted by impact factors derived from SCIENCE CITATION INDEX. Dr. Barschall, the American Institute of Physics, and the American Physical Society are being attacked by Gordon and Breach in courts in Germany, Switzer- land, and France for publication of the study . SOURCES OF OUT OF PRINT SERIALS Travis Leach, University of Arizona; BITNET: JTLEACH@ARIZRVAX Sources of back issues of periodicals, out of print or not, have been high on the buzz list of serials acquisitions librarians since the demise of USBE. Cost, again, is one of the main issues. The cost in- cludes extensive staff time on the part of both libraries and vendors to fulfill this acquisition function. For additional details, see the soon to be published groundbreaking paper by my assistant, Geraldine F. Pionessa, "Serials Replacement Orders: A Closer Look," in SERIALS REVIEW, 16:1, 1990. The rebirth of USBE is welcomed, but there are other back issue dealers with long experience in the business and with extensive inventories, and often with competitive prices; not to men- tion here the many, many smaller vendors, some with subject special- ties. Here are three of the larger vendors: 1) Alfred Jaeger, Inc., 66 Austin Blvd., Commack NY 11725. Phone: (516) 543-1500; (800) 453-0011. FAX: (516) 543-1537. DATALINX: JAEGER. Don Jaeger was the source of our information. Open orders only. Do not send firm order p.o.'s. Send written want lists alphabetized by "ti- tle." They will search current stock only and notify requestors of issues not available. Average price per issue is currently $25 - $30. Customers may set price ceiling, over which Jaeger will quote. If less than a whole volume but more than half is needed, the whole volume may be supplied without quote, at commensurate charge. Handling and ship- ping charges extra. 2) J.S. Canner & Co., 10 Charles Street, Needham Heights MA 02194. Phone: (617) 449-9103. Mr. Liebowicz at Canner gave us the following information. They usually have a large active stock; prefer to accept written want lists, but formal p.o.'s and simple telephone enquiries are accepted. They will notify customers of specific unfillable orders after agreed on search time (usually 90 or 120 days). They will agree to a cost per issue ceiling and quote when the price is over that before filling order. They are exclusive dealers for back issues of Plenum and Human Sciences Press titles. Handling and shipping charges extra. 3) John T. Zubal, Inc., 2969 West 25th Street, Cleveland OH 44113. Phone: (216) 241-7640. FAX: (216) 241-6966. "The Backissues Special- ists." Open orders only, Written want lists accepted only. Only cur- rent stock searched. Sometimes considerable discounts on publishers' in print prices for recent back issues. Minimum charge per issue, which is usually low. Handling and shipping charges extra. It's not clear at this writing how the new USBE relates to the old Zubal busi- ness. JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF HOSPITALITY RESEARCH Press release submitted by Bela Foltin, Virginia Tech. The International Academy of Hospitality Research, in cooperation with Virginia Tech's Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management and the university's Scholarly Communications Project, plans to launch one of the nation's first electronic scholarly jour- nals. The journal will publish refereed papers authored by the leading scholars and researchers in the hospitality and tourism field. The journal will be distributed electronically via BITNET and Internet to computer screens of subscribing libraries and readers. It will be the hospitality industry's first journal devoted exclusively to schol- arly research in the field, according to Dr. Michael D. Olsen, found- ing president of the academy and head of the HRIM department. The journal will play a leadership role in the rapidly developing move- ment, sometimes referred to as an impending revolution, in the elec- tronic communication of scholarly information. The electronic medium allows faster distribution of information at less cost than paper journals, with instant archiving and availability to scholars world- wide. The journal will be dedicated to improving and expanding basic know- ledge in the fields of hospitality and tourism. It is intended exclu- sively for researchers and scholars, most of them in schools of hospi- tality management with some in hotel chains and other hospitality enterprises. The field is a small one, comprising fewer than five hundred persons worldwide. In its exclusive appeal to researchers, the journal will be unique in the hospitality field, Olsen said. The target date for the first issue of the journal is late fall of 1990. In planning the journal, Olsen said, heaviest emphasis is being placed on academic quality. The sponsoring International Academy of Hospital- ity Research includes some of the world's leading scholars in hotel and restaurant management, persons who will demand highest academic standards. Members of the academy will serve as members of the jour- nal's editorial board, while some will also serve as authors and edi- tors. Papers submitted to the journal, like those submitted to classical, paper journals, will be evaluated by referees. Once accepted and ready for publication, however, each paper will be transmitted, along with an abstract, by electronic mail to subscribers. Subscribers may print particular papers of interest in their own offices. Subscribing li- braries may make the journal available to their patrons in any accept- able form. The abstracts and papers, after their original distribu- tion, will be archived in such a way that persons may browse through the abstracts from their home computers, select, and order full texts of those of interest. Launching the journal will involve a minimal outlay of capital, which may be made by the academy, the university, or interested individuals. A nominal subscription fee will be charged to cover costs. The journal will be non-profit. The journal will be published in association with Virginia Tech's Scholarly Communications Project. The SCP was established last year to address critical problems of scholarly communication and to assist journals in taking advantage of new communication possibilities. The project utilizes Virginia Tech's international leadership in computing and electronic communication. The unusual aspect of this journal, Olsen said, is its electronic delivery, a medium that computer people for years have been describing as the medium of future scholarly communication. Due to the small number of scholars in this field, it would be difficult to issue this journal exclusively on paper. Many potential subscribers already are sufficiently "computer literate" to handle the journal. If individuals incur difficulties with electronic aspects of the operation, "we may print a few copies off and send them by mail to help people get start- ed," Olsen said. A call for papers will go out soon to scholars to submit papers for possible publication. Announcements will be forthcoming of an editori- al board, conditions of submission and other informtion relating to the journal. For further information, contact: Dr. Michael D. Olsen; Department Head; Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management; Virginia Poly- technic Institute and State University; Blackburg VA 24061-0429; phone: (703) 231-5515. NEGOTIATING SUBSCRIPTION AGENCY SERVICES AND FEES: A ONE-DAY SEMINAR FOR LIBRARY ADMINISTRATORS, BY N. BERNARD "BUZZY" BASCH "Buzzy" Basch, Basch Associates, 860 North Lake Shore Drive, Suite 7J, Chicago IL 60611; Phone: (312) 787-6885; FAX: (312) 943-0025. Chicago, Illinois Thursday, June 21, 1990 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Allerton Hotel 751 North Michigan Avenue Many serials managers fail to recognize that libraries can negotiate subscription agency services and fees from a position of strength. Those who are aware of the opportunities are often reluctant to act for fear of disrupting the status quo -- the smooth supply of serial materials. To be empowered to pursue cost savings and service enhance- ment through negotiation, library staff need the direction and support of senior administrators. This seminar provides an overview of agency practices and library strategies to equip administrators for a leader- ship role in this initiative. The Marketplace Libraries, the $1 Billion Plus Market Market segments, service usage Competition Among Agencies The players, market share, marketing strategies, agency con- solidation, other sources for serial services Competition Between Agencies and Publishers Dependency and competition The Subscription Agency Business Revenue Sources Publisher discounts, service fees, money management Costs Payments to publishers, automation, risk, research & development Business Practices Margins, efficiency, profit objectives, cost assignment, percep- tions Service Charges Calculation, assignment to customers The Future Negotiation Opportunities Collection profile, service usage, single or multiple vendors, period of service Objectives Money and/or service Strategies Win-win, vendor attitudes REGISTRATION: $295.00. Luncheon provided. Registration accepted through June 14, 1990. For further information contact Buzzy Basch. CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR SERIES Judith Niles, Director, Division of Technical Services, Ekstrom Library, University of Louisville, Louisville KY 40292; BITNET: JFNILE01@ULKYVM. The Guides Subcommittee of the ALCTS Resources Section Acquisitions Committee was established in 1987 to develop and edit new publications and revise existing publications which serve as guides for acquisi- tions librarians or others involved in operations associated with acquisitions departments in all types of libraries. The Subcommittee hereby solicits proposals for guides to be published in the ACQUISITION GUIDES series (formerly ACQUISITIONS GUIDELINES series). The guides are booklets which provide practical advice to the acquisitions manager. Published guides are generally not more than 30 pages long. Each guide should provide practical advice on acquisitions topics or on the management of specific acquisitions functions. It should provide basic definitions of terminology typical to the topic, methodologies for problem solving, strategies for accomplishing objec- tives, etc. A short bibliography may be included, especially one which directs the reader to helpful tools. Since acquisitions functions often overlap with those of other departments, the guides will be of interest to collection development librarians, serials acquisitions managers, administrators, and others, but issues specific to those areas (selection, serials acquisitions, budget allocation, etc.) will not be included in this series. Guides may make reference to these related areas, but should avoid lengthy discussion of them. Guides already in development are: --Financial Management --Preservation Concerns in Acquisitions Additional topics which have been identified as appropriate for this series, and for which authors are particularly solicited: --Acquisition of Out of Print Materials --Legal Issues in Purchasing: Bidding, State Contracts, etc. --Selecting an Automated Acquisitions System --Implementing an Automated Acquisitions System --Managing Gift Acquisitions --Managing Approval Plans --Managing Exchange Operations --Acquisition of Non-Print, Non-Book Materials (proposals need not address the full range of such materials, e.g., a guide to acquisi- tion of videos would be considered) --Acquisition of Government Publications for Non-Depository Libraries In addition, there are publications from the original ACQUISITIONS GUIDELINES series which are out of print and need to be revised for republication: --GUIDELINES FOR HANDLING LIBRARY ORDERS FOR IN-PRINT MONOGRAPHIC PUBLICATIONS, 2nd ed. --GUIDELINES FOR HANDLING LIBRARY ORDERS FOR MICROFORMS The list above is not comprehensive, and the Subcommittee invites proposals on other acquisitions topics. The subcommittee will review proposals, select those to be developed, establish a development schedule with each author, and work with the author in an editing process. Authors will be members of the subcom- mittee during the development of their guides. The subcommittee for- wards proposals to the committees and boards which approve publica- tions and will hold hearings on final drafts at ALA conferences. Each proposal should include a detailed outline of the proposed con- tents. If you are interested in submitting a proposal or would like further information, please contact the Chair of the Guides Subcommit- tee: Judith Niles, Director, Division of Technical Services, Ekstrom Library, University of Louisville, Louisville KY 40292; Phone: (502) 588-6756; FAX: (502) 588-8753; BITNET: JFNILE01@ULKYVM. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 pub- lished as news is available by the American Library Association's Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Publish- er/Vendor-Library Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Serials Pric- ing Issues. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; ALANET: ALA0348; Paper mail: Serials 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. Committee members are: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Mary Elizabeth Clack (Harvard University), Jerry Curtis (Consultant), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Robert Houbeck (Univer- sity of Michigan), and Marcia Tuttle. EBSCONET customers may receive the newsletter in paper format from EBSCO. Back issues of the newslet- ter are available electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ====================================================================== ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE******* ======================================================================== Received: (from MAILER@UNCVAX1 for TUTTLE@UNC via NJE) (RSCS3439-3439; 612 LINES); Thu, 31 May 90 22:22:29 EST Received: from JNET-Daemon by UNCVX1.BITNET; Thu, 31 May 90 20:11 EDT Received: From UNC(MAILER) by UNCVAX1 with Jnet id 0594 for PRICES-L@UNCVAX1; Thu, 31 May 90 20:10 EST Date: Thu, 31 May 90 20:06 EST From: Marcia Tuttle Subject: PRICING NEWSLETTER, NO. 23 To: PRICES-L@UNCVX1 ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NUMBER 23 -- May 31, 1990 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR, Marcia Tuttle GORDON & BREACH LAWSUIT DISMISSED IN WEST GERMANY, Associa- tion of Research Libraries ALA/ARL POSITION ON HR 3131: THE NATIONAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY ACT OF 1989, Paul M. Gherman ELECTRONIC JOURNALS, Peggy Johnson TETRAHEDRON: ASYMMETRY, PART II, Holly Melanson TETRAHEDRON: ASYMMETRY, PART III, Susan C. George AV AND JOURNALS, Midge King ACRL DISCUSSION GROUP ON JOURNAL COSTS IN ACADEMIC LIBRAR- IES, Chuck Hamaker HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS, Chuck Hamaker FROM THE EDITOR Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET A couple of people passed on to me their responses to Bob Weber about the expression "library without walls." Joe Wible, Falconer Biology Library, Stanford University, says: I believe the phrase "library without walls" can be attributed to John Sack based on his article "Open Systems for Open Minds: Building the Library without Walls." It was published in the November 1986 issue of COLLEGE & RESEARCH LIBRARIES. From Mike Renshawe, McGill University: The first instance I saw where "libraries without walls" was used was in a presentation given to the Australian Law Librarians Association, published in AUSTRALIAN LAW LIBRARIANS' GROUP NEWS- LETTER, no. 88, 205 (Sept-Oct. 1988). Roy Mersky, Law Librarian at Texas, gave the address and his actual quote was a "National law library without walls: A global law library without bounda- ries." Marianne Scott, National Library of Canada, later used the quote (last summer) in a conference at the University of Texas on the Global Responsibility of Law Librarians, later to be pub- lished." And Bob Weber says: Others have pointed out that the term may have its roots in dis- cussions at the time printing was invented (movable type). Some have suggested that it dates back to the late '40s or early 50s as a variation on Andre Malroux's "museums without walls." What all this has to do with serials pricing, I don't know, unless we're preparing for the time when we can't afford libraries with walls because all the money has to go to pay for journals. Several people noticed the numbering error at the top of the last issue of the Newsletter, but two subscribers mentioned that their computers alerted them to the duplicate number! As Deana Astle says, "It just shows that humans do not always pay as much attention to details as a machine!" But Miriam Palm wins the prize with this mes- sage: "I'm going to nominate you for two awards: the numbering mess award and the total honesty award!!" No prizes for those who mentioned "Snake-In-The-Grass Award!" While we're on the topic of the Newsletter itself, I want to ask you another question. Arnold Hirshon wonders if we might go to a ragged right margin instead of justifying it. Excerpting items would be easi- er for him if he didn't have to deal with the extra spaces created by the justification. How about the rest of you? Ragged? Justified? Doesn't matter? All nonrespondents go into the last category. GORDON & BREACH LAWSUIT DISMISSED IN WEST GERMANY Association of Research Libraries memo dated May 30, 1990, FAXed to all ARL Directors. For your information, Richard Meserve of Covington & Burling, attor- neys for the AIP/APS, has just telephoned to relate that today, in Frankfurt, West Germany, the Trial Court has ENTIRELY dismissed the Gordon & Breach lawsuit. The dismissal represents a very favourable development for the physical societies and Dr. Barschall, with posi- tive implications for the American Mathematical Society. The written ruling is expected in several weeks and will explain the rationale for the dismissal, whether on technical or loftier grounds. Such rationale is not known at this time. The matter is subject to appeal and we will be informed of future developments. Cases are still pending in Switzerland and France. Your support, along with that of your faculty, has been very useful. Thank you for your efforts. In spite of today's news, our efforts for widely distributed consumer pricing information as well as ready ac- cess to scholarly materials must continue -- it is not a time to stop or to be complacent. ALA/ARL POSITION ON HR 3131: THE NATIONAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY ACT OF 1989 Statement of Paul M. Gherman, Director of Libraries, Virginia Poly- technic Institute and State University, on behalf of the American Library Association and the Association of Research Libraries before the Subcommittee on Science, Research, and Technology, The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, March 15, 1990. I am Paul Gherman, Director of Libraries at Virginia Polytechnic In- stitute and State University. I am appearing today on behalf of the American Library Association and the Association of Research Librar- ies. ALA is a nonprofit educational organization of 50,000 librarians, library trustees, and other friends of libraries. ARL is an associa- tion of 119 major research libraries. I serve as a member of the ARL Committee on Government Relations, and the ARL Task Force on Telecom- munications. Both ALA and ARL support HR 3131, which calls for the creation of the National Research and Education Network (NREN). The membership of ALA passed a resolution at their January meeting in Chicago supporting the NREN.... ARL has joined with EDUCOM and CAUSE, organizations repre- senting computer and information professionals in higher education, to form a coalition which will encourage development of information re- sources on the NREN and study issues such as standards, intellectual property rights, copyright, and the management and funding of the network. We feel strongly about the establishment of the NREN because it will have significant impact on the mission of the nation's librar- ies and on the opportunities and challenges we face today and in the future. Since the beginning of the last decade, the process of scholarly com- munication has been in crisis. By scholarly communication I mean the process of review, publication, storage, and dissemination of the results of research and scholarship so that scientists, scholars, and researchers have access to the results of the work of others. The crisis has come about because the cost of scholarly publications, especially those in the sciences, technology, and medicine, have in- creased at a rate well beyond that of inflation. A recent study com- missioned by ARL has shown that from 1975/76 (when journal expendi- tures were first reported) to 1987/88, the average cost per journal in the ARL university library has risen 250 percent, and this trend does not seem to be abating. At Virginia Tech this means that each year we must increase our budget by $250,000 just to retain the same subscrip- tions as the previous year. These funds are not available, so that each year we face the cancellation of over 1,000 titles of journals of importance to our faculty and graduate students. Ordering new journals in new areas of research is a luxury we have not had for years. Added to the purchase price of journals is the cost of binding and housing them. It is time, therefore, that we establish a new paradigm for scholarly communication. Most libraries can subscribe to only about 20 percent of the journals published today, and many of these journals are high- cost,low-use publications used by only a select number of our special- ists. Instead of libraries purchasing these high-cost, but low-use, journals, we must develop a process by which our faculty and students have access on demand to significant articles from a much broader array of journals. We must shift emphasis from ownership of informa- tion to access to information. The NREN can be an integral part of implementing such a system. In the future we envision, electronic databases will list available articles via a standard article number. Faculty and students will then, with a single key stroke, be able to order an electronic article to be delivered to their desktop workstation to be printed, stored, and accessed at will. Publishers could be compensated for use of their databases, and they will at the same time eliminate the cost of print- ing, storage, and delivery. Libraries will no longer need to store unused journals, and readers will have access to the world of know- ledge instead of just the materials held in their local library. Pos- sibly the lengthy submission and review process of articles will also be accelerated as electronic copies of articles can be sent from auth- ors to reviewers to editors via the network. The NREN will make this process possible by connecting our campus networks to a broad array of publishers, information providers, and databases. The library world is putting in place several test models of parts of the system. Already over 25 library catalogs are available on the existing connected network, which is the Internet. Our librarians and faculty routinely check the library catalogs of the University of California. The Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries, CARL, a con- sortium of multi-type libraries, not only lists what books are availa- ble in their libraries, but has online on the Internet a database of tables of contents from over 7,000 journals. The National Agricultural Library has been conducting a pilot project to scan thousands of pages of text and illustrations dealing with acid rain, agent orange, and aquaculture. Today over 12,000 pages have been stored on CD-ROM (Com- pact Disc-Read Only Memory). Virginia Tech is one of five NAL test sites, and we have very encouraging results. Recently a joint demon- stration project between North Carolina State and NAL successfully transmitted a number of these page images from NAL to NC State using the Internet. NC State will now attempt to transmit these images across their campus network directly to the faculty members' worksta- tions. The next stage of the project will involve at least ten other land-grant libraries, with the hope of someday connecting all land- grant libraries in an electronic document delivery system for agri- cultural information. One example of an excellent resource that could be made available on the NREN is the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). OCLC, a member- ship organization of libraries, provides online access to a database of over 21 million bibliographic records and can identify over 350 million individual book locations. OCLC has recently made available a service that gives the individual scholar or library patron access to this enormous wealth of knowledge. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and OCLC have also just announced an all-electronic journal that is sched- uled to begin publishing in July 1991. The articles for this journal will be reviewed using the same rigorous procedures of SCIENCE maga- zine and will be available online very shortly after their acceptance. The electronic journal will provide access to the data that back up the journal articles and perhaps give the reader and the author an opportunity to enter into a dialogue about the article or its find- ings. Likewise, the Research Libraries Group, RLG, a membership organization of many large research libraries based at Stanford, is offering access to its database via the Internet. RLG is also planning to use its dedicated network at night to send large volumes of fax transmissions to speed the delivery of interlibrary loan material. Daily, thousands of pages of interlibrary loan materials are telefaxed between libraries using high-cost commercial telephone lines. Experi- mentation at Ohio State and at the University of California is showing how telefax machines may be able to send page images over the Inter- net. If these tests are successful, it will then be possible to send interlibrary loans directly to the requestor's workstation. The use of the NREN will be critical to the success of such a system. The NREN holds the potential to connect the researcher to a number of specialized databases that are not textual or bibliographic. The Uni- versity of Arizona has a song index that was developed locally on their system. The University of California at Santa Barbara has assem- bled a unique collection of about 2 million satellite images. NSF has funded a project, along with the National Center for Geographic Infor- mation and Analysis and RLG, to develop a spatial database which will allow scientists throughout the nation to identify these images. Even- tually these images could be digitized and transmitted via the NREN. One LANDSAT image takes hours to send over the current Internet, but with a fiber optic network as envisioned in the bill, such images could be sent in almost real time. There is discussion that could lead to a consortium of universities sharing the cost of mounting databases which would be too expensive for a single university to maintain. Government databases such as Agricola, in the field of agriculture, or ERIC, in education, could be placed on one university's computer and accessed by a number of other universities. This would save the duplicate cost of storing the data and software to access the database. We envision a partnership between various universities and government agencies to disseminate government information via the NREN, much as the current depository library sys- tem works. Virginia Tech has over 400 distant learners, who take courses via satellite transmission. We have found that a major impediment to the broader development of this program is the lack of comprehensive li- brary collections in remote rural areas. Full text delivery via the NREN could solve this problem and could truly bring affordable higher education to rural America. Small high tech businesses cannot afford large collections of science and technology journals, and many such businesses are not located near our research libraries. Currently at Tech, we serve these businesses across Virginia via telephone and telefax machine. With the NREN the effectiveness of this service could be greatly enhanced and, in turn, the economic development of the state. For the non-affiliated re- searcher, the citizens' group, the occasional business user, and any information seeker lacking equipment or experience, the link to the NREN could be an academic, public, or other library, which could pro- vide not only the local access node, but orientation and training. The older collections of our nation's libraries are literally falling apart due to the acidic nature of the paper used in printing during the last 100 years. Indeed, our entire cultural history is at risk. Currently, preservation microforming is the only means we have availa- ble to us to deal with the problem. At Cornell there is a joint proj- ect underway with Xerox to scan a unique collection of mathematics journals which will soon be lost to decay. One has to believe that one day soon we will have the technology to store these valuable books in electronic form. When that day comes, the NREN could serve as the means of access to these important collections by scholars across the nation. The potential volume of data transmission in the system I have just described is overwhelming. At the Virginia Tech library alone, we operate two fax machines fourteen hours a day, six days a week, trans- mitting interlibrary loans. Imagine the increase in volume when read- ers can initiate their own interlibrary loans, or when readers are able to request publications directly from publishers. Add to this the band width needed for color, audio, or video, and it is staggering. The vision of the future I have just drawn for you is one filled with great promise, where information will be efficiently produced, acces- sed, and delivered almost instantaneously directly to the scholar, researcher, and scientist. It is a future of information riches which could transform the scholarly communication process, making our re- searchers more efficient and productive in their work. But beyond the technical issues there are many other difficult legal, standards, and management issues. Before we can realize this future, a significant rethinking of intellectual property rights and copyright law must be undertaken. We in the library community realize that publishers are very concerned about protecting their interests in this new environ- ment, but we cannot cling to the paper world of scholarly communica- tion. We must find a means to cross over to this electronically net- worked world. Our scholars and researchers are both the producers and major consumers of scientific, technical, and medical information. Copyright cannot be an impediment to our advance. Management and fund- ing of the NREN is also of great concern to the library community. Questions such as what we mean by commercialization, how we charge for differing services, and how the transition will be made from our cur- rent form of management to a future management form, are a few exam- ples of those concerns. The original vision for the NREN was to make supercomputing more broadly available to scientists and researchers. It was a very worth- while initiative. However, I believe the vision the library community has presented to you here today sees in the NREN the possibility of transforming the very basis of scholarly communication in our nation. This vision offers a new efficiency, quality, and speed by which in- formation can be accessed, which will give this nation a competitive edge as we develop new advances in science, technology, and medicine. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the subcommittee. ALA and ARL give their strongest support to HR 3131 and urge its further development and passage. ELECTRONIC JOURNALS Peggy Johnson, St. Paul Campus Libraries, University of Minnesota, 1984 Buford Avenue, St. Paul MN 55108; BITNET: M-JOHN@UMINN1.BITNET. We are beginning to ponder the practical and philosophical issues of electronic journals and libraries. I haven't been able to find much at all about library policy decisions, other than Bob Houbeck's comments about his thoughts on handling them in the last issue of NSPI (no. 22). The questions I'm pondering are related to "physical" and biblio- graphic access: How have librarians been cataloging electronic jour- nals (and what was cataloged -- the computer file or a paper copy)? Does the library print and keep copies of each issue or send the elec- tronic issues to a central mainframe? If so, who manages these files? How is the bib. record linked to the serial (electronic or print)? And so on.... I realize these questions are outside serials pricing is- sues, but I thought someone might have some personal experience or have an idea of someone else I could contact. I'm also putting a query out through the PACS forum. This group has its own electronic journal, cataloged on OCLC (THE PUBLIC-ACCESS COMPUTER SYSTEMS REVIEW). (Editor's note: NSPI is also cataloged on OCLC!) TETRAHEDRON:ASYMMETRY, PART II Holly Melanson, Coordinator of Collections Development, Dalhousie University Library; BITNET: BIRDSALL@AC.DAL.CA. Re Susan C. George, "Tetrahedron Asymmetry" in issue 22 of May 13, 1990: I wrote as follows to Jane Macmillan, Marketing Manager of Perg- amon Press, about this supposed "new journal" on February 9th. Our Chemistry Department agreed with the librarians that TETRAHEDRON: ASYMMETRY is an unnecessary addition to the chemistry journal collection. The 27 percent increase in the 1990 subscription price for TETRA- HEDRON is now comprehensible, since it was intended to cover an additional publication. However, we do not wish to subscribe to the new journal. I am writing to request a reimbursement to Dal- housie of the one-year subscription cost of TETRAHEDRON:ASYMME- TRY, advertised at US $265.00 .... As customers who value Perga- mon journals, we find this latest attempt to dig deeper into library pockets both unethical and insulting. To your non-custom- ers you have given the choice of subscribing to either TETRAHED- RON or TETRAHEDRON: ASYMMETRY, but to your present subscribers you have not extended the same courtesy ..." The letter was copied to the Editor-in-Chief of TETRAHEDRON: ASYMMETRY and to Blackwell's. So far, no reply has been receved, but we'll be watching for the invoice on this one. Any ideas for further action? TETRAHEDRON: ASYMMETRY, PART III Susan C. George, Physical Sciences Librarian, Dartmouth College; BITNET: SUSAN.C.GEORGE@MAC.DARTMOUTH.EDU. Here's a copy of what I sent Pergamon: Jane Macmillan Marketing Manager Pergamon Press Headington Hill Hall Oxford UL OX3 0BW Dear Ms. Macmillan: I am writing in regard to a new journal you are publishing, TETRAHE- DRON: ASYMMETRY. While new journal publications are welcomed by li- braries, this title does not qualify in my opinion as a unique and new title. Rather, it is a set of articles which could easily appear in one of your other tetrahedron publications. I consulted our Chemistry Department faculty about this title and they agreed with me that this publication does not need to exist. Further, in a careful reading of the Annual Subscription Rates section on the verso of the title page, the following statement is made: "TET- RAHEDRON: ASYMMETRY is included in subscriptions to TETRAHEDRON but can also be ordered separately." I believe this means that, as a cur- rent subscriber to TETRAHEDRON, I am to automatically receive a sub- scription to this new journal at no cost to me. Is this the case? If so, when does my subscription begin? If not, why is the statement made? Dartmouth College Library purchases many Pergamon titles, both serial and monographic, in all subject areas, and while we value these ti- tles, we cannot support or collect titles which have no legitimate reason for existence, except monetary gain for the publisher. This type of publisher philosophy not only hurts the library pocketbook, but also denies information access needed by the individual research- er. As the collection officer for Chemistry at Dartmouth College, I do not intend to purchase this new journal for an additional cost of US $265. AV AND JOURNALS Midge King, The University of Calgary; BITNET: MHKING@UNCAMULT. GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, vol. 17, no. 5, April 1990, includes an article which is supposed to be accompanied by a video tape (VHS). According to GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, the video tape was an offi- cial part of the paper for review purposes. The video tape has been archived at the American Geophysical Union. It was not distributed with the journal issue, but must be purchased from AGU at the addi- tional cost of $25.00. The video tape is considered part of the perma- nent record of the paper, but access is not included in the subscrip- tion price of the journal. Questions arise as to access to the video tape. Will we all have to purchase it? Will the AGU provide Interlibrary Loan of the tape? How do we become aware of a video tape which is a vital part of an article but which was not included in the subscription? ACRL DISCUSSION GROUP ON JOURNAL COSTS IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES Chuck Hamaker, Louisiana State University; BITNET: NOTCAH@LSUVM. The ACRL Discussion Group on Journal Costs in Academic Libraries will meet Sunday, June 24th at ALA, from 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. The location is McCormick Place North, M-6a. The topic: Librarians within the Law. Two lawyers will be addressing the group: Richard Meserve of Covington Burling, the law firm representing many AIP interests in the U.S., will speak on Legal Issues in Journal Publishing. Todd Parker of Shiff, Hardin and Waite, a Chicago-based firm will discuss Antitrust Issues in Publishing. Hal Schiff, Director of Libraries, University of West Virginia, will speak as a government information specialist on Privatization of Government Information and Scholarly Publishing. This promises to be an important meeting. The room will comfortably hold 150 persons and, although it's a long way from most hotels to McCor- mick Place on a Sunday morning, the trip may well be worth the effort. HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS Charles Hamaker, Louisiana State University; BITNET: NOTCAH@LSUVM. The WALL STREET JOURNAL of May 17th, 1990, writes that Mr. Maxwell is about to acquire the following tabloids: GLOBE, NATIONAL EXAMINER, and SUN. The price will top $100 million. These three newspapers are weak competitors of the NATIONAL ENQUIRER, STAR, and WEEKLY WORLD NEWS, but will give Mr. Maxwell "a spot on US magazine racks, a market he has fought to enter before." And, more importantly, through the acquisi- tion of these tabloids Maxwell Communication will receive access to a national distribution system, which is, according to experts, what Mr. Maxwell is after. Globe Marketing Services, which owned these papers before, had a 500-person field force, which distributes magazines and newspapers in supermarkets and convenience stores nationwide. This acquisition will allow Mr. Maxwell to distribute any publications he plans to start up or acquire in the future. The WALL STREET JOURNAL, May 22, 1990 (B6), notes that Rupert Mur- doch's News Corp. is selling J.B. Lippincott Company, the medical publisher of journals, newsletters, and textbooks, to Wolters Kluwer for more than 250 million dollars. The price is 19 to 20 times annual earnings, although gross revenue at Lippincott approaches $100 mil- lion. Bidders for the company included Paramount Communications, To- ronto-based Thomson Corporation, Reed International plc (owner of Bowker, Butterworth, and K.G. Saur), Pearson (FINANCIAL TIMES, Long- mans, etc.), and Elsevier. With a price/earnings ratio that high, if earnings stay where they are, return on investment would be no more, by my estimates, than about 3.6 percent, which means Kluwer will have to increase earnings by about 4 times to make the purchase pay. Watch out for price increases in medical publishing?? Also of interest to the peanut gallery is the fact that Elsevier, Kluwer, and Pearson are interlocking companies (i.e., Pearson and Elsevier own significant portions of each other, and Elsevier holds 30 percent of Kluwer non- voting stock, if memory serves correctly). In effect, three of the bidders with joint ownership in each other's companies were bidding against themselves, from my perspective. News Corp. in divesting itself of Lippincott, continues to own Harper & Row, Zondervan, British publisher William Collins, and of course Scott Foresman. This looks like another in the series of niche pur- chases for market dominance and can only result in much higher prices in those niche areas, although Kluwer (as WSJ points out) owns nearly 100 other companies and has taken consistently a long term view of the market. Wolters Kluwer also owns Raven Press and Aspen Publishers in the U.S. On the other hand, could this purchase be a bit of a poison pill to dilute Elsevier's non-voting stock profits from Kluwer, which fought off an attempted Elsevier purchase not too long ago?? An invi- tation for a divorce? The May 1990 ICPSR Bulletin (Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research) has three articles under the rubric of "The Aca- demic Enterprise in the 21st Century: The Impact of Computing." Of interest are the three sub-units of this article, "The Automated In- tellectual: Faculty Work in the 21st Century," by Judith A. Perrolle, Northeastern University; "The Information Crisis of the 21st Century," by Robert Philip Weber, Harvard University and Northeast Consulting Services, Inc.; "Expert Systems in Academia: Assistants or Mentors," by Edward Brent, University of Missouri - Columbia. All are from ICPSR's 1989 Meeting of Official Representatives. Weber's piece has appeared in a different form, and with some differ- ent emphasis in PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY. He pictures "a future in which information and its control and dissemination assume paramount impor- tance as the cost of information increases." Most of the six "futures" he creates suggest very bleak outcomes for many universities and col- leges. In the best "scenario" over a third of academic institutions are priced out of the market for access to information. His final sentence is important: "Many institutions, especially those in the second and third tiers, will be unable to fund such services (access to online information for faculty and students) and will fall further behind in quality. I believe we all have a stake in preventing this from happening." (p. 5) If ALA, ACRL, and ARL need an agenda, that is certainly a clear statement of the problem. We all must unite to pre- vent loss of access for an informed and productive society to the information tools necessary for sustained productivity. The article is good enough to forward to chief academic officers and others concerned about the future of higher education and information access in gener- al. The stakes, as Weber envisions the future, are very high. His warning is further emphasized by the following: "Some of the decisions that affect the outcomes (of future information access) are being made now. Before Congress is a bill introduced by Senator Albert Gore that would create a national high-speed research network. Congress and others continue to evaluate the nature of copyright and how it should be extended or curtailed. And of course, technology continues to ad- vance. The information industry cannot ignore these issues." Amen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 as news is available by the American Library Association's Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Publish- er/Vendor-Library Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Serials Pric- ing Issues. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; ALANET: ALA0348; Paper mail: Serials 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. Committee members are: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Mary Elizabeth Clack (Harvard University), Jerry Curtis (Consultant), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Robert Houbeck (Univer- sity of Michigan), and Marcia Tuttle. EBSCONET customers may receive the newsletter in paper format from EBSCO. Back issues of the newslet- ter are available electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ====================================================================== ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE******* ======================================================================== Received: (from MAILER@UNCVAX1 for TUTTLE@UNC via NJE) (RSCS4904-4904; 471 LINES); Sun, 17 Jun 90 23:34:27 EST Received: from JNET-Daemon by UNCVX1.BITNET; Sun, 17 Jun 90 21:36 EDT Received: From UNC(MAILER) by UNCVAX1 with Jnet id 0110 for PRICES-L@UNCVAX1; Sun, 17 Jun 90 21:36 EST Date: Sun, 17 Jun 90 21:33 EST From: Marcia Tuttle Subject: PRICING NEWSLETTER, NO. 24 To: PRICES-L@UNCVX1 ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NUMBER 24 -- June 18, 1990 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR, Marcia Tuttle AAAS/OCLC ELECTRONIC SCIENCE JOURNAL, Donald J. Muccino REPORT ON THE "INSTITUTE ON COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT FOR THE ELECTRONIC LIBRARY," Arlene Moore Sievers UPDATE ON "JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE," Eddy van der Maarel HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS, Chuck Hamaker FROM THE EDITOR Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET. Watch my margin!! It wasn't a large response, but it was definite. You who care want a ragged right margin. Well, you've got it, but please don't try to take away my hyphens! In "Hamaker's Haymakers," Chuck asks for volunteers to monitor the NFAIS NEWSLETTER for us and to report on relevant articles. Chuck covers an amazing amount of the professional literature himself, and you readers are great about telling us about articles you see, but we do need regular, continuing review of some publications. Will somebody help us out here? Of course, you know that citations with annotations are always wel- come, as are relevant bibliographic essays. Here's another request for your feedback. The group sponsoring this newsletter has not met at the last two ALAs. We feel that all of our business is transacted easily by e-mail. What we have lost is an op- portunity for you, our readers, to meet with us face-to-face and tell us what you need in the Newsletter and what you like and dislike about it. We do hear from one or more of you nearly every day, and that may be all you need (now that we have no paper edition). If so, we cer- tainly don't want to add to the number of ALA meetings! But if you would like us to meet with you, we will be happy to do it, beginning at Midwinter. Please let me know. AAAS/OCLC ELECTRONIC SCIENCE JOURNAL Donald J. Muccino, Vice President Research and Development, OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., 6565 Frantz Road, Dublin OH 43017-0702; telephone: (614) 764-6000; FAX: (614) 764-6096. On February 17, in New Orleans, the Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and OCLC Online Computer Library Center announced a joint effort to create an electronic science journal. This venture in electronic publishing is a true strategic alliance that is consistent with the charters of the two organizations and combines a set of strengths that are unique in both the publishing and online information communities. AAAS is a membership organization dedicated to the advancement of science in the United States. Its membership is well over 130,000. AAAS publishes SCIENCE magazine weekly and distributes over 150,000 copies of this respected journal. SCIENCE is highly regarded in the scientific community and employs a rigorous review of prospective articles submitted for publication in the journal. OCLC, located in Dublin, Ohio, is the largest online library utility in the world. It has a database that identifies 21 million unique bibliographic items and over 350 million locations in OCLC's 10,000 member libraries. Access to this rich cataloging and reference re- source is supported by a large computer operation that includes sig- nificant applications, telecommunications, and database components. OCLC provides online and offline access to the information in its database through its cataloging and resource sharing services and EPIC, the service which provides subject access and keyword and boole- an searching to a variety of databases. The information is distributed through OCLC's network which supports over 10,000 dedicated and 2,000 dial access terminals and PC's. This positions OCLC well for providing the access and delivery of the electronic journal. The journal, which has no name at this point, is in the definition stages for both subject matter and initial product form. AAAS will provide the subject and editorial expertise and OCLC will provide the storage, retrieval, access, and delivery capabilities. The journal will consist of several subjournals, each of which will have its own body of articles. Each subjournal will have an editor, an editorial board, and a carefully selected set of reviewers. An author will sub- mit a journal article by using electronic mail or a file transfer facility. An article submitted by an author will be reviewed using the same philosophy and operational procedures currently used for SCIENCE, except that all communications will be handled electronically. An article will be submitted using a word processing format and may ini- tially include some minimal level of graphics. The accepted article will be transmitted to OCLC which will then be responsible for the "publishing" process. OCLC will make the article available through its EPIC service and provide access to a broad range of terminals and workstations. Low-end ascII terminals will be able to search and retrieve the full text of the article but will be limited to the characteristics of the device. Higher-functioning workstations will be able to display a document in good quality display format which will include text and minimal-level graphics. The user of either a terminal or workstation will have the ability to request a printed or fax copy of an article. The user of a workstation will also have the option of requesting a downloaded file. The article may also have attached data files which have been used to support the conclusions of the article. These data will be available to the user by requesting that they be downloaded or sent offline. REPORT ON THE "INSTITUTE ON COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT FOR THE ELECTRONIC LIBRARY" Arlene Moore Sievers, Head, Information Acquisition Department, Case Western Reserve University Libraries, 11161 East Boulevard, Cleveland OH 44106; DATALINX: SIEVERS. This institute was organized by the Albert R. Mann Library of Cornell University and sponsored by the Faxon Institute and six corporate sponsors. It was held at the Statler Hotel on the campus of Cornell University, Ithaca NY, April 29 - May 2, 1990. The institute was the second of three programs on this subject spon- sored by Mann Library, the first being an ALA preconference at New Orleans in 1988, the third to be a half-day program at the upcoming Chicago ALA. The program of the institute consisted of morning plenary sessions devoted to defining the electronic library and approaching the collection development aspect from many angles, and afternoon workshops which offered for the most part practical problem-solving sessions on subjects such as financing access to electronic informa- tion while building print collections. The institute was limited to a registration of ninety and drew a nationwide attendance. One of the highlights of the institute was the keynote address of Jan Kennedy Olsen, director of the Mann Library, in which she clearly and perceptively defined the central task of planning libraries which are becoming electronic. In her analysis, the profession of librarianship is in need of a new paradigm, that is, a set of theories, practices and standards to fit the revolutionary changes brought about by the advent of the computer and advanced telecommunications in the library. The field must be reestablished from fundamentals, the chief one being the task of the profession to connect members of society to the re- corded knowledge of society. The exciting challenge of the keynote address was complemented by presentations by a number of outstanding invited speakers, the majori- ty of whom were outside of librarianship per se, but who addressed national concerns and priorities in the area of electronic informa- tion, such as national networks, intellectual property rights, the preservation of electronic information, and ongoing research projects related to the subject of collections in electronic libraries. After- noon sessions were devoted to workshop topics and discussions which were often conducted as practical case study analyses, where problems were raised and small groups came up with solutions to them. The central library problems of reallocating resources to finance and maintain electronic information collections, providing equitable and cheap access to information in electronic formats to all, and restruc- turing library organization and goals to incorporate the electronic library idea, emerged as important themes. On a national and societal level, the proposed National Research and Education Network (NREN), submitted as legislation to the Senate by Senator Albert Gore, Jr., was a major topic addressed by many speakers. Fred Weingarten, of the Office of Technological Assessment in Washington DC, focused on the political dimension of the project and advised the mostly library/ university oriented audience on how NREN may become stalled or side- tracked because of political and bureaucratic objections, despite its necessity for the education and research community. Active library involvement in guiding this program is essential if it is to serve the electronic library. Brian Kahin was another outstanding speaker, a lawyer from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University who specializes in law as it concerns patents and copyright in conjunction with electronic in- formation and media. He raised important concerns regarding the inade- quacy of current copyright law to protect electronic information, and the difficult legal questions regarding copyright and "right to per- form" that come up when libraries lease information rather than pur- chase it. The problem of maintaining textual integrity of material in electronic format was raised by Kahin and other participants. The issues concern maintaining the intellectual property rights over the material, and ensuring its archival future as well as ensuring its immutability. Pricing for purchase of or access to electronic information was the subject of one plenary session, and there was much discussion of meth- ods of pricing between conference sponsors (the only commercial repre- sentatives at the institute) and library participants. What is clear above all else is that pricing is still in flux with electronic infor- mation vendors, who have yet to decide on uniform pricing policies for their information products. The candor of the commercial representa- tives was instructive, since it was apparent they do not yet know precisely how to price CD-ROM use in networks, fairly or for optimal profitability, for example. This is clear to all who purchase such products and must contend with the plethora of pricing and billing methods such as yearly contractual leases, pricing per measured use, by terminal, or on a sliding scale by size of institution. The topic of serials was remarkably absent from the institute's main emphases, except in a general context of turning away from the build- ing of such collections. The scholar's workstation linked to informa- tion sources, through network geteways, with smooth seamless interfac- es is intended to replace the need to enter the library, for the scholar at least. The implicit idea is perhaps that core collections with some few specialities, need to be maintained in hard copy for use by "unlinked" students, pre-computer age faculty, and other hapless walk-ins. To be fair, no one expects this to happen overnight. The topic of resource reallocation within the library, university and society at large was frequently addressed, but no ready solutions to the problem of "where's the cash" were forthcoming. A reasonable hy- pothesis for this dilemma would seem to be that gradually a larger proportion of the materials and operating budgets of the library will be committed to electronic information sources for the electronic library. The most exciting presentation topic of the entire institute, without a doubt, was that by Dennis Egan, a cognitive psychologist and head of a project research team at Bellcore, Bell Communications Research Lab. He was introduced by Jan Kennedy Olsen, who intended his report on Superbook, an electronic book, to serve as a case study, an illustra- tion of her concept of the electronic library. Superbook, an experi- mental hypertext document browsing tool, was developed as a project to aid telephone service people in accessing large technical manuals, frequently updated, in electronic format, and to assist them in quick- ly, accurately, and completely finding relevant information in a large text. Mann Library is an experimental site for Superbook applied to library, specifically serial, information. Along with its impressive indexing and sequencing functions, Superbook's uniqueness comes from the fact that there has been and continues to be extensive psychologi- cal testing of readers in conjunction with the development of the project. This Bellcore research group has conducted numerous studies on how people find information in texts, what they don't find and why, and how to use this information to construct an electronic book that is better to use than a real book. Basically, material that is in ma- chine-readable form is submitted to rich indexing, that is, full-text indexing. This is their attempt to solve the basic problem of finding information through an index or table of contents. The problem is one of verbal disagreement, that is, few people will refer to the same thing in the same way. Bellcore's group has found that the agreement rate, people choosing the same term for something, is only about 10 percent. In Superbook, every word in a paragraph refers back to that paragraph. Synonyms are also created. When a text is submitted to Superbook, a table of contents adjacent to the page displayed is created which helps maintain what they call the "fish-eye view." The "fish-eye view" is the perspective that allows you to see something in rich detail without losing its context. You don't lose the forest for the trees. This treats one of the central problems of the computerized book, which is that people lose their sense of where they are in it. When you are reading a page of text in Superbook and find a key concept, you can create a dynamic table of contents which tells you where that concept is throughout the work. You can see what chapters or parts have lots of information and where you are in the text in relation to it. You can also see how much of that work is concerned with your subject. The page you are viewing is highlighted with the term or idea you are seeking. Tests run by the Bellcore group testing students using Superbook treatment of text material against those using a book have shown con- sistently better results on tests and in essays by those using Super- book treated texts. It seems to aid learning. So far the only works running on Superbook are the telephone company manuals for which it was developed and issues of the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCI- ETY, which is the experimental database at Albert R. Mann Library. The summing-up session of the institute was conducted by Dr. Robert Hayes of UCLA, who did an excellent job of evaluating what had been said throughout and identifying key themes and important ideas. As a whole the institute was remarkable for its sharp focus on the topic at hand, colleciton development within the electronic library, and for its placement of the subject within the university, scientific re- search community, the political world and society. Just like the "fish-eye view" it was rich in detail, but firmly in context. UPDATE ON "JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE" Eddy van der Maarel, Editor, Department of Ecological Botany, Uppsala University, Box 559, 751 22 UPPSALA, Sweden; BITNET: EDDY@PAX.UU.SE. In number 13 of the NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES, you kindly included a contribution by Robert K. Peet, one of the three editors of the newly-established JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, started as an international journal in our field which would be available for all members of the community of plant ecologists and vegetation scien- tists. The journal's first issue appeared in February 1990. The jour- nal is flourishing indeed. Issue 2 has appeared as well and is on its way to libraries. The publishers are reluctant to reveal the number of library subscriptions, but the number of individual members of the society behind the journal, the International Association for Vegeta- tion Science, subscribing to JVS can be mentioned: nearly 450. Inci- dentally, the old commercially-published journal has got a new edito- rial board, apparently less concerned about circulation, and the jour- nal appears to be willing to start a strong competition by announcing a scope which shows a 90 percent overlap with that of JVS. Many of our supporters promised to see that VEGETATIO would be replaced by JVS. Although we need still many more libraries it is already clear that JVS will make it. The publishers, OPULUS Press Uppsala, are a young, low-budget firm using desk-top publishing. So far we are extremely pleased with the efficient and fast (and cheap) way this firm is work- ing for us. Thank you for your attention. HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS Chuck Hamaker, Louisiana State University; BITNET: NOTCAH@LSUVM. "EJournals," by Leslie Burkholder, a research scientist and editor of COMPUTERS & PHILOSOPHY, discusses electronic journals. The first exam- ple cited in the footnotes is none other than our own NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES (tuttle@unc.bitnet). That form of citation seems to be common, title plus e-mail address and network. For the full text of her article see NOTICES OF THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, vol. 37, no. 5 (May/June 1990), p. 565-68. Also included in that issue, pages 572-73, is a financial report from the AMS treasurer. Sales of books and journals make up 71 percent of total revenue. And they account for 67 percent of expenses. In the past, he notes, journals have operated at a loss. Since 1985, however, they have been in the black and provided a significant portion of the society's surplus (read: profit??). The new JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY operated at about a breakeven point in its SECOND year of operation, "a remarkable achievement." Pressure from subscrib- ers to "keep prices low," increases in postage (+20 percent), and royalties paid on translation journals (up 25 percent) will mean in- creases in costs and diminishing "surplus" from subscriptions. The Society for Scholarly Publishing's Ninth Annual Top Management Roundtable topic is "What We Worry About At Night: Scholars, Librar- ians, Publishers Discuss Concerns for the 1990s." The meeting will be held in Alexandria, Virginia, September 12-14, 1990. Co-chairs are Paula Kaufman, Dean of Libraries, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Herbert C. Morton, former director, Office of Scholarly Communica- tion, ACLS. Registration is $395 for members and $455 for non-members. To register, call (202) 328-3555, or write SSP Meeting Registration, P.O. Box 53421, Washington DC 20009. Speakers will include Alice R. Rivlin, senior fellow, Brookings Institution, former director, Con- gressional Budget Office; William Arms, Vice President for Academic Services, Carnegie Mellon University; Russell Edgerton, President, American Association for Higher Education; and Philip H. Abelson, former president, Carnegie Institution and former editor, SCIENCE. Should be very interesting. I'd like to be a fly on the wall. Someone needs to start monitoring the NFAIS NEWSLETTER for us, as the June 1990 issue contains a whole world of important information. Be- cause of its membership, the association is vitally interested in electronic communications. It noted D. Allan Bromley's warning at the seventh annual Forum on Federal Information Policies, sponsored by FLICC at the Library of Congress, that an "electronic Tower of Babel" is emerging from the proliferation of databases using widely varying standards. Bromley noted that databases in the earth sciences alone contain over ten times as much data as in the entire Library of Con- gress, yet such figures are a mere trickle compared to such future expectations as the 5,300 terabytes of scientific and technical infor- mation to be sent back from a NASA space-based system planned for 1998. For a complete summary of the meeting contact Chris Zirps, Li- brary of Congress, Adams Building, Room 1026C, Washington DC 20540; (202) 707-6055. The Association of Research Libraries, CAUSE, and EDUCOM have combined forces to form the Coalition for Networked Information to "promote the provision of information resources on existing networks and proposed interconnected networks" such as the NREN. The Library of Congress, National Library of Canada, OCLC, RLG, and more than 50 other univer- sities, library systems, and organizations have joined the task force of the coalition. Says NFAIS, "It will deal with policy issues raised by a national electronic information infrastructure as well as techni- cal, operational, and economic issues. Other issues to be addressed include intellectual property rights, standards, licensing, and cost- recovery fees." OCLC has an agreement with TELEBASE Systems, Inc., to cover most of Telebase's activities in the future in the library market. Their serv- ices will be marketed and distributed to users of OCLC's EPIC System. Another article in the newsletter, "Avenues of Opportunity in Develop- ing Countries," by Ruth A. Pagell, Associate Director, Lippincott Library, discusses online and computerized information in developing countries and includes guidelines for marketing CD-ROMs in third world countries. One of the recommendations is to offer free workstations to go along with discs. She notes, "Libraries without funds for journal subscriptions are buying CD-ROMs (in Newly Industrialized Countries: NIC's)." Rugh M. Mara of AID, in an article, "A Place for CD-ROM in West Africa," notes that to date CDs appear to be more robust than either paper or magnetic media in the hot, dusty climate of West Afri- ca, and they can be used in areas with poor or no phone service. Even the equipment seems to need less servicing and fewer spare parts than micrographic equipment!" This issue is a must read for both publishers and librarians. And I suspect we will have to monitor it regularly. Any volunteers??? It also notes that Congress's Office of Technology Assessment has con- tracted with EDUCOM for a report on the impact of the information technology revolution on intellectual property rights. The working title of that report, which could have a significant effect on our mutual futures, is "A Bill of Rights for Electronic Citizens." A proj- ect team consisting of EDUCOM Vice President Steven W. Gilbert, Frank Connolly, Director of Academic Computing at the American University, and Peter Lyman, Director of the Center for Scholarly Technology at the University of Southern California, are working on identifying "key stakeholders in the delivery of intellectual property rights on the development and use of the network." Contact EDUCOM, (202) 872-4200, for more information. Where's the librarian in this group?? The annual NASIG (North American Serials Interest Group) conference held recently at Brock University, St. Catherines, Ontario, included some exceptional papers of real importance to serials and collection development librarians. Three struck this attendee as remarkable. First, the keynote speaker, Lucretia McClure, Director, Edward G. Miner Library, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Roches- ter, and President Elect of the Medical Library Association. Her speech indicated an intimate awareness of the crisis facing libraries in the supply of STM journals. She noted, with approval, that "we have become aggressive seekers for the answers and there are a number of avenues worth exploring." The text of her talk is a good summary of actions and understandings that have rapidly changed the way librar- ians look at the serials system. Kenneth Marks, formerly University Librarian for the Merrill Library at Utah State University (Logan UT) and now at East Carolina Universi- ty, and Steve Nielsen, Fiscal Office, Merrill Library, Utah State, presented findings from a benchmark study of 20 years of pricing, pagination, price per page, geographic origin, and a variety of varia- bles that looked at 370 journals. Two distinctive "foreign" origin groups of titles were identified, behaving very differently. In addi- tion, when the publishers identified in the Dougherty LJ article were tested, their price per page increases, after standardizing for dollar devaluation and looked at in constant dollars, were over one standard deviation above the rest of the sample. Empirical confirmation, if it was still needed, that the ARL report was not far from the mark. The report and study were important because Marks and Nielsen were neo- phytes to serials pricing studies and learned the hard way all of the problems involved in longitudinal studies. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 as news is available by the American Library Association's Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Publish- er/Vendor-Library Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Serials Pric- ing Issues. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; ALANET: ALA0348; Paper mail: Serials 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. Committee members are: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Mary Elizabeth Clack (Harvard University), Jerry Curtis (Consultant), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Robert Houbeck (Univer- sity of Michigan), and Marcia Tuttle. EBSCONET customers may receive the newsletter in paper format from EBSCO. Back issues of the newslet- ter are available electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ====================================================================== ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE******* ======================================================================== Received: (from MAILER@UNCVAX1 for TUTTLE@UNC via NJE) (JNET6025-6025; 589 LINES); Thu, 09 Aug 90 19:05:39 EST Received: from JNET-Daemon by UNCVX1.BITNET; Thu, 9 Aug 90 16:15 EDT Received: From UNC(MAILER) by UNCVAX1 with Jnet id 0289 for PRICES-L@UNCVAX1; Thu, 9 Aug 90 16:15 EST Date: Thu, 09 Aug 90 16:11 EST From: Marcia Tuttle Subject: PRICING NEWSLETTER, NO. 25 To: PRICES-L@UNCVX1 ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NUMBER 25 -- AUGUST 9, 1990 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR, Marcia Tuttle 1991 PRICES FOR EUROPEAN JOURNALS, Chuck Hamaker ACCESS TO SERIALS: ALA ALCTS SERIALS SECTION PROGRAM, Cindy Hepfer FIRST SOVIET-AMERICAN JOURNAL PUBLISHED BY GORDON AND BREACH, Michael Klepper Associates WILEY MANEUVERS, Terry Saylor SUNY II-D GRANT FOR TELEFACSIMILE, Susan Davis TENSOR, Deana Astle HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS, Chuck Hamaker FROM THE EDITOR Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET. One of the most-asked questions about the NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRIC- ING ISSUES or, for that matter, any electronic publication, is how it should be cited. This very topic has been a hot issue on PACS-L, Charles Bailey's electronic bulletin board out of the University of Houston Library. I don't want to repeat what is being said there, so I recommend that you subscribe by sending a mail message: subscribe pacs-l, followed by your name, to LISTSERV@UHUPVM1. Or, do as I do: ask a good friend who subscribes to forward relevant items. However, I did ask Sue Dodd, the person who should know most about citing elec- tronic publications, to write a brief piece for the Newsletter, show- ing us how to cite it. Sue's report should be in the next issue. Once again Bill Robnett has done an excellent report on the NASIG Conference (North American Serials Interest Group). His very full coverage of this year's meeting at Brock University appears in the latest NASIG NEWSLETTER, vol. 5, no. 3/4 (July-September 1990). During the seven weeks or so since the last newsletter most of the "news" has been of the short-item variety, and I'll pass it on in this column. Those of you who owe me more substantial pieces know who you are! From Kerry Kresse, KRESSE@WISCMACC.BITNET: A small bit of news -- the International Astronomical Union is changing their style manual for astronomy publications. Among other things, they are following standard abbreviations for most journals, except for the ones that everyone uses. They provide the following list of exceptions: A&A, A&AS, AJ, ApJ, ApJS, ARA&A, AZh, BAAS, JRASC, MNRAS, MmRAS, PASJ, QJRAS, S&T. (This was taken from page 1 of ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, v. 357 (no. 1), July 1, 1990.) This sort of thing should be discouraged! I hope to write to Helmut Abt, the managing editor of ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, and try to con- vince him to change his mind. The other style changes they propose are reasonable and will improve the journal. This will complicate most people's lives, especially librarians. I know that the newslet- ter is on pricing, but they are doing this under the auspices of saving space in the journal, hence prices? From Brad Carrington, BCARRING@UKCC.UKY.EDU: I spotted yet another note about our situation in the CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, July 11, p. B3: "There are too many of them (biomed periodicals), they are published too often, they stare from their racks to reproach us for sloth." Both Deana Astle and Anne McKee, DataLinx: GMASONU, sent messages com- plaining about the doubling in price ($45 to $90) of five journals issued by the Speech Communication Association: COMMUNICATION MONO- GRAPHS, COMMUNICATION EDUCATION, CRITICAL STUDIES IN MASS COMMUNICA- TION, QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF SPEECH, and TEXT & PERFORMANCE QUARTERLY. Anne says, "All are considered to be 'core' so we could not cancel after notification of the price increases.... I have just written a letter to the association expressing my concern but I was wondering if any of the other institutions who receive the Newsletter are concerned about this. It's an especially crucial topic in the State of Virginia this year as we are facing what could amount to massive and devastat- ing budget cuts for higher education institutions." Deana says, "There is no indication that these journals have increased in size, and there is no explanation for the hefty jump. It might be interesting to find out if the Association is now having their journals published by a commercial publisher!" Bob Houbeck forwarded a message from Jean Loup, at the University of Michigan: Bob, I have an ad for REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY 4 which states: "By arrangement with the previous publishers, Elsevier Sci- ence Publishers, REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY will now be published by Toxicology Communications, Inc., of Raleigh, North Carolina. TCI will continue to provide timely reviews but at greatly reduced cost. The new prices will be half, or less, than those charged for previous volumes. TCI will also make earlier volumes available at the new price." Mike Renshawe, McGill, sent a photocopy of a page from SCIENCE REFER- ENCE & INFORMATION SCIENCE NEWSLETTER, no. 12 (June 1990), which sum- marizes Robert Maxwell's "fourth Annual Dainton lecture to an invited audience of top industrialists, parliamentarians and figures from the library and information world ..." on March 5, 1990. Here's his title: "Information technology as a way of reducing the costs and time in the dissemination of scientific and technological information." The text of the lecture is available free of charge from: Publications Sales Unit, The British Library, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire, LS23 7BQ England. 1991 PRICES FOR EUROPEAN JOURNALS Chuck Hamaker, BITNET: NOTCAH@LSUVM.BITNET. Although they held off as long as they could, the major European pub- lishers have this week set exchange rates for their 1991 subscrip- tions. Because the dollar had been so weak much of this season, the traditional July 1st setting was delayed. Elsevier set their rates last Wednesday, the day before Iraq invaded Kuwait, when the dollar reached its second lowest level since World War II. For 1991, Else- vier's rate is 1.78 guilders to the U.S. dollar, about 23 percent below last year's level. Overall, according to Elsevier, this will mean an average increase on their list of about 35 percent in U.S. dollars. Springer-Verlag waited until this week to set rates, and it looks as if they will be at 1.58 DM to the U.S. dollar. Combined with their planned increases, this means an overall dollar increase for Spring- er's European titles of 23 to 24 percent. Individual titles may be above or below these general rates of course, but overall these in- creases are the worst we have seen in any single year this decade. For those of you interested, Elsevier Sequoia titles will be available through New York and most subscription agencies with an exchange rate of 1.35 Swiss Franks, or 23 percent more than last year (plus "infla- tion"); British titles from Elsevier will use a pound sterling rate of 1.85 (it was about 1.70 last year); and the French Franc is at 5.34. On June 29, 1990, James Kels sent out his annual letter to libraries describing the whys and wherefores of the Dutch Guilder increases. If you did not get a copy, contact John Tagler at Elsevier (phone: (212) 989-5800). That letter does not set the exchange rate, but it explains reasons for their "inflation." Estimates on Pergamon are still pretty iffy, and as I have seen no price lists I can only repeat pure unmitigated rumors, i.e., expect close to 20 percent. But time will tell if that is true or not. ACCESS TO SERIALS: ALA ALCTS SERIALS SECTION PROGRAM Cindy Hepfer, Health Sciences Library, State University of New York at Buffalo, Abbott Hall, Buffalo NY 14214. The house was packed for the ALCTS Serials Section program at ALA. The topic, "Access to Serials," interested a wide cross-section of ALA attendees. Serials Section chair, Suzanne Striedieck, presided. David Cohen, Director of the College of Charleston Library, opened the program by posing the question, "Are we ready for access?" Cohen said that libraries are trying to provide "access to excess," and that librarians have much to learn about the ownership/access needs of scholars and students. He noted that while the primacy of subject searching has been established, the access model is rooted in known item searching, and online catalogs cannot be searched serendipitous- ly. Cohen pointed out that comprehensive access in the form of loading commercial index/abstract services into online catalogs is expensive, and librarians are trading one set of costs for another. The Wilson indexes, for instance, cost ten times more in their online form than they do in paper. Becky Lenzini, President of CARL Systems, Inc., discussed document delivery issues. She said that the important thing is not whether a library owns something, but whether it can get its users what they need. CARL in effect creates a union list of articles. Patrons can go directly to the library holding the copy of the article they need, request a copy of any article by traditional interlibrary loan means, or make an online request for a FAX of any article, charging the cost to their MasterCard or Visa! CARL is working actively with the Copy- right Clearance Center as, for these purposes, FAXing is considered to be the same thing as photocopying. Clifford Lynch, Director of the University of California Division of Library Automation, compared retrospective conversion of monographic titles with retrospective conversion of the contents of journals held by libraries. He noted that if libraries were to do retrospective conversions of their journal contents, the transitional period would be much longer and harder than it proved to be for monograph conver- sion. The alternative is to load ready-made databases into online catalogs. The University of California has loaded both Medline and Current Contents onto its MELVYL system. With three years of Medline loaded, the system sees some 50,000 searches per week on that data- base. Current Contents has been up only one month, but already is being searched at the rate of 25,000 queries a week. Lynch wondered whether once these databases are deemed as being valuable their pro- ducers will increase the prices! As someone with significant experience in loading commercial databases into an online catalog, Lynch offered a review of some resulting prob- lems. First, commercial databases are bibliographies with non-campus specific coverage, loaded into catalogs which cover what any given library/library system owns. This combination often leaves users quite confused. Second, libraries pay for the same citation numerous times in different databases. He noted that it would be nice to combine the citation data from various databases in order to provide the earliest possible access and multiple subject headings, but licensing agree- ments prohibit this. Third, librarians need to think about the rela- tionship between catalogs, databases, and collections. Until document delivery options catch up with instant access, the importance of own- ing any given title in the local collection will remain. Lynch does not see CD-ROMs as offering a concrete alternative since there are problems with the networking technology, and scholars cannot access them from their offices or homes. Online access, on the other hand, can be used to provide current awareness services and can even be linked to scholars' workstations, an important forward step. FIRST SOVIET-AMERICAN JOURNAL PUBLISHED BY GORDON AND BREACH Frank Forestieri/Vicki Banner, Michael Klepper Associates, Inc., 805 Third Avenue, New York NY 10022; (212) 544-1100. NEW YORK, July 9 -- The Institute for Policy Studies announced that it is citing Gordon and Breach, an international publisher of scientific journals, for its contribution to detente between the United States and the Soviet Union in its upcoming "Citizen Diplomats: Americans Ending the Cold War." Gordon and Breach, recognized by the Washington Institute, published "Science & Global Security: The Technical Basis for Arms Control and Environmental Policy Initiatives," the first Soviet-American academic journal. "Science & Global Security," is the culmination of four years of col- laboration on arms control and environmental issues by its co-chair- men, Frank Von Hippel, an American physicist at Princeton's Center for Environmental Studies, and Roald Sagdeev, former director of the Sovi- et Space Research Institute. The quarterly journal is published simultaneously in English and Rus- sian. WILEY MANEUVERS Called to our attention by Terry Sayler, Serials Unit, Acquisitions Department, McKeldin Library, University of Maryland, College Park MD 20742. Here's another publisher joining THE GANG with a new twist on added volumes and their cost. The following letter is dated June 29, 1990, on the John Wiley & Sons, Inc., letterhead: Dear Subscriber: We have exciting news concerning the JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE. The time between acceptance of articles and publication is to be drastically reduced to optimize our service to authors and readers. Since the new editors assumed leadership in the autumn of 1988, the numbers and quality of papers submitted has continued to increase. Although this was desirable and predictable in view of the immense growth in applied polymer science and the attendant need to dissemi- nate information, it has led to a dilemma. To address the need for more timely publication, the editors and John Wiley & Sons will publish an extra volume (#41) of 12 issues of the JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE in 1990. This additional volume will be billed as part of your 1991 subscription. You will receive the bill in summer in order to expedite publication. This plan will assure that new submissions are published more promptly. We will publish the usual two volumes in 1991, but in a new, expand- ed 8 1/2 x 11 format, which provides 30 percent more information per issue. Our immediate goal is to achieve expeditious editorial review and a concomitantly efficient publication process. While effecting this greater speed, we will not, of course, reduce in any way our commit- ment to the highest scientific quality. This extra-volume publication is unusual for Wiley. We value our relationships with our subscribers and realize that this unplanned volume may present administrative and financial difficulties at your institution. However, we hope you will agree with our decision to publish more rapidly to provide both our authors and readers with not only the best but also the most current research articles in the field. Also, please realize that Volume 41 is priced at the 1990 price per volume, that is $648 (U.S.). The 1991 Volumes, 42 and 43, are priced at $1595. Your total 1991 subscription price is $2243, less than 16 cents per page. If you have any questions regarding your subscription to the JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE please contact our subscription fulfill- ment department: Susan Malawski, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York NY 10158-0012; Phone (212) 850-6646; FAX (212) 850- 6088. Sincerely yours, Stephen Kippur Group Vice President And on the same letterhead, same date: Dear Subscriber: We have exciting news concerning BIOPOLYMERS. The time between ac- ceptance of articles and publications is to be drastically reduced to optimize our service to authors and readers. The number and quality of manuscripts submitted to BIOPOLYMERS has continued to increase. Since the beginning of this year we have published BIOPOLYMERS in a new, expanded 8 1/2 x 11 inch format, which provides 30 percent more information per issue. And to further enhance the speed of publication, we have recently been publishing double issues, with twice the usual number of pages per month. Al- though this is desirable and predictable in view of the immense growth in research on biopolymers and the attendant need to dissemi- nate information, it has led to a dilemma. To further address the need for more timely publication, the editors and John Wiley & Sons will publish an extra volume (#30) of BIOPOLY- MERS. This additional volume will be published from the Fall of 1990 through the Spring of 1991 and will be billed as part of your 1991 subscription. You will receive the bill in Summer in order to expe- dite publication. This plan will assure that new submissions are published more promptly. The regularly scheduled Volume 31 will also be published complete in 1991. Our immediate goal is to achieve a more efficient and timely publi- cation process. While effecting this greater speed, we will not, of course, reduce in any way our commitment to the highest scientific quality. This extra-volume publication is unusual for Wiley. We value our relationship with our subscribers and realize that this unplanned volume may present administrative and financial difficulties at your institution. However, we hope you will agree with our decision to publish more rapidly to provide both our authors and readers with not only the best but also the most current research articles in the field. Also, please realize that Volume 30 is priced at the 1990 price per volume, that is $775 (U.S.). The 1991 Volume 31 is priced at $800. Your total 1991 subscription price is $1575, less than 35 cents per page. If you have any questions ... ...and so on, identical to the first letter. And this in the same year as the previously-mentioned European price increases! Wonder how many similar letters Kippur wrote on June 29? SUNY II-D GRANT FOR TELEFACSIMILE Susan Davis, SUNY-Buffalo, DataLinx: SDAVIS. The State University of New York at Buffalo (hereafter referred to as UB) Libraries were awarded $175,746 for a U.S. Department of Education Title II-D research and demonstration grant to investigate the impact of telefacsimile and optical scanning technologies on collection de- velopment and resource sharing. We felt that before research libraries can incorporate telefacsimile and optical scanning technologies into interlibrary loan, document delivery operations, and resource sharing, a thorough and comprehensive evaluation of these technologies must be conducted. Three different tests will be run as part of the project: the first will involve inter-campus and intra-campus transmittal of journal articles at UB (we have two main campuses); the second will involve the four SUNY University Centers (the others are at Bingham- ton, Stony Brook, and Albany); and the final test will involve UB and local Western New York Corporations. The project is to run for two years, and the first phase began in January 1990. Two hundred eighteen journal titles were selected to be temporarily removed from the open stacks. (These are titles held in common by all four university centers, to avoid the copyright ques- tion.) All bound volumes, or pre-1988 issues were removed to a closed stack area. Signs have been placed in the stacks to alert users to seek assistance in obtaining needed articles; our inhouse union list of serials has been annotated as well. Journals from a variety of subject disciplines were selected for inclusion because we did not want to inconvenience any one group of users and so that we can deter- mine whether there is a difference in the use of information in dif- ferent areas which would indicate a greater acceptance of FAXing and scanning. Users request articles on specially designed forms, and the FAXed copies are provided within 24 hours free of charge. While browsing as we normally think of it is not possible, users may request tables of contents. If the user has his own FAX, the requested article can be FAXed directly to him. Soon the libraries will begin providing micro- computer-compatible ASCII text files created by scanning requested articles as an alternative to FAXed copies. It is still too soon to offer any real evaluation, but my own observa- tions have been that this type of project can tie up a FAX machine for hours at a time (FAXing is much slower than photocopying), and that many users lament not being able to look through the journals them- selves. For more information contact Steve Roberts or Robert Bertholf, two of the three principal investigators. Steve, Associate Director of Li- braries, can be reached at UNLSMR@UBVMS.BITNET or (716) 636-2965. Bob is the Curator of our Poetry/Rare Books Collection, and is at (716) 636-2917. TENSOR Deana Astle, Clemson University, BITNET: DLAST@CLEMSON. While checking our records for volumes needing claiming, we discovered that volumes 45 and 46 of TENSOR had not been received. In response to our claim, the publisher -- The Tensor Society, located at the Kawagu- chi Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Japan -- stated that though these volumes were numbered consecutively with the journal, they were, in fact, "extra" volumes, which were charged separately. These "com- memoration" volumes were published in memory of the founder of the Tensor Society' they consisted of 344 and 438 pages, respectively, and cost $260 each or $500 for both -- unless we ordered them through our subscription vendor, which would cost us more. We decided to opt out and put a note in our OPAC saying that these were festschriften and were not purchased. The practice of including in its numbering system issues not germane to the primary goals and mission of a journal ensures greater distri- bution for these pieces than if they were issued as separates, but it raises costs to libraries which might be trying to "complete a set" and be unaware of exactly what they are buying. Publishers use this same tactic when creating a monographic series -- libraries will create a standing order to be sure they get "the whole series" and do not "miss anything," claiming missing pieces because they and the faculty do not like to see gaps in the holdings state- ment. We need to be alert to practices which entice us to buy what we really do not need or want. At least the Tensor Society did not send the "extra" volumes as part of the subscription and charge accordingly; however, many libraries probably did buy them anyway just to complete the set. HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS Chuck Hamaker, Louisiana State University, BITNET: NOTCAH@LSUVM. The Society for Scholarly Publishing held its annual meeting June 5-8 in San Francisco. Along with presentations by international members of the publishing community, including Robert Campbell of Blackwell Sci- entific, Sara Miller McCune, chairman and publisher (Sage Publica- tions) called in a number of librarians to make presentations to the group. Richard Dougherty, ALA president, provided a wrap-up session for the group in which, among other things, he coined the phrase the "hamaker syndrome." The phrase suggests the types of concerns that yours truly raised in a speech outlining the last four years of re- search and thinking in the library community's attempts to make sense out of the system of scholarly publishing. The liveliest moment of the first day's session was probably a heated exchange between Mark Mandelbaum, publications director for the Asso- ciation for Computing Machinery) and Charles Hamaker. Hamaker's dander was raised when Mandelbaum announced that libraries' financial prob- lems could be solved if students and professors were charged fees for services rendered each time they use the library. There will be many more articles in the literature covering this con- ference, but the first one in press is PW's July 20, 1990 issue, page 14. (See also John Tagler's report in the July-September NASIG NEWS- LETTER. --ed.) The ARL NEWSLETTER for July 4, 1990, introduces a new format and a major change in content. If this new issue is any indication of the future, every publisher and every library should get a subscription (and ARL should -- I shudder to suggest -- establish a non-member rate; make it reasonable, folks!). The lead article, "Scholarly Pub- lishing and the NREN," by Ann Okerson of the Office of Scientific and Academic Publishing is a must read for anyone worried about where the future can lead us. It is a revised text of a talk given by Okerson at the inaugural meeting of the Coalition for Networked Information, which includes ARL/CAUSE/EDUCOM and 75 institutions representing a total of 81 members. In addition, the Coalition now includes Elsevier and Pergamon. The Coalition is housed at ARL headquarters. Although I understand much of the Coalition meeting was the techies, Okerson's speech addressed squarely the issues of the future in scholarly com- munication. Her summary of present issues is insightful: concentration of ownership; vigorous copyright enforcement efforts from publishers; concentration of costs; ownership of scholarly materials. She calls on CNI to: 1) Draft a broad statement of principles guiding scholarly publishing in the network; 2) Advise on commercialization; 3) Identify issues and formulate guidelines for network publishing; 4) Develop ownership and copyright policies; 5) Review academic incentives (for publication). Overall the coalition must actively support scholarly publishing on the emerging network, including comprehensive access to a community of researchers. Clearly Okerson is leading the way in thinking about these issues. I commend her article to all and sundry, and hope that this new direction for the ARL NEWSLETTER is sustained. (Okerson has indicated a willingness to send Newsletter readers a copy of her complete talk. Her address: Ann Okerson, Office of Scientific and Academic Publishing, Association of Research Libraries, 1527 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; Phone: (202) 232-2466; FAX: (202) 462-7849. --ed.) Also significant for us laymen is the article, "Federal Information in an Age of Electronic Communication," by Angie LeClerq (pp. 6+). The discussion in that article of AG-NET being handed to Martin Marietta Data Systems will make some blood boil, I expect. If this is what privatization means, you may understand why government document li- brarians and collection development librarians are very worried. In an unusual article -- unusual because of who wrote it, not what it says -- the MLA BULLETIN has in its new issue "Journal Pricing Issues: An Economic Perspective." It is unusual because the authors are two MBA's and Arthur W. Hafner, Ph. D., all of the American Medical Asso- ciation. Hafner is director of AMA's Division of Library and Informa- tion Management, Thomas Podsadecki is a staff associate at AMA, and William P. Whitely is the assistant division director for information management of AMA. A conclusion these authors reach, which may mean more to some publishers than if librarians had said it, was that "since one of the underpinnings of education is threatened by reduc- tions in library collections, actions must be taken by publishers, librarians, faculty, and professional associations to ameliorate the present situation and to limit additional increases in serial prices." (BULLETIN OF THE MEDICAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, vol. 78, no. 3 (July 1990): 217-23.) Up and coming news to watch includes the bill given final Congression- al approval on June 26, which makes state universities and their em- ployees subject to lawsuits for any infringements for copyrighted works. In connection with this new law, which effectively voids 11th amendment protection for state institutions regarding copyright (see PUBLISHERS WEEKLY July 13, 1990, p. 10), Nicholas Veliotes, president of AAP, was apparently referring to this new law when he addressed the Book Industry Study Group on June 20th in New York. Veliotes mentioned "copyright infringement suits involving copying by state universities, Texaco, and Kinko." (PW, July 13, p. 15) Although the Kinko and Texaco suits are currently in play, I am unaware of any current copyright suits against state universities. Was Veliotes signalling AAP's inten- tions?? Once again, time will tell. Kenneth D. Crews has just finished a doctoral dissertation at UCLA which analyzed 183 written copyright policies from 98 research univer- sities. One of the surprising findings from his work, university legal counsel, administrators, and librarians have very different fair use standards that contradict their standard "images." Librarians tend to be more restrictive, while lawyers and administrators are more leni- ent. "A recent copyright infringement suit against Kinko's Copies has forced reexamination of fair use for educational needs and this dis- sertation ... provides the first in-depth analysis of copyright stand- ards from leading universities." Contact Kenneth D. Crews (408) 924- 1324 for further information. He is at the School of Business, Depart- ment of Organization and Management, San Jose State University, San Jose CA 95192-0070. The above report is excerpted from a news release from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, UCLA, August 1, 1990. The release alone is worth reading. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 as news is available by the American Library Association's Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Publish- er/Vendor-Library Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Serials Pric- ing Issues. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; ALANET: ALA0348; Paper mail: Serials 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. Committee members are: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Mary Elizabeth Clack (Harvard University), Jerry Curtis (Springer- Verlag New York), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Robert Houbeck (University of Michigan), and Marcia Tuttle. The Newsletter is available on BITNET, ALANET, and DataLinx. EBSCONET customers may receive the newsletter in paper format from EBSCO. Back issues of the newsletter are available electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ====================================================================== ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE******* ======================================================================== Received: (from MAILER@UNCVAX1 for TUTTLE@UNC via NJE) (JNET7588-7588; 659 LINES); Sun, 09 Sep 90 22:56:09 EST Received: from JNET-Daemon by UNCVX1.BITNET; Sun, 9 Sep 90 19:59 EDT Received: From UNC(MAILER) by UNCVAX1 with Jnet id 0097 for PRICES-L@UNCVAX1; Sun, 9 Sep 90 19:59 EST Date: Sun, 09 Sep 90 19:55 EST From: Marcia Tuttle Subject: PRICING NEWSLETTER, NO. 26 To: PRICES-L@UNCVX1 ISSN: 1046-3410 NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES NUMBER 26 -- September 9, 1990 Editor: Marcia Tuttle CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR, Marcia Tuttle HOW TO CITE THE , Marcia Tuttle (from Sue Dodd) ECONOMICS OF ACCESS TO LIBRARY MATERIALS ALA PROGRAM, Sarah Thomas , Gay N. Dannelly OFFER, Mignon Adams COMMERCIAL STRATEGIES OF SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL PUBLISHING, James Thompson SPECIFIC LARGE PRICE INCREASES, Deana Astle : FOCUS ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION TECHNOLO- GY, Julie Rudy NEGOTIATING SERVICES AND FEES WITH SUBSCRIPTION AGENCIES, Buzzy Basch : WAITING FOR THE OTHER SHOE TO DROP, Cyndie Cowan HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS, Chuck Hamaker FROM THE EDITOR Marcia Tuttle, TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET. It has come to my attention that international publishers are particu- larly interested this year in knowing librarians' reactions and re- sponses to the latest round of journal price increases. While the Newsletter carries this kind of report routinely, let's make sure these publishers know how we feel and what we are forced to do about it. Note especially in this issue of the Newsletter the instances of added pages and added issues. We won't promise we'll publish every- thing you say, but if you watch your language and don't make threats, it should be all right. We can guarantee that all the international publishers will hear what you say, because either they get the News- letter electronically, someone sends them a paper copy, or they will be told. Anonymous contributions not encouraged! David Crawford, Health Sciences Librarian at McGill University (MI66@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA), sends this comment: I noted with interest the announcement of the first Russian/US jour- nal announced in the NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES #25. There is a Russian/British (really "Western," from the Editorial Advisory Board) journal being published jointly by the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, and Turpin Transactions, Ltd. and Pion, Ltd., both of London. Its title is BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE, and it started with vol. 1 in 1990. ISSN is 0955-9701, and it costs 190 UK pounds per annum. It covers "the scientific basis of medicine and reflecting particularly research done in the Soviet Union." Several librarians have mentioned the very colorful and very informa- tive brochure, "The Crisis in Serials Pricing ... ASM's Answer," sent out by the American Society for Microbiology to tell librarians how ASM controls both the cost and the quality of its journals, lending further credence to ARL's published statement: "...the most cost effective course for the entire research community is to pub- lish by preference in lower price-per-unit journals, such as those published by societies." If you did not receive the brochure, write American Society for Micro- biology, Journals Division, 1325 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20005-4171, or telephone (202) 737-3600. The July/August 1990 issue of the Society for Scholarly Publishing's SSP LETTER, volume 12, issue 3/4, has a very detailed report on the society's twelfth annual meeting held in San Francisco in June. SSP is an appropriate and very exciting group for librarians concerned about journal pricing (and certainly other issues). The seminars and confer- ences are small enough for easy participation and for one-to-one or small group discussions to occur. The formal programs are well done and very relevant to our interests. Membership information is availa- ble from the Society for Scholarly Publishing, 10200 West 44th Avenue, Suite 304, Wheat Ridge CO 80033; (303) 422-3914. Bill Benson, Serials Librarian at WRDC/ISL Technical Library (Wright- Patterson AFB OH 45433-6523; DataLinx: FL2802) sends this message: I just finished studying the 62 Pergamon titles we subscribe to (we received their new price list this week) and thought you'd like to know that we are looking at a 31 percent increase. Unless we do some cancelling, we will be paying $60,000 for our 79 subscriptions (we get some duplicates). Along the same lines, here's a message from Connie Foster at Western Kentucky University (DataLinx: CFOSTER): I have just reviewed our payments for UMI titles and wonder if any concern is extended to some increases in micro as a type of serial, in addition to the usual mention of Pergamon, Elsevier, et al. Ti- tles like the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION have seen modest increase in a year-by-year period (1989 to 1990 = 7.8 percent, 1990 to 1991 = 8.7 percent), but since 1989 the increase = 17.26 percent. LEGAL TIMES of Washington, NEW YORK TIMES, NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS all have increases in the 20 percent range, with this year's increase for LEGAL TIMES being 25 percent (and in three years it has gone up 50 percent). I'm not sure if NASIG has had any sessions on this, either. I haven't noticed too many, if any, microfilm publishers at the annual conferences. Finally, let me urge readers who have notes or brief articles to con- tribute to the Newsletter not to wait to be asked. I have not been able to make long distance calls since January because of North Caro- lina's financial problems, and it has gotten very awkward to ask one of the subcommittee members to do my phoning for me. We also have a hiring freeze, and UNC-CH's Serials Department has three vacancies, two of them in the Central Serial Record (manual). This situation limits everybody's time for professional activities! HOW TO CITE THE Marcia Tuttle, from Sue Dodd Claiming that she has "done this and gone on to other things," Sue Dodd of UNC-CH's Institute for Research in Social Science, everybody's computer-files-citation guru, sent me a copy of a talk she gave sev- eral months ago, so I could figure out for myself how to cite the Newsletter. The basic rule, she says, is to cite an article in a com- puter file (the new name for "machine-readable data file") just the way you would cite a printed article and identify it as a computer file. Sue's paper puts it this way: Because standards and past traditions fall behind technology and the capability to produce computer-generated works, there are no defini- tive "guidelines" for citing an article that appears in an electron- ic journal. However, common sense plus building on what is currently in place makes the leap from print to computer-readable a manageable feat. The following examples reflect articles that have appeared in PACS Review. Morgan, James Jay. 1990. "Expansion and Testing of a Meridian CD- ROM Network" . Houston, Texas: PUBLIC-ACCESS COMPUTER SYSTEM REVIEW. Electronic journal. 1(1)34-42. (Access via EMail "GET MORGAN PRV1N1" LISTSERV@UHUPVM1 or LIB3@UHUPVM1. BITNET). Stigleman, Sue. 1990. "Text Management Software: . Houston, Texas: PUBLIC-ACCESS COMPUTER SYSTEM REVIEW. Electronic journal. 1(1)5-22. (Access via EMail "GET STIGLEMA PRV1N1" LISTSERV@UHUPVM1 or LIB3@UHUPVM1.BITNET). To quote my library school thesis advisor, Dr. Agnes Reagan, "It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you're consistent." So, here's my stab at citing the following article. Both below and in the exam- ples above, "<" and ">" replace Sue's square brackets, which won't fly on e-mail: Thomas, Sarah. "Economics of Access to Library Materials ALA Pro- gram" . NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES. 26 (September 9, 1990). Electronic newsletter. (Access via EMail TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET). You're all invited to improve on this. Our articles are a little dif- ferent from Sue's examples, because they are not available separately from a listserver, and because our issues are not divided into pages. Sue gives permission for her paper to be distributed with credit, and I will be happy to send copies (preferably by e-mail). ECONOMICS OF ACCESS TO LIBRARY MATERIALS ALA PROGRAM Sarah Thomas, Chief Technical Services Division, National Agricul- ture Library; BITNET: STHOMAS@UMDARS. On June 26, 1990, the ALCTS (Association for Library Collections and Technical Services) Task Force on the Economics of Access to Library Materials presented the Task Force report and recommendations at a session highlighted by the remarks of Dr. Eugene Wong of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Robert Wedgeworth, Task Force Chair and Dean of the Columbia University School of Library Service, introduced the group's final report, the result of two years of discussion and debate. The Task Force was charged by the Resources and Technical Services Division (now ALCTS) of the American Library Association in 1988 with developing "a strategy for ALA's participation on national and international levels in discussions, investigations, and actions relating to the availability, economics, and distribution of library materials" and with developing a "long-term mechanism to address the rising cost of serials." Wedgeworth spoke of the difficulty of providing access to one's own collection, let alone access through a coordinated effort by a multi- tude of institutions, and he declared that bibliographic tools are no longer adequate. Raising the issue of subsidies in relation to the problem of serials pricing, Wedgeworth noted that different prices for institutions and individuals was one form of subsidy, and that authors subsidized publication when they did not receive payment for their work. Dean Wedgeworth described the Task Force report as preliminary, and he called on a representative panel of Task Force members for their com- ments on the report. Duane Arenales, Chief of the Technical Services Division, National Library of Medicine, warned the audience that there was "no magic solution" to the problem facing the library community. She felt the report's most significant contribution may be in bringing the impact of increased prices to the attention of an audience beyond the library community. Tess Carey, President, Turner Subscription Agency, commented on the unrelenting increases foreseen for serials in the coming year. Speaking from the Canadian perspective, Tom Delsey, Director, Acquisi- tions and Bibliographic Services Branch, National Library of Canada, brought up several points of interest. Delsey noted that Canadian libraries cannot deal exclusively with domestic imprints; Canadian imprints represent only about 10 percent of research collections. Because of this, Canadian libraries are particularly vulnerable to exchange rates. Although various reports on the issue of serials pric- ing recommend resource sharing as a strategy, Delsey noted that there is a high cost for maintaining the supporting infrastructure, and that an attitudinal change is required to support access over the more traditional collection building. He also referenced the importance of copyright, legislation for which differs in Canada from the United States. Canadian public libraries are also concerned that solutions proposing electronic distribution of information might disenfranchise them, especially small public libraries without resources for hard- ware. In general, Delsey found a broad level of support for the task force report from the spectrum of Canadian libraries he had consulted. The final speaker on the panel was George Soete, Collection Develop- ment Librarian, University of California at San Diego, the author of the draft report. Soete spoke eloquently about the Task Force's desire to develop a shared conscience about the free flow of information, and he warned of the track of steady erosion to access to information that the task force and others engaged with the problem had uncovered. He urged the participation of all members of the research community in resolving the problem. In the second half of the meeting, Dr. Eugene Wong, Associate Director for Physical Sciences and Engineering in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President, addressed the audience. Dr. Wong spoke of the enhanced position of science within the present administration and the awareness of the interconnection of the economy, the environment, and education with science. Declaring that "effective information management is never far from science poli- cy, Wong stressed that we are living in an information age. Informa- tion resources are a strategic investment, and the problem of serials pricing was part of the larger issue of research funding. Major feder- al initiatives in the area of high performance computing and communi- cations will shape the future and have a revolutionary impact on our work. Paraphrasing Harvard's President Derek Bok, Wong concluded: "If you think the cost of information is high, try ignorance!" The report of the Task Force on the Economics of Access to Library Materials was submitted to the ALCTS Board of Directors for review, where it was accepted and endorsed with thanks. Those interested in obtaining a copy of the report should contact the ALCTS Office, Ameri- can Library Association, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago IL 60611. Gay N. Dannelly, Ohio State University Library, GND@OHSTMVSA.BITNET. The HIGHER EDUCATION PRICES AND PRICE INDEXES: 1990 UPDATE, to go to press this month, will include an additional index for academic libraries, including most budget categories. At present Tables 7 and 7A provide information, sometimes prior to publication elsewhere, on materials costs. The new index will apparently include binding, equip- ment, personnel, automation, and other categories of library expendi- tures. Kent Halstead, Research Associates of Washington (D.C.), who compiles the Update for the federal government, is basing the distri- bution on an NCES (National Center for Educational Statistics) 1984 (really 1983) distribution. Just as the Subindexes of Books and Peri- odicals may influence institutional budget officers, so might this new index. Newsletter readers may wish to be on the lookout for this new addition. Mr. Halstead has also stated that he will include a state- ment that libraries differ greatly and that it is most appropriate for a library to apply its own weights to the national cost figures. OFFER Mignon Adams, Director of Library Services, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, Woodland Avenue at 43rd Street, Philadelphia PA 19104-4495; phone: (215) 596-8800. If librarians needed any more proof that journal publishers are price gouging, this should do it. The subscription price to the EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MARKETING is $1,045 a year. MCB University Press 62 Toller Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire England BD8 9BY, Telephone: Bradford (0274) 499821 Telex 51317 MCBUNI G, Fax (0274) 547143 Dear Colleague EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MARKETING - Two for One Offer It is not always easy to get, let alone keep your hands on a copy of the journal which brings you the latest in marketing research and analysis from Europe. Does your library subscribe to EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MARKETING? If it does not, you are missing something that gives other educators around the world a leading edge in their field. But even if your library does decide to take out a subscription, how sure are you that you will be able to get a copy of the journal when you most want it -- just as soon as it arrives and before it disap- pears off the shelf? We would like to introduce you to the EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MARKETING and make sure that you will not lose out on the benefits of a sub- scription. It is very simple. Ask your librarian to subscribe to the EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MARKETING. Just as soon as we receive their subscription, either direct or via their usual agent, we will also enter you for a full subscription with our compliments. There will be no waiting in the library or enquiring whether or not the journal has arrived; it will be despatched to you directly and personally. To claim your personal subscription all you need to do is fill out the coupon and send it to me at the above address. Then, your li- brarian needs to send us the order form or order via their usual agent. I will take care of the rest and look forward to welcoming you as one of our regular readers. With best wishes. Yours sincerely Gillian Crawford Marketing Services Executive COMMERCIAL STRATEGIES OF SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL PUBLISHING James Thompson, University of California, Riverside, THOMPSON@UCRVMS.BITNET. I would like to commend to the attention of the Newsletter's readers an unusually frank discussion of the commercial strategies of scien- tific journal publishing, which appeared in THE IMPACT OF CD-ROM ON LIBRARY OPERATIONS AND UNIVERSAL AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION (Proceed- ings of the 11th International Essen Symposium, 1988), published by the Universitatsbibliothek Essen, Essen, West Germany, 1989. This volume contains several papers on the ADONIS experiment with the publication of scientific journals in facsimile on optical disks, with copies printed out for sale from a number of distribution points. Most of the papers laud the experiment as a universally beneficial use of new technology to reduce expense for users as well as publishers. James Andrew Braid of the BLDSC, for instance, states that "ADONIS was based on the assumption that copies of articles in journals could be made available more cheaply in machine readable form than by conven- tional, manual, methods" (in "ADONIS -- From Myth to Reality," p. 150). However, David J. Brown, of Blackwell Scientific Publications, lets the cat completely out of the bag in his paper "ADONIS -- The Strategic Needs of Publishers" (pp. 141-48). Since these proceedings may not be widely available, I'll quote a few passeges from Brown's paper: ADONIS had its inception in the mid-70's when publishers expressed concern at the impact which photocopying of articles was having on periodical acquisitions. (p. 142) ADONIS was created in response to a market threat. It is not a case of some bright spark going away and coming up with an interesting application for advanced technology. It originated in the market- place. It is controlled by concepts of profitability and viability. (p. 143) The main objective of ADONIS is to wrest the control for the distri- bution of "separates" away from the library intermediaries and to restore control with the publishers. (p. 148) This doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know, but it is re- freshing when a major scientific publisher is candid about its mo- tives. SPECIFIC LARGE PRICE INCREASES Deana Astle, Clemson University, DLAST@CLEMSON.BITNET. We got information from Faxon that Pergamon's COMBUSTION AND FLAME is increasing from $375 to $825 next year (also doubling in issues), and its MINERALS ENGINEERING is increasing from $140 to $315 (also dou- bling in issues). The first increase is 120 percent; the second, 125 percent. This is just what we need! Got another price increase announcement today. APPLIED ECONOMICS, published by Chapman and Hall (owned by International Thompson), is going up from $425 to $730 for 1991. It is apparently now a monthly and will increase to 14 issues for next year. The kicker is that they are including in the subscription price (apparently there is no option to choose otherwise) the title APPLIED FINANCIAL ECONOMICS. These four issues, plus the two additional ones of APPLIED ECONOMICS, will "dou- ble the amount of material." This is all well and good, unless we don't want APPLIED FINANCIAL ECONOMICS and want to pay the lower price. Interesting tactic, isn't it? In reviewing prices I found we had paid $987 for INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPUTER MATHEMATICS in 1988, and $2746 in 1989. Gordon and Breach appears to be using the same pattern here as they did with EARLY CHILD EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT. We were paying big bucks for a volume of two physical pieces (four numbers) of about 200 pages each. Irate anger was the response from the selector when he saw what we were paying for. ; FOCUS ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Contributed by Julie Rudy, Director of Publications, CAUSE, Boulder CO, JRUDY@COLORADO.BITNET. Julie, Editor of CAUSE/EFFECT, the publication of CAUSE, sent a copy of the Summer 1990 (Volume 13, number 2) issue, which has three arti- cles on the topic "Focus on Libraries and Information Technology." She sent the issue in good time for coverage in the last issue of the Newsletter, and I offer my apologies for not mentioning it sooner. Here are the articles and their abstracts: Heterick, Robert C., Jr. "Networked Information: What Can We Expect and When?" pp. 9-14. Much has been written and much is known about how digital technolo- gies will transform the library. This article describes some of the potential inhibitors of this transformation and some steps that colleges and universities can take to overcome them. Included is information about the formation of a national coalition by the Asso- ciation of Research Libraries, CAUSE, and EDUCOM -- the Coalition for Networked Information. The Coalition was formed to encourage the development of information resources on the proposed National Re- search and Education Network (NREN). Also included are excerpts from the statement of Paul Gherman, Director of Libraries at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, before the House Subcom- mittee on Science, Research, and Technology on behalf of the Ameri- can Library Association and the Association of Research Libraries in support of the NREN. Lynch, Clifford A. "Access Tehcnology for Network Information Re- sources." pp. 15-20. This article examines some of the technical access barriers that inhibit the effective use of the information resources available today on higher education networks; the emerging information server technology that promises to alleviate many of these access problems; and the growing popularity of the Z39.50 protocol, including some questions that remain about this information retrieval standard. A sample list of Z39.50-based projects is offered. Rosser, James M., and Penrod, James I. "Computing and Libraries: A Partnership Past Due." pp. 21-24. This article addresses the growing need for the heads of computing/ communications and library organizations on college and university campuses not only to work together in a cooperative spirit but also to assume leadership roles in planning for institutional information resources. The authors discuss the role of the chief information officer on campus, changing institutional needs in an information economy, and the need for higher education to engage in strategic planning and management, inclusive of information technology re- sources. NEGOTIATING SERVICES AND FEES WITH SUBSCRIPTION AGENCIES N. Bernard "Buzzy" Basch, Basch Associates, Chicago IL. WHEN? Friday, 19 October, 1990, 9:00 - 5:00. WHERE? Los Angeles Airport Marriott, 5855 West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles CA WHAT? A one-day seminar highlighting the opportunities for librar- ies and information centers to save money and improve serv- ice through negotiating with subscription agencies and other serial suppliers. The Marketplace - Libraries: the $1 billion market; market segments; service usage. - Agencies: the companies; market share; marketing strate- gies; agency consolidation; other serial vendors. - Agencies and Publishers: dependency; competition. The Subscription Agency Business - Revenue sources: publisher discounts; service fees; foreign exchange conversion; money management. - Costs: payments to publishers; automation; risk; research and development. - Business practices: margins; efficiency; profit objec- tives; cost assignment; image. - Service charges: how they are calculated and assigned to clients. - The future: unbundling; monitoring service. Negotiating - Strategies: how and where to begin the process; win-win; vendor attitudes. - Opportunities: collection profile; service usage; single or multiple vendors; period of service. - Objectives: dollar savings; service improvement/conces- sions. WHO? Presented by N. Bernard "Buzzy" Basch, formerly President of Turner Subscriptions, and Vice President at EBSCO and The Faxon Company. HOW? Registration fee: $295.00 (includes luncheon). Forward reg- istration and payment to: Basch Associates 860 North Lake Shore Dirve Suite 7J Chicago IL 60611 Phone: (312) 787-6885; FAX: (312) 943-0025 Registration accepted through 12 October. Make checks payable to Basch Associates. Accommodation is available at the Marriott for $99.00 a night. A block of rooms has been set aside for seminar par- ticipants. To secure one of these rooms call Marriott Reser- vations at 1-800-832-4004. Mention that you are attending the Basch Associates seminar. : WAITING FOR THE OTHER SHOE TO DROP Contributed by Cyndie Cowan, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, COWANC@UNC.BITNET. The following is the complete text of a letter sent out on the letter- head of PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE, published by Taylor & Francis: Dear Colleague, PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE Because the PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE attracts such a large number of good quality papers across an ever increasing range of subjects, the publishers have decided to plan for an increased number of pages in 1991. With the growing representation of North American work in the journal it is important to ensure that we accommodate a proper bal- ance of material from that continent: Dr James Smith of Los Alamos National Laboratory has recently been appointed North American Edi- tor. We have tried not to increase the size of the journal over the past three or so years, because of the pressure on library budgets. How- ever, for 1991, we will be publishing well over 1400 extra pages. Although this has meant a considerable increase in the subscription price of the journal, we are sure you will agree with us that this is necessary if we are to serve the community by publishing import- ant papers in a timely fashion and to expand as the subject matter covered by the journal develops and increases. Yours sincerely, E A Davis Editor HAMAKER'S HAYMAKERS Chuck Hamaker, Louisiana State University, NOTCAH@LSUVM.BITNET. Analysis of LSU's serials list with the big three indicates pricing increases for 1991 are as bad as we had all feared. Elsevier comes in at an increase of 35 percent, Pergamon at 27 percent, and Springer Verlag journals at 26 percent. In looking back at billings in 1987, Pergamon and Elsever journals have doubled in dollar price since then, and Springer is up 75 percent. About half of the increased prices for Elsevier and Springer are increases in their respective DFL and DM prices. To be exact, Elsevier titles have increased 42 percent in Dutch Guilder price since 1987 with the US dollar price up 98 percent; Springer titles are up 32 percent in DM since 1987, with the dollar price up 74 percent in that time. Pergamon titles are up 86 percent since 1987. These five-year increases are all based on titles held at Louisiana State University Library. Increases in volumes and issues vary considerably for the "big three," but that is almost a secondary concern to libraries paying the bills, as this level of price increase is not sustainable no matter what justifications might be given. An oversimplification perhaps, but in general terms, a materials budget for an academic collection supporting the sciences would have had to double since 1987 to stay even in terms of purchasing power. Since the big publishers have not complained of declining revenues, the only "partner" damaged by these increases is libraries. Everybody else -- scientists and publishers and stockholders -- is ecstatic. At the risk of sounding repetitious -- IT IS TIME, AND PAST IT, FOR COLLECTIVE ACTION. Newsletter readers let us down. The two most recent issues of ULRICH'S NEWS (April/May and June/July 1990) both contained significant analy- ses of topics of concern to us all. In the April/May issue, "Serials Analysis; A Comparison of Scientific Periodicals within the Commercial and Nonprofit Sectors" treated titles under Ulrich's heading Biology and the eleven subcategories, comparing market share with a pricing profile for each type of publisher. Biochemistry, a major cost area for many libraries supporting the sciences, shows non-commercial dis- tribution controls only 10 percent of the market. Commercial journals have a median price of $755.00, while association/academic based peri- odicals have a median price of $249.00. The dominance of noncommercial presses is apparent in only two areas, Flora & Fauna and Physiology. The June/July issue focuses on Chemistry and includes foreign-based titles distributed in the U.S., when the foreign publisher has a U.S. office. In Organic Chemistry, the average price of association/academ- ic based titles is $198.00, while foreign publications average $1,143.00. Gordon Graham's excellent non-technical overview of the serials wars, "A Scholarly Confrontation," is presented in the August 24 issue of PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (p. 54). It is excellent in everything except, from my perspective, the conclusion. He suggests publishers and libraries together could make compelling arguments to governments for -- sur- prise! -- more money. Surely, after looking at just how much money would be needed to restore British academic libraries, and recognition that many American libraries would have to double their serials bud- gets since 1987 just to stay even, more is not the answer. At various times in the past decade, most libraries around the world have been caught in similar situations. The answer is not to get even more mon- ey, Mr. Graham. Restraint and reasonable pricing would have been a proper response. That has not been a direction international publish- ers have chosen to go, so they will probably have to be forced to it by large and continuous cancellation projects. This year's price in- creases should spark just that reaction. It is, in the Americas, too late for talk, and there will be no more money from the "government." (Thanks also to Carol Jones, Georgia State University Library, for alerting us to this piece. -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 as news is available by the American Library Association's Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Publish- er/Vendor-Library Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Serials Pric- ing Issues. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; ALANET: ALA0348; Paper mail: Serials 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. Committee members are: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Mary Elizabeth Clack (Harvard University), Jerry Curtis (Springer- Verlag New York), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Robert Houbeck (University of Michigan), and Marcia Tuttle. EBSCONET custom- ers may receive the newsletter in paper format from EBSCO. Back issues of the newsletter are available electronically free of charge through BITNET from the editor. ====================================================================== ******ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE***ENDOFFILE*******