======================================================================== 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 st