David: Your observation is interesting from the point of view of
the small and mid-size publishing society. I find that the cost
of negotiating the first license, analogous to contract
administration I presume, which is clearly identifiable, can be a
large fraction of the subscription price for a relatively small
journal.
Until we figure out how to get the lawyers out of this loop I
forsee a real increse in cost at our side as well. My deepest
concern is that changing models that we must experiment with will
continue to drag us into more complex relationships that will
further increase legal, audit and other non-productive overhead
charges.
David Goodman wrote:
> Over the short run the general cost of providing
> service from electronic resources is about the same as paper.
> What is saved on check-in, binding, and so so on, is spent on
> contract administration, computer services, and so on. In the long run,
> it is correct that there is a savings to be expected in the net size of
> science library buildings. Already I have observed several academic
> departments reclaim library space for other needs,
> This is one of the reasons I am aware
> of the possibility academic administrators might do likewise with
> acquisition funds. (my personal view, as always)
>
--
Fred Spilhaus Executive Director, AGU
2000 Florida Avenue NW Washington DC 20009 USA
Phone: +1 202 777 7510 Fax: +1 202 328 0566
E-mail FSpilhaus_at_AGU.org
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Received on Sun Jul 27 2003 - 19:11:36 BST