I agree that the cost (to both publisher and library) of negotiating and
administering licences for very small numbers of journals (e.g. from
specialist societies) is disproportionate - and tends to disadvantage those
journals, regardless of their value to readers. Our Association is
attempting to overcome this difficulty by offering an 'umbrella' under which
our members can sell their journals in a single package, the ALPSP Learned
Journals Collection (see www.alpsp-collection.org). (By the way, publishers
can sign up to this until the middle of August)
It would be great if we could find collaborative ways of reducing other cost
elements, to everyone's benefit.
Sally
Sally Morris, Secretary-General
Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers
South House, The Street, Clapham, Worthing, West Sussex BN13 3UU, UK
Phone: 01903 871686 Fax: 01903 871457 E-mail: sec-gen_at_alpsp.org
ALPSP Website
http://www.alpsp.org
----- Original Message -----
From: "Fred Spilhaus" <FSpilhaus_at_AGU.ORG>
To: <AMERICAN-SCIENTIST-OPEN-ACCESS-FORUM_at_LISTSERVER.SIGMAXI.ORG>
Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2003 7:11 PM
Subject: Re: The True Cost of the Essentials (Implementing Peer Review)
> 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
> To see what AGU is doing go to http://www.AGU.org
Received on Thu Aug 07 2003 - 09:34:18 BST