Serials prices

October Ivins, Column Editor Serials Prices

Serials Prices

October Ivins and Stuart F. Grinell

This column begins with a "research in progress" report contributed by Stuart Grinell. He discusses pricing patterns of serials in the Library of Congress "Q" classifications. The column continues with a report on serials pricing activities at the NASIG Conference in June 1988 and at the ALA Annual Conference in July 1988, and concludes with a "News and Notes" section, which continues to list meeting announcements and news items about publishers and vendors, while adding notices of requestors and suppliers of information.

To comment or supply news, please contact October Ivins at (504) 388-4364 or by electronic mail: [email protected] or Ivins on Data- Linx. Mailing address: Serials Services Department, 241 Middleton Library, LSU Libraries, Baton Rouge, LA 70803.

RESEARCH REPORT

Serials Price Concentration: The Case of the Q's

Ivins is head of Serials Services at the Louisiana State University Libraries in Baton Rouge. Grineli is collection development and ref- erence librarian at Louisiana State University Li- braries.

Introduction This report focuses on the smallest concentration

of price and publisher dominance that has so far been discovered at Louisiana State University Li- braries. 1

Analysis based .on research conducted by Louisiana State University Libraries has shown that in 1987, 250 journals or less than two percent of the journals to which Louisiana State University subscribed accounted for almost thirty percent of

SERIALS REVIEW NUMBER 4 1988 55

the university's expenditures on serials, and that 115 of these journals were published by four companies: Elsevier Science Publishing Company, Per- gamon Press, Consultants Bureau (a subsidiary of Plenum Publishing Corporation), and Springer-Ver- lag, the so-called "Big Four." Further analysis showed that the subscription price of each of these 250 journals exceeded $700 and that although the journals as a group are published by seventy- six companies, 115 of these journals are published by Elsevier, Pergamon, Consultants Bureau, and Springer-Verlag. Thus, only five percent of the companies publishing journals that cost in excess of $700 were responsible for forty-f ive percent of these titles. Moreover, 76 of the journals published by "Big Four" companies that cost in excess of $700 were found in one Library of Congress classification, "Q." Although these titles comprised less than one (.05) percent of the serials collection, they accounted for ten percent of the Louisiana State University Libraries' 1987 expenditure for serials.

Subscription Price Concentration Subscription price concentration and publisher

dominance has been the case since at least 1981, and the journals published by Elsevier, Pergamon, Consultants Bureau, and Springer-Verlag have dominated Louisiana State University's serials budget since at least 1981. In 1981, for example, about four percent (3.5) of all the titles (446 titles) accounted for thirty percent of the Louisiana State University Libraries serials budget. Elsevier, Per- gamon, Consultants Bureau, and Springer-Verlag published 105 of these titles, and these 105 titles accounted for about ten percent of 1981 serials expenditures. By 1987, however, less than two percent of all the titles (250 titles) accounted for thirty percent of the serials budget. As we have seen, 115 of these journals were published by El- sevier, Pergamon, Consultants Bureau, and Springer-Verlag. Of the 446 titles in 1981 and the 250 titles in 1987, 105 were the same.

Further analysis revealed that the same four companies controlled a large percentage of the 1987 serials budget, invoicing a disproportionately high dollar percentage of the 1987 Louisiana State University serials budget and supplying a disproportionately small number of titles. The journals published by these four companies accounted for more than twenty-four percent (24.25 or $291,104) of the university's serials expenditures but represented only about four percent (4.13 or 538 titles) of the titles in the university's collection. 2 And of these titles, less than twenty-two percent (21.37 or 115 titles) absorbed more than thirteen (13.32) percent (about $160,000) of the serials expenditures. ~

"Big Four" journals costing more than $700 had an average subscription price of about $1,3914 and accounted for f i f ty-f ive percent ($159,953 out of $291,104) of the dollars Louisiana State University Libraries paid to "Big Four" companies. Moreover, a significant portion of the dollars the university paid to each of the four companies was for titles that cost more than $700: almost eighty percent (79.20) of the money the university paid to Consul- tants Bureau, more than sixty percent (60.59) of the money the university paid to Springer-Verlag, almost sixty percent (57.28) of the money the university paid to Elsevier, and almost thirty percent (27.34) of the money the university paid to Pergamon was for journals costing more than $700. The average cost of the remaining 423 titles was about $310. Twenty-one percent of the "Big Four" titles, therefore, cost more than four times what the remaining seventy-nine percent cost.

The four publishers, Louisiana State University's 1987 expenditure per publisher, the total number of titles received, the number of titles costing in excess of $700, and the dollar amount consumed by titles costing in excess of $700 are shown in table 1.

Library of Congress Q Classification The same four companies dominated the expendi-

tures in four Library of Congress subclasses. Louisiana State University Libraries' total expenditure in 1987 for QA (Mathematics), QC (Physics), QD (Chemistry), and QH (Natural History) was about $400,000. Journals classified in these four LC subclasses accounted for one-third of the total serials budget. The 76 Q classification titles published by the "Big Four" accounted for nearly thirty percent (28.78 or $115,142) of this $400,000 and for ten percent of the overall serials budget.

Journals in these four subclasses accounted for forty percent ($115,142 out of $291,104) of the dollars Louisiana State University paid "Big Four" companies and a large percentage of the dollars the university paid to each of the "Big Four" companies was for journals found in Library of Congress classification Q. More than fif ty-five percent (55.81) of the money the university paid to Consultants Bureau, more than forty-seven percent (47.62) of the money the university paid to Springer- Verlag, more than forty-one percent (41.63) of the money the university paid to Elsevier, and more than thirteen percent (13.39) of the money the university paid to Pergamon was for journals found in these four subclasses of LC classification Q. The average cost of a "Big Four" title in this classification was about $1,515. The average cost of other "Big Four" titles priced in excess of $700 was $1149.

The distribution of titles within these four

56 SERIALS REVIEW N U M B E R 4 1988

subclasses is shown in table 2. The breakdown of the $700 plus titles in the four LC subclasses is shown in table 3; the total number of titles, the total cost, all the titles in the $700 plus range; the subtotal of the number of titles published by the "Big Four"; the percentage of revenue consumed by all the titles; and the subtotal of percentage of revenue consumed by "Big Four" titles are shown.

Subclass QA Louisiana State University expended about

$75,000 on 293 serials classed in QA (Mathematics). Titles costing in excess of $700 comprised more than seven percent (7.5) of the QA titles (22 titles out of 293) and accounted for more than thirty- three percent (33.08 or $24,816)of the total expenditure. Journals published by the "Big Four (12 titles) represented four (4.09) percent of titles costing more than $700 and accounted for more than eighteen percent of serials expenditure (18.43 or $13,826) in the QA class. Thus, four percent of the QA titles, published by four companies, accounted for almost nineteen percent of expenditures in the subclass QA.

Subclass QC Louisiana State University purchased 277 tit-

les for about $96,200 in Library of Congress subclass QC (Physics). Titles costing in excess of $700 (35 out of 277) comprised about thirteen (12.63) percent of QC titles and accounted for more than f i f ty- two percent (52.54 or $50,547) of serials expenditures for this subclass. Five (5.05) percent of the titles costing more than $700 were supplied by the "Big Four" and accounted for more than twenty-f ive percent (25.12 or $24,192) of the monies expended on subclass QC journals. Five percent of QC titles, published by four companies, accounted for over twenty-five percent of expenditures in subclass QC.

Subclass QD Louisiana State University received 275 titles

classed in Library of Congress subclass QD (Chem- istry) and expended about $150,800. Titles costing more than $700 comprised nineteen (18.90) percent of the QD titles (52 out of 275) and accounted for more than f if ty-seven percent (57.55 or $86,799) of expenditures in this subclass. Journals published by the "Big Four" represented about thirteen (12.63) percent of the titles that exceeded $700 in cost and accounted for forty-three percent (43.03 or $60,619) of expenditures in QD. Less than thirteen percent of the titles, published by four companies, accounted for over forty percent of expenditures in the QD subclass.

Subclass QH Louisiana State University purchased 259 tit-

les classed in Library of Congress subclass QH (Natural History); the total price was about $78,500. Titles costing more than $700 comprised ten (10.03) percent of the QH titles (26 of 259 titles) and accounted for almost forty percent (39.89 or $31,318) of expenditures in subclass QH. Titles published by the "Big Four" represented six percent (5.79 or 15 titles) of the titles in this subclass that cost in excess of $700 and accounted for more twenty- one percent (21.02 or $16,505) of expenditures in subclass QH. Less than six percent of the titles, published by four companies, consumed more than twenty percent of expenditures in subclass QH.

"Big Four" Titles Costing More Than $700 Dominate in LC Classification Q

In the serials collection of Louisiana State University Libraries, the dominance of the "Big Four" publishers among the titles costing more than $700 in this classification was obvious. In QD and QC subclasses, Elsevier titles dominated; in QA and QH subclasses, Springer-Verlag titles dominated. 5 The strong presence of Consultants Bureau in the subclass QD did not obscure the fact that Elsevier was the predominant publisher in this subclass. In QD there were 16 Elsevier titles, 13 Consultants Bureau titles, 4 Pergamon titles, and 2 Springer-Verlag titles. In the QC subclass, there were 7 Elsevier titles, 3 Consultants Bureau titles, 3 Springer-Verlag titles, and 1 Per- gamon title. In the subclasses QA and QH, Springer- Verlag was the controlling publisher. There were 6 Springer-Verlag titles, 4 Consultants Bureau titles, and 1 Elsevier and 1 Pergamon title. In QH there were 9 Springer-Verlag titles, 3 Elsevier titles, 2 Consultants Bureau titles, and 1 Pergamon title. Consultants Bureau was close behind in subclasses QD and QA.

More than thirty-one percent (35 out of 115 titles) of "Big Four" titles costing more than $700 fell into one Library of Congress subclass: QD (Chemistry). Forty-two percent of Consultants Bureau titles, thirty-eight percent of Elsevier titles, and thirty-six percent of Pergamon titles that cost more than $700 fell into this subclass. The exception was Springer-Verlag. Twenty-three percent of its titles that cost more than $700 fell into subclass QA; thirty percent fell into subclass QH.

Conclusion Our analysis of the patterns suggests that

the library funding problem in serials has been due not only to falling exchange rates, but also to .problems created by price concentration in the serials information chain. For Association of Re- search Libraries (ARL) and many Association of

SERIALS REVIEW N U M B E R 4 1988 57

Serial Publisher

Total Cost

TABLE 1 LSU Libraries Subscription Price Study

Elsevier, Springer, Pergamon, & Consultants Bureau Titles in Excess of $700

Subtotal Total No. $700+ Cost for of Titles Titles $700+

% of Total $

Elsevier Springer Pergamon Consultants

Bureau

Total

$117,265 $ 85,514 $ 55,880

$ 32,445

$291,104

229 42 $ 67,170 101 30 $ 51,813 158 11 $ 15,275

50 32 $ 25,695

538 115 $159,953

57.28 60.59 27.34

79.20

54.95

LC Class


Elsevier, Springer, Pergamon, and Consultants Bureau Titles in Excess of $700

That Class in "Q"

No. of % of Titles > $700 76 Titles

% of Titles Per LC Class

QA Math 12 10.43 4.09 QC Physics 14 12.17 5.09 QD Chemistry 35 30.43 12.63 QH Natural History 15 13.04 5.79


Titles in Excess of $700 That Class in "Q" Percentage of "Big Four" Titles and Percentage

of Expenditure

LC No. of Total Class Titles Cost

No. of No. of Total % % of $700+ Big Four of Exp. Big Four Titles Titles $700+ Exp.

QA 293 $ 75,000 QC 277 $ 96,200 QD 275 $150,800 QH 259 $ 78,500

22 12 33.08 35 14 52.54 52 35 57.55 26 15 39.89

18.43 25.14 43.03 21.02


College and Research Libraries (ACRL) collections, the size of the collection has not provided insula- tion from the effects of a few publishers and the pricing and policy strategies of their scientific- technical-medical materials.

Notes

1. Charles Hamaker, "Journal Pricing: A Modest Proposal," Serials Librarian 11, no. 3/4: 171-75; Charles Hamaker, "Serials Costs and the Carrying Ability of Serials Budgets," Serials Librarian 13, no. 2/3: 129-34.

2. Stuart Grinell, "The Cost of Scholarly Jour- nals," The Chronicle of Higher Education, 6 July 1988, b-3.

3. A small number of these companies' titles also accounted for 25 percent of all the price increases experienced for their titles from 1981 to 1987; see Stuart F. Grinell, "The Six Percent Ef- fect," Library Issues (March 1988): 1-3. Since publication of "The Six Percent Effect," Mark Sandier of the Hatcher Library of the University of Mich- igan, Ann Arbor has verified that about six percent of the titles published by Elsevier, Pergamon, and Springer-Verlag accounted for between twenty and twenty-f ive percent of all the subscription price increases for these companies' titles.

4. The average subscription price for all the titles published in 1987 was $92.30, while the average price for titles that exceeded $700.00 was $1,402.00.

5. Although excluded from this analysis, the American Institute of Physics consumed a portion of the serials budget about equal to that of El- sevier in QC. The same can be said for the Amer- ican Mathematical Society and Springer-Verlag in QA. "

Stuart F. Grinell

RECENT NATIONAL MEETINGS

North American Serials Interest Group, Third An- nual Conference 4 through 7 June 1988, Atlanta

For the second year, serials pricing concerns dominated the conference. The tone, however, was one of communication. Publishers provided more detailed information about their internal operations, and librarians seemed to have been

better informed than they were twelve months ago. Graham Marshall of Butterworths examined the economics of journal publishing through a case study of a pair of journals (parent and spin off). He described the management and pricing decisions required from the proposal of a new title through expansion and finally to the cessation of one title. In a workshop, John Tagler of Elsevier concentrated on two practices of publishers that have drawn criticism: exchange rates and page increases. He noted that the U.S. dollar to Dutch guilder rate had achieved a post World War II high and low between 1985 and 1987. Charts tracking price and page increases for two journals made the point that prices per page have remained fairly constant. In the same workshop, Con Jager of Nijhoff gave a vendor's view of how exchange rates influence subscription charges. Vendors prepay publishers at the rate set by each publisher or make futures transactions with a bank. The latter method is riskier, and banks therefore charge for the service. Libraries either pay the rate established by the publisher or vendor, or are invoiced in the foreign currency and pay the rate in effect at the date of the invoice.

A panel on copyright issues gave thorough coverage to an aspect of pricing that has received attention in interlibrary loan and special library forums. If publishers do not receive the royalty revenues to which they are entitled, subscriptions will be increased accordingly. Publishers expect to receive royalties for copying beyond "fair use" and use their copyright both to protect information and ensure its availability. Librarians were cautioned that any profits obtained from photocopying services should be paid to the publishers.

The final session of the conference was chaired by Rebecca Lenzini of CARL Systems. She challenged the audience to generate ideas for the next annual conference. The results were summarized by Judith Rieke of Vanderbilt Medical Library:

Some of the emerging themes included a need for further involvement of all members of the serials information chain, especially faculty and university administrators who constant- ly struggle with the publish or perish syn- drome; the need for librarians to market their services, or at least educate faculty, administrators and legislators, thus leading to an understanding of the need for increased budgets; the need for libraries' budget requests to be ethically necessary; the need for quality control of publications with inferior publications being eliminated; the need for practices of libraries to be examined and changed, if necessary; and the need for the importance of the information itself to be recognized and to


examine its packaging, e.g., article level access needs to be further explored. 1

American Library Association Annual Conference, 8 through 13 July 1988, New Orleans

A range of topics concerning serials pricing was addressed by several RTSD committees, task forces, discussion groups, and programs. Conversa- tions at receptions and meals focused on similar issues. The ACRL section approved establishing a division-level discussion group, despite concerns of duplication of coverage by RTSD. A vendor and a journal sponsored a pair of forums that were well attended. The highlights of these activities, arranged chronologically, follow.

RTSD RS Chief Collection Development Officers of Large Research Libraries Discussion Group

The person charged with reporting on projected serial price increases for 1989 used information supplied by the Faxon Company that predicts that European and United Kingdom subscriptions will increase by six percent in U.S. dollars, while American subscriptions will increase by seven or eight percent. 2 Several other members attacked the validity of these projections; one cautioned that they could be seen as "self-serving." The consensus was that increases of ten percent are more likely, and that each library will have to consider the publishers represented in its own collection. (Stuart Grinell )

Serials Pricing Discussions, Sponsored by the Faxon Company and Library Acquisitions: Practice and Theory

Both forums were well attended. The first topic was "The Current Environment." The panel of five added a university administrator to the now standard combination of librarians, publishers, and vendors. The panelists were Roland Dommert, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at Louisiana State University; Mary Fugle of Springer-Verlag; Robert Miranda of Pergamon; Wil- liam Potter of Arizona State University; and Richard Rowe of Faxon. The facilitator was Con- nie McCarthy of Duke University. Each panelist made a brief presentation, and the audience par- ticipated in the ensuing discussion. Miranda ob- served that scientific-technical-medical (STM) journals routinely reject between fif ty and seventy-five percent of the manuscripts submitted and more later in the reviewing process, and that society publications have a higher acceptance rate. Responding to a question about the results of cancellation projects, Rowe stated that Faxon has received slightly more cancellations for American publications than for European ones. Potter re- viewed current coping strategies. Dommert dis-

cussed traditional measures of journal prestige and predicted that tenure and review committees will no longer accept a publisher's assertion that a journal has "international" status unless the publisher makes circulation and demographic information on its subscribers available. He also stated that university administrators have increasingly become dissatis- fied with the fact that they must support research and then purchase the published research, and that this has contributed to their acceptance of library serials cancellation projects. Responding to questions about the comparative importance of considerations of quality and profitability in publication decisions, Miranda stated that subscription levels are a significant factor and that large, established titles have a much better chance of survival than do new ones. This disturbing situation was characterized as "biblio-Darwinism" by Tony Ferguson of Columbia University. In general, the discussion indicated that information about serials pricing is being successfully disseminated, and that librarians are continu- ing to examine critically the present system of commercial publishing and demand disclosure of pricing practices.

The second forum addressed "Planning for the Future." The panelists were Chuck Hamaker of Louisiana State University; Father George Lundy, dean of faculties at Loyola University; James H. Milton of the American Chemical Society; Richard Rowe of Faxon; and John Tagler of Elsevier. Kent Hendrickson of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln served as the facilitator. A lively discussion calling for criteria to determine a fair level of profit and more data from publishers on their pricing policies received little support from publishers, who consider this to be proprietary information. Rowe called for a show of hands asking which profit level (less than ten percent, ten to twenty percent, or more than twenty percent) the audience thought the two publishers represented on the panel achieve. The majority seemed to think that ACS achieves a ten to twenty percent profit margin; Milton said the margin is under five percent. The audience thought Elsevier's profit margin was over twenty percent; Tagler did not name a figure but did say that the firm's annual report is publicly available. The publishers who attended the sessions do not seem to have changed the way in which they make pricing decisions; both discussions mentioned the importance of involving in future deliberations the faculty members and researchers who are the editors and authors of professional journals.

Faxon and the publishers of Library Acquisi- tions: Practice and Theory provided financial support; Katina Strauch of the College of Charleston organized excellent panel discussions. They deserve our thanks and congratulations for making a produc- tive discussion available on very short notice.


The representatives of other vendors and publishers did not hesitate to take part in the discussions, but broad representation and cooperation are essential to finding creative responses to the pricing situation. It is hoped that an existing ALA or NASIG group can sponsor future discussions.

RTSD Task Force on the Economics of Access to Library Materials

This fif teen-member group is chaired by Robert Wedgworth of Columbia University; the members represent other library organizations and national libraries (AALL, ACRL, ARL, CLA, MLA, NASIG, SLA and the PVLR Subcommittee on Serials Prices; LC, NAL, NLC, and NLM) and include representatives from EBSCO and Faxon. The mem- bership may be expanded. The task force met for the first time and agreed to focus on the costs of STM journals. Open hearings on the editing, production, and distribution costs of STM journals, as well as other topics, have been planned for the ALA midwinter meeting. The task force intends to publicize its work and solicit information through several professional journals. (This group is also known as the RTSD Blue Ribbon Panel and the EALS Task Force). (Stuart Grinell and Marcia Tuttle)

RTSD Publisher/Vendor/Library Relations Commit- tee, Subcommittee on Journal Pricing Issues

Marcia Tuttle of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill is the chairman of the subcommittee; the other members are Deana Astle of Clemson University, Mary Beth Clack of Harvard University, Jerry Curtis. of Faxon, Chuck Hamaker of Louisiana State University, and Bob Houbeck of the University of Michigan. They discussed methods for carrying out the subcommittee's charge, which is to assist in coordinating serials pricing responses, to collect and disseminate information about serials pricing activities, to identify trends, and to report their findings and activities to the public and PVLR. The group hopes to act as a clearinghouse and plans both to produce a printed newsletter and establish an electronic bul- letin board. For information contact Marcia Tuttle by telephone ([919] 962-1067) or by ALANET, BIT- NET, or DATALINX at the following addresses: [email protected] or Tuttle on DataLinx (an ALANET i.d. is pending). Tuttle is also a member of the Wedgworth committee and can relay information to that group as well.

RTSD SS Research Libraries Discussion Group Two of the three discussion topics involved

serials pricing. Kathleen Schweitzberger of Stan- ford University described a two-year cancellation project during which 1,705 subscriptions were can-

celled. Schweitzberger reported that duplicate subscriptions had accounted for approximately seventy-five percent of the cancellations, and that faculty members had been involved in the decisions. Throughout the project, the cancellation of monographic series has been encouraged since volumes are available on approval plans or as firm orders, but this has created workflow and cataloging problems that are now being studied by a task force.

Connie McCarthy of Duke University discussed resource sharing and cooperation at Duke, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill as it relates to serials pricing. According to McCarthy, there is a joint task force on serials composed of the heads of serials and collection development of these institutions; and the goal of this task force is to find a way of reducing the financial commitment for serials without reducing access. Faster turnaround time of interlibrary loan requests is desirable; alternatives to ILL are being considered.

Group discussion following the presentations produced similar information from other institutions and raised the same issues the Serials Pricing Dis- cussions had.

RTSD Publisher/Vendor/Library Relations Commit- tee

At the open meeting on 12 July 1988, chairman Caroline Early gave a very useful summary of recent activities and publications relating to serials and other library materials. Deana Astle reported on differential pricing of British journals, noting that the gap between American and British prices has continued to decrease, and that several more publishers have decided to use a single worldwide price.

RTSD RS Program "Trends and Tools: Managing the Crisis in the Serials Budget" Prepared by the Serials Price Index Committee

Richard Dougherty of the University of Mich- igan emphasized that universities need to challenge the "can't be done" mentality that prevents them from successfully competing with the commercial publishers of journals. John Tagler of Elsevier repeated his NASIG talk and noted that publishers do not control currency exchange rates, which are based on the futures predictions of banks. Herb White of Indiana University characterized Tagler's defense of the publishing industry's status quo as "the Doris Day school of economics--que sera sera." Tagler responded that publishers do work with their editors in the scientific community and do limit page increases. However, it is "a very large snowball and not something that can be stopped in a year." Fred Lynden of Brown Uni- versity gave practical advice on projecting materials


budgets and defending them to university administrators. The session concluded with a discussion of price indexes for various types of materials.

ACRL Journal Pricing Discussion Group This newly approved discussion group is

chaired by Jim Thompson of the University of Cal- ifornia, Riverside. The group is expected to have a different focus than that of RTSD and will share information with related groups. Thompson can be reached at (714) 787-3221.

Notes

1. October Ivins and Judith Rieke, "The Third Annual NASIG Conference: The Meetings and Workshops," The NASIG Newsletter 3, no. 2 (June 1988): 3.

2. "Lower Price Increases Projected for 1989," Fax Letter 4, no. 3 (May/June 1988): 1; and "Re- vised Faxon Price Projections for 1989," 8 July 1988 handout prepared by the Faxon Company.

NEWS A N D N O T E S

Meeting Announcements

Society for Scholarly Publishing Seminar "The Fu- ture of Scholarly Journals: The Changing Roles of Librarians, Publishers, Researchers, and the Support Community in the Dissemination of Know- ledge," 17 through 19 October 1988.

The two and one-half day seminar is limited to less than sixty participants and has exciting goals:

• to bring together in an informal setting a strong representation of the groups involved in the dissemination of scholarly information;

• to consider the future form, content, and means of dissemination of scholarly information;

• to identify the needs of libraries and scholars, the capabilities of publishers and intermediaries, and the role of each group in the communication process;

• to work together to understand needs and capabilities of each group;

• to take a large step toward adjusting the relationship that now exists among the groups. 1

Marcia Tuttle and Joe Hewitt co-chair the planning

committee. Tuttle may be reached at the following number: (919) 962-1067.

Charleston Acquisitions Conference "Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition: Questioning Assumptions," 3 through 5 November 1988

Two hundred and fif ty librarians, vendors, publishers, and researchers are expected to attend. Several speakers will represent different points of view as each of the following general assumptions and many more specific ones are questioned: information is worth the price, libraries need books and journals, vendors provide a service, and collection development is good. For further information, contact Katina Strauch, conference coordinator, at (803) 792-8020 or 792-8008.

Information Exchange

Serials Review Theme Issue: Cancellation Projects Co-editor Cindy Hepfer is interested in pro-

ducing a theme issue on serials cancellation projects. She would like contributions that discuss projects presently underway as well as those that have already been completed; both single institution and cooperative projects are needed. Analyses of results or effects (relationships with faculty improve or deteriorate; workflow problems; staffing adjustments, and so on) that can assist librarians who are still planning projects are particularly welcome. If you are interested in sharing your expertise, contact Hepfer at (716) 831-2139.

New Serial/Periodical Order Request Form A University of Arizona committee has de-

veloped a very comprehensive form for use in evaluating new subscription requests. One side is for use by faculty in submitting requests; it solicits, among other information, an opinion on the level of need and the numbers of other researchers who would use the title. The verso of the form is for the library subject specialist to use in reacting to the proposed title and for recording decisions of the reviewing committee. Doug Jones notes "I personally believe that the thoughtfulness and research required by the form naturally fil- tered out most spurious or poorly justified requests. "~ Reading through the form makes this observation seem very likely. You may request a copy from the committee chair, Karen Tallman, at (602) 621- 6419. (Doug Jones)

Do You Know Where Your Faculty Members Pub- lish?

Lucretia McClure of the University of Rochester, Miner Medical Library has prepared a fascinating analysis of publishing patterns at her institution. Comparing papers published in 1983 to those published


in 1987, McClure found that the number of publications had increased by more than sixty-five (65.5) percent. Her attempt to evaluate quality is the most interesting aspect of her study:

To determine quality, the papers were check- ed against the 100 most-cited biomedical journals in the Science Citation Index Journal Citation Reports for 1986. Despite the increase in numbers of articles, from 596 in 1983 to 983 in 1987, the percent published in the 100 journals remained at 33.2 percent, a

This paper has implications not only for cancellation review projects but also for the theme of quality control for journals that has recently been discussed at NASIG and ALA. McClure is willing to provide copies of her paper; contact her at (716) 275-3364. (Cindy Hepfer)

Are More Monographs Being Published in Series? Steve Thompson of Brown University is inves-

tigating the assumption that as budgets are shifted from the purchase of monographs to serials, more monographs are being published in monographic series. He is also interested in determining whether the subject focus of the series remains as specific or whether marginally related titles are being forced into series. If you have pertinent information or would like to discuss conducting a similar study, please contact Thompson at (401) 863-2976. (Corrie Marsh)

ASERL Considering Cancellation Coordination A committee chaired by Paul Gherman of Vir-

ginia Polytechnic Institute has prepared a list of titles costing more than two hundred dollars held at Clemson, Louisiana State University, University of Tennessee, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and Wake Forest University. A meeting is being planned for 25 October 1988 to precede the SELA Con- ference. Progress to date will be reported to other ASERL members who will be asked to determine what use is to be made of the lists. More information is available from Gherman, (703) 961- 5593, or from Deana Astle, (803) 656-4782. Their BITNET addresses are GHERMAN@VTVM1 and DLAST@Clemson.

Gordon and Breach Subscriber Incentive Plan In a press release dated September 1988, Gor-

don and Breach announced "a new system of dis- counts...open only to North American academic libraries that are invoiced in U.S. dollars." Under this system, 1) member renewal prices will be ten percent lower than the academic rate, 2) those ordering through "preferred agent STBS" will receive an additional five percent discount, and 3)

five percent will be issued in a voucher that can be used as a credit memo toward new purchases or renewals within twelve months. The press release does not provide full details of the plan. The details can be obtained from Chris Schneider or Charlie Reynolds at (212) 243-4411/4543.

The terms seem to require additional record keeping and staff handling. Given the problems created when Gordon and Breach tried to offer discouhts on renewals to libraries signing fair-use photocolSyihg agreements, the plan is puzzling. The intent of the plan is commendable, but the application appears problematic. Why didn't Gor- don and Breach just reduce prices?

ARL "Serials Initiative" Update The consultant's project announced in the

last column (Serials Review 14, no. 3) was described in the ARL Newsletter of 6 June in the following way:

The analyses will look at price trends of a selected group of serial titles from 1971 to the present, and will investigate factors con- tributing to increased prices...associated with publication and distribution, and profit mo- tivation. The data should yield a good de- scription of the nature of the market, includ- ing competitive characteristics .... [The econ- omic analysis and] a thorough assessment of the impact of the problem on research libraries...[will] form the basis for a feasibility study of alternative methods of distributing scholarly information. The study is scheduled for completion by the end of August. 4

ARL distributed a "briefing packet" to library directors in late August 1988. 5 The packet contains a four-page undocumented overview of the situation that is attributed to the ARL Collection Development Committee. Some material may be recognized by those who have been active in re- searching this issue. The packet also contains a short bibliography of articles and copies of those articles. An update in the packet announces a new completion date of October 1988 for the study. The packet would be useful to someone who has little knowledge of the situation, but it appears to have been hastily assembled so that something would be available by August.

Notes

1. "The Future of Scholarly Journals," Society for Scholarly Publishing Letter 10, no. 3 (1988): 4.

(continued on page 78)

SERIALS REVIEW NUMBER 4 1988 63

Documents

Serials prices