In the rodeo of the electronic world, libraries and agents need to rope in the information to acquire electronic material. In many cases, you just can't look up pricing on the internet or in a vendor's system. Quotations from the publishers are sometimes required and for big deals, publisher sales managers get involved with license negotiations. Consortia are now a major presence in negotiating the big deals. This workshop will discuss pricing options and issues encountered in this serials pricing roundup. Come join the discussion led by an agent and a consortium negotiator.
Tina Feick
Director of Sales and Marketing in North America, OTTO HARRASSOWITZ GmbH & Co. KG, Booksellers and Subscription Agents
For the past five years, Tina has been the Director of Sales and Marketing in North America for HARRASSOWITZ, subscription agent and bookseller. A former Head of Serials at the Free Library of Philadelphia and Princeton University, Tina has spent 30 years working for subscription agents including Blackwell's Periodicals which merged into Swets. Active in standards work and library associations, Tina was the Chair of SISAC (Serials Industry Systems Advisory Committee) and the 2nd and 3rd President of NASIG. Her awards include the Ulrich's Serials Librarianship Award for the promotion of EDI standards and the first NASIG Champion Award (2005). Tina is on the Serials Librarian Editorial Board and was just recently appointed to the NASIG Mission & Vision Task Force. In her spare time, she loves to travel, go to the theatre and opera, collect poetry, read mystery books and also collect Inuit and Haida Indian artwork.
Anne McKee
Program Officer for Resource Sharing, Greater Western Library Alliance
McKee received her M.L.S. from Indiana University, Bloomington and has had a very diverse career in librarianship. She has been an academic librarian, a sales rep for two subscription agencies and now a consortium officer for the past 13 years. A former President of NASIG, McKee is on the Serials Review Editorial Board, 3 publisher/vendor library advisory boards and strives to balance a busy career with an even busier family including a husband, 1 high schooler, 1 middle schooler, 2 dogs while being a first year newbie [and admittedly a rather bewildered] club volleyball mom: all this including wearing orthodontia! McKee is probably the only person you’ll meet with both an undergrad AND MLS in Library Science.
Rounding Up Those Prices: Do you know what you are paying for?
1. NASIG 2014 Conference
Fort Worth, Texas
May 2, 2014
Tina Feick, HARRASSOWITZ
Anne McKee, GWLA
Rounding up Those Prices: Do You
Know What You are Paying For?
3. Is this the serials world?
Don't try to understand 'em,
Just rope and throw and grab 'em,
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4. 5/14/2014NASIG 2014 Concurrent Session4
- Price lists received from STM and
Univ. Presses (Mid June – Jan.)
- Trade (Popular, Newspapers)
received all year and prices
sometimes change several times a
year
Agents’ price request
letters sent to
publishers
(mid-May to mid-
July)
Agents pay
publishers
(late Oct. – Feb.
for Jan. starts)
Journal Pricing Season Timeline
Libraries submit
renewal lists
(June – Dec.)
Agents send
invoices
(July – Dec.)
Renewal lists
sent to libraries
(Mid May – Aug.)
Libraries pay
agents
(July – March)
Publishers
Libraries
5. Publisher Prices – “move „em on”
Pricing Options – every publisher has their own
take
Format –
Print
Print including online – online is free with print
Print plus online – costs extra to include online
Online only –
Ongoing movement from print and online to online only
Type
Membership
Type of library
Academic
Corporate
Individual
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6. Online Pricing – “head „em up”
FTE
Entire institution
Discipline – life sciences, chemistry, grad students
Tier Pricing
Carnegie Classification – new or old
Publisher defined
Includes backfile
Entire
Partial
Rolling – current plus X years – usually 5
None – archives separate
Type of license – single site, multi-site, consortia
Usage
Other
Number of hospital beds
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7. Access – Gone Digital – “set
„em out”
GOT TO READ THE FINE PRINT –
PDF - Current trend from smaller publishers
Offer “digital free”
But you have to go to the website and
download – hmmm
Inconvenient Open Access
Email PDF – groan
Username and password – oh no!
Concurrent users
IP Ranges - Site license – one site or multiple
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8. How to “count „em out”?
Agent – check database or request quote
Must know your e-access and licensing policies
Update agent‟s e-resource profile
Specific requirements
Publisher – end up on the phone
Websites – needs roping
Sales contact
E-deals
Know what you currently get - details
Consortium regulations
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9. Library Need to Know – “let „em in”
E-access policy
E-resource profile
IP ranges
E-resource contact
Platform admin userids and links
Licensing requirements
Post-cancellation rights
Archival program – LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, PORTICO
Package deals – all players need to know
Consortium
Individually negotiated
Other factors – Participation in SCOAP3
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10. Agent Services – “ride „em
out”
Management reports per account
Order options for current subscriptions especially when moving
from print to electronic
Licensing information
Price comparison reports – over three to five years
Price increase notifications – default percentage
Pricing option changes – need decisions
Pricing studies – with predictions – Library Journal article
E-deal management – make sure pricing does not go over price
cap
EDI and title by title invoicing for packages
License and e-deal negotiation
Standards development – ICEDIS – XML messages
ONIX-PC (Price Catalog) – Springer, Wiley,T&F, Elsevier and
agents
Consortia
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12. Cannot “rope” all consortia together:
ALL CONSORTIA ARE *NOT* ALIKE
Shared Focus (law, health sci, public)
Institutional context (CIC)
Tiers (research, 4 years, community colleges)
Multi-type
Buying Clubs
Geographic (national, regional, state)
Overlapping
Most libraries are in more than 1 consortium
Funding agencies
State supported/Privates/Ivies
Annual dues versus retaining percentage
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13. Consortial Pricing:
List Price may NOT be the same from one member to
another
Historical spends
Previous licenses
Size of institution
Price Caps
Both sides need to agree if price cap is on title level or overall
$$ amount
Do the numbers yourself
GWLA prefers FTE pricing-vs-ARL pricing
BUT ONLY where pricing is based on faculty/students within
that discipline
Carnegie classifications pricing
Utilize the current model & not older archaic tiers that do not
apply anymore
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14. How to “rope” in
Three approaches
Member libraries
Publishers
Consortium office
Pricing
No hard copy – must have email attachment
Need 90 days
Offers in March or August
When to turn on content – calendar year
License requirements
Opt-in process
Full discount goes to members
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15. Things to “Ponder” During
Proposal Consideration Or Purchase
Timing of offer and decision deadline is crucial
Offer of “30 day special” is a no-go
Understand that a consortium/library works off a
different time line AND fiscal year than publishers
and vendors.
Is it a “fair” offer?
Librarians are savvy and can talk profit/loss and
ROI with the best of „em
Include libraries who have already
subscribed/purchased in overall count.
Ensure your subscription vendors know about it!!
Educate libraries on how to reach out and inform
your partners
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16. Where‟s The “Beef?” (GWLA Criteria)
Content is paramount
Impact factors or accrediting bodies
MULTIPLE modes of discoverability
Financial issues and impacts
Curriculum/disciplines-large and small
Library friendly, realistic licenses
Fair use, ILL, walk-ins, Distance Learners, alumni
SERU makes us even happier
Abundance of invoicing options
Partnerships/NOT outlaws!
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17. At Trail‟s End:
While “herding” proposals is something like this:
It‟s a much better choice than this:
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19. Service Charges – Variables
“my hearts calculatin‟”
Two ways of making money – Publisher Discount
And Library Service Charges
Mix of the title list – ease of obtaining
Average cost of a subscription
Publisher discount
Service requirements
Total volume
Length of contract
Operational costs
Competition
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20. Example – Varying Discount
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Low Cost Title with Discount
Price: $100
Disc.: 5% $5
Agent pays: $95
Oper. Cost: $25
Library Pays: $20
($25-$5)
Service Charge: 20%
High Cost Title with No Discount
Price $1000
Disc.: 0% 0
Agent pays: $1000
Oper. Cost: $25
Library Pays: $25
Service Charge: 2.5%
21. Service Charges (& fees)
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In addition to publisher‟s (or negotiated) price
% of value – 4%
Over entire list
Varying – ex.: one rate for print and another for
packages
Line charge per title – ex: $25.00 per line
Additional fees:
No or low discount titles – embedded in price (line
charges or in service charge
22. Do Try to Understand „Em
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Know your title list – do you have a high average
or low average cost title list?
Know your service charge and understand why
your library has this charge
Know your service requirements
Keep your agent informed of any pending
changes
23. Waitin‟ at the end of my ride
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