From: Amy Schuler <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 9 Dec 2011 10:19:17 -0500
I agree with Chuck, and avaricious is the right term to use here. So
the question that we keep slogging back to is: What can we do? As
troubling as it is, I sincerely believe the big publishers do not take
us - the librarian and information professional crowd - seriously.
Why? Because we are (in their minds) just personal shoppers on behalf
of the real consumers (faculty, or other patrons) who ultimately
demand the high-priced e-journals or e-books no matter how much the
cost. Obviously this is a -bit- of an exaggeration because we all know
faculty members who will "talk the talk" with us about the journal
crisis, and may even discuss the issue within their professional
societies, and may go so far as to sign on to the letters and such
that we send to the publishers when they set their prices too high.
But when it comes down to it, Dr. Faculty still wants the high-priced
journal. So again - what can we do? There must be real action on the
part of authors and readers. The faculty have to say in one loud
unified voice, "NO". Not just the faculty at UCLA or an individual
institution -- I mean, for instance, the entire membership of the big
professional societies. All members sign an agreement that they will
not support, in terms of PUBLISHING IN or subscribing to, the
over-priced journals of publisher X. They further agree to request
their libraries not to subscribe institutionally to those journals.
I think that only a serious, large-scale action like this will make
any difference.
Amy Schuler
Director of Information Services
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Millbrook, New York
-----Original Message-----
From: LibLicense-L Discussion Forum
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of LIBLICENSE
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2011 11:40 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Future of the Subscription Model
From: "Hamaker, Charles" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 10:13:20 +0000
>Alex Holzman wrote:
>From: Alex Holzman <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2011 22:50:50 -0500
>
>I realize it's always fun to have a bogey man in the room, but really,
>life is a lot more complicated than evil publishers and virtuous
>librarians
No,its not fun at all. I have both Commercial and University Press
examples clocking it at 10% to 15% increases for the year. And one
great example, pardon the irony, of a publisher who's annual take for
my library is north of $150,000 p.a. "seriously" proposing a 25%
increase for spending for their "package". They don't seem interested
in any discussion or negotiation reducing that figure. Take it or
leave it. Having seen more than 20 years of avaricious behavior on
the part of many publishers, I don't believe we are all BFF.
Chuck Hamaker
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