From: Anthony Watkinson <[log in to unmask]>

I would also be interested to learn from libraries. Most of us know that
libraries do not have sufficient funding to keep up with the costs of the
increased level of publication. At the moment this is mainly the cost of
subscriptions. They really do want to save on costs.

How much print do they retain? I cannot find a revenue from print line in
the AAP survey since the 2010 one which showed a surprisingly high
percentage but if Paula Gantz sees this she can tell us what the picture is
now. Looking at revenue from the publisher end as in these surveys might
give a better take that library based surveys breaking out print.

We also know that most scholars in most fields hardly ever visit the library
and when they do it is not to look for journal articles which they access on
their lists. Even if libraries do not have to pay extra for print they still
have the extra handling and space problems that print brings with it. As
Cliff Lynch pointed out a few years ago for the great majority of
publications there is no danger of the digital version disappearing though
there are problems still over securing continued access - though this is
surely receding. There are a lot of assertions here but I can provide
evidence (surveys) if needed.

I know that humanities are different but in terms of costs and numbers of
journals they represent a small part of the whole.

Anthony

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Cohen <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2013 08:37:16 -0400

Sally,

One can surmise theories.  Listserve recipients would know how
accurate these are.   Some university "libraries of record" in the USA
still collect the print because of...

1) institutional inertia?

2) pressure from older faculty members?

3) "specialized collection" status? (i.e., smaller special collections for
Schools of Public Health, Social Work, Anthropology, etc.) where the number
of core journals needed by the faculty could be limited.

4) existing ownership of relatively long runs of print journals?

5) sufficient funding/budgeting for print journal ownership and maintenance?

6) fear of "loss of content" because of server problems from online
journals, coupled with lack of practical knowledge about whether disparate
journals/journal packages utilize backup services?

These are a few that come to mind.

 Bill

On 4/5/13 4:59 AM, LIBLICENSE wrote:

> From: Sally Morris <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2013 11:11:15 +0100
>
> It has been noted repeatedly how much these costs would fall if
> libraries would drop print journals entirely. Yet they don't - why not?
>
> Sally
>
> Sally Morris
> South House, The Street, Clapham, Worthing, West Sussex, UK  BN13 3UU
> Email:  [log in to unmask]