From: "Peter B. Hirtle" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2012 20:13:14 +0000

In addition to the ILL issues, I have concerns about other
functionality and the pricing of Books at JSTOR:

1. My understanding is that under the single-user model, up to 30
chapters can be downloaded from the book after which the library must
start paying for each download.  Downloaded chapters cannot be
printed, and there is no copying or pasting.   Perhaps this would be
acceptable if books cost a fraction of what they do in print, but this
does not appear to be the case.  It is hard to imagine purchasing an
electronic resource that cannot be printed but can only be viewed
on-screen.

2. There is more functionality with multi-user licenses, but the
pricing of those licenses is a concern.  Electronic serial
publications from the publishers participating in Books at JSTOR as
well as e-books from many other publishers offer unlimited use at a
price either less than the cost of a single print subscription (in the
case of journals) or at the full price of a single book.  The price of
the Books at JSTOR multi-user licenses is often double the price of a
single user.

3. There does not appear to be any discount for libraries that have
already bought the content in print and are therefore just purchasing
access in a different format.

UNC's excellent "E-Books Platforms Recommendations & E-books
Collections Strategy" document (available at
http://vkwb.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/EBooks_-Platforms_Recommendations.pdf)
lists other reasons why Books at JSTOR may be unacceptable (such as
its sole reliance on PDFs).

Given the justified confidence and respect that faculty and librarians
have in JSTOR, it is a disappointment that its foray into e-books does
not appear to improve the e-book environment for librarians. If we
accept licenses such as these, we only have ourselves to blame.

Peter Hirtle