From: Kevin Smith <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2012 23:25:29 +0000

Hi Kerry,

Several years ago the Duke University Libraries adopted a policy to
prefer "e only" subscriptions that spelled our several exceptions,
situations in which print wold still be preferred. There were a number
of reasons other than price, mostly related to specific needs of
users.  For example, print would still be preferred if there were
extensive illustrations that were not satisfactorily reproduced in the
electronic version, or if the online version had unacceptable
restrictions on use.  Several of those reasons made more sense several
years ago than they do now, which is to say that the online versions
of many journals are getting better and more sophisticated all the
time.

I don't think that policy is online anywhere (kind of ironic, isn't
it), but I will add answers below. These are just my opinions, not the
policies of the Duke Libraries.

Kevin L. Smith, J.D.
Director of Scholarly Communication
Duke University
Perkins Library
Durham, NC 27708


On Jun 11, 2012, at 6:43 PM, "LIBLICENSE" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> From: Kerry Velilla <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2012 08:12:57 -0500
>
> Dear librarian community:
>
> As a scholarly publishing consultant, I am posting this query on
> behalf of a publications director of a major clinical research
> journal. Our client offers print+online, online only, and print only
> options and is interested in better understanding the reasons for
> institutions continuing to subscribe to print.  Would you be willing
> to answer the following questions?
>
> 1.       Why do institutions still subscribe to print? Is it only when
> print is a less-expensive alternative? Are there taxes or other levies
> that make online-only subscriptions less appealing? For archival
> reasons, would an institution subscribing to print be more likely to
> drop print if the publisher participated in Portico or CLOCKSS?

I am unaware of taxation issues that would influence us as purchasers,
but price is only one reason we might maintain a print subscription.
In any case where there are differences between print and electronic
that might influence usability, we will always try to meet the
expressed needs of our users.  Usually, but not always, that points us
to preference for online subscriptions.

> 2.      Does your institution retain any print subscriptions to
> journals that have an online subscription available? If your
> institution retains any print subscriptions, do you also subscribe to
> the online version?

I am not entirely sure about this, but my best guess is that, if we do
have such situations, we have decided to retain print for the knd of
reason mentioned above and continue to receive the online version
because it is part of a bundle.


> 3.      If you were unable to subscribe to print only but instead had
> to subscribe to online in order to also subscribe to print, would you
> just subscribe online only or subscribe to online and print? What kind
> of price differential would make the difference for you?

The significant difference would probably not be price differential,
but the features that were important to users.  If we felt that users
really needed access to print, we might tolerate this situation.  But
as I say, our preference is for electronic only, so if pricing
policies also pushed us this way, it would take a major difference in
features to cause us to retain the print.

> 4.      If print were no longer available, would you renew your
> institution’s print subscription as online only? Would you expect a
> certain price break? Or does your institution require a print copy
> regardless of online availability?

As I say, our preference is for electronic.  This is dictated, first
and foremost, by what our users tell us about how they want to access
and use journals.

> Many thanks in advance for your thoughts!
>
> Kerry
>
> Kerry Velilla | Associate
> 24 Aintree Road | Baltimore MD 21286
> 785 484 2970 office | 785 305 0826 mobile
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>
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