From: "Swindler, Luke" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 13:17:08 +0000

As others have indicated, the two questions of “How much would it cost
to purchase a digital copy of every single peer-reviewed journal
published in one year?” and “How much would it cost to purchase all
the backfiles in digital form, assuming they are all available?”
cannot be answered because no standard prices prevail.

Whereas a major serials database such as EBSCONET or Ulrich’s could
provide list prices for peer-reviewed e-journals on a title-by-title
basis, these figures do not represent what libraries pay in the real
world.  Because of package deals, wide variances exist among not only
research institutions but also especially between them and small
colleges (which literally pay pennies on the dollar).

Similarly, digital journal backfiles have huge price variances—with
major discounts available for buying entire subject collections.
Moreover, even their en bloc cost can vary depending on an
institution’s previous acquisitions, e.g., a major STEM publisher
recently offered UNC a 75% discount on the e-journals archival
packages not owned since it already had paid nearly $2M to purchase
the bulk of those available.

Finally, actual prices vary still more when institutions make
acquisitions via consortia rather than acting individually.

Luke Swindler


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Luke Swindler                               Collections Management Officer
Davis Library    CB #3918                        [log in to unmask]
University of North Carolina                           TEL (919-962-1095)
Chapel Hill, NC  27514   USA                        FAX (919-962-4450)
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