From: Rick Anderson <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2012 19:40:24 +0000

It seems to me that there's a fundamental error at the heart of this
message from ACS. They appear to believe that the current trouble they're
experiencing arises from a "failure to make clear the importance [they]
place on [their] dialogue with libraries and scholarly communication
departments."

Let's leave aside, for the moment, the artful way in which this language
apologizes without assuming responsibility for real error. (Notice that
they are not apologizing for a lack of dialogue, but for failing to make
us understand how important dialogue is to them. In other words, the real
failure is ours).

The deeper problem with this letter is that it simply avoids the real
issue, which is not a lack of dialogue. The issue is that ACS has, for the
past couple of years, been massively jacking up the cost of its journals
for the customers that depend on them most. Justify this behavior in any
way you wish (the term "value-based pricing" is one way of doing so, as is
the innocent invocation of "the model" as the faceless and uncontrollable
force resulting in the price hikes, as if "the model" were anything other
than an invention of ACS), but the fact remains that it's the price hikes,
not a lack of dialogue, that has led to the PR trouble in which ACS now
finds itself.

"Expanding consultations" with libraries isn't going to help much. What
would help would be an easing of ACS's extortionate pricing policies. I
don't have any expectation that that's going to happen -- but at the very
least, let's not pretend that the problem at issue here is an
insufficiency of talk.

---
Rick Anderson
Interim Dean, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
[log in to unmask]


On 10/5/12 12:48 PM, "LIBLICENSE" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>From: Brandon Nordin <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2012 11:32:38 +0000
>
>An Open Letter to the Library Community
>
>At ACS Publications, our goal is to provide the most authoritative and
>indispensable peer-reviewed research and chemistry Related information
>through our portfolio of 41 journals and other publications. We
>recognize this is only possible through a committed partnership with
>you, Our library customers, and the research communities you support.
>
>We value this partnership and we apologize for our recent failure to
>make clear the importance we place on our dialogue with libraries and
>scholarly communications departments.  We aim to do better, and are
>grateful for the ongoing close consultation and collaboration we have
>with libraries and consortia worldwide in helping shape our
>subscription and publishing options as we move from the print past to
>the digital present.
>
>As a result of this collaboration, more scientists have access to more
>ACS journals through more libraries than at any time during ACS¹s
>136-year history. This year, the ACS Web Editions platform will host
>More than 1,000,000 original articles and will successfully fulfill
>over 80 Million article requests from the global scientific community.
>We thank you for Working with us to make such broad and immediate
>information access a reality, particularly in light of the economic
>stress faced by so many libraries today.
>
>We realize that no pricing model is ever perfect ­ and that in this
>difficult economic era, we have heard your concerns about ensuring
>Future access to the essential and highly cited research found in ACS
>Publications. Publishers and libraries have a shared stake in
>sustainability: ACS is committed to working with you to refine and
>Improve our approach and welcomes an ongoing dialogue with you about
>library and research trends, publishing best practices, and shared
>economic concerns.
>
>Over the next 6 months, we will expand our consultations with the
>library community to ensure we have the features, access options, And
>publishing models that meet your expectations and the needs of the
>Communities you serve. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to call
>your ACS Publications representative with any questions, or contact me
>directly at [log in to unmask] to share your concerns and
>suggestions. More Information on 2013 renewal options is also
>available at the Librarian Resource Center at http://pubs.acs.org.
>
>Thank you for your partnership and for your support of ACS
>Publications and the American Chemical Society.
>
>Brandon A. Nordin
>Vice President, Sales &
>Marketing
>ACS Publications