From: Joseph Esposito <[log in to unmask]> Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2013 21:04:59 -0400 All the numbers are screwy. Books and journals COMBINED comprise 24% of a library's total budget???? I know facilities management is not free, but could these figures be true? Joe Esposito On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 7:44 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > From: Deborah Lenares <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:14:31 -0400 > > To possibly add a bit more context to these numbers, it's very > possible that libraries are not reporting figures that accurately > represent spending on "books" and "journals." The increase in > spending on serials since 1999 has certainly been impacted by the > availability of annually renewing databases. Increased spending on > "journals" is not an indication that journal pricing is out of > control, it's an indication that libraries are buying more annually > renewing resources. These annually renewing resources might also > include statistical databases, ebooks packages subscribed to or > purchased on an annual basis, discovery services, full text databases, > etc. > > Although I have admittedly not had time to read the entire article, > the suggestion that the increase in spending on serials can be > attributed to big deals I think is incorrect. The article claims that > multi-year contracts with 7%+ increases are typical. I have never > signed even a one year agreement that locks in a price cap that high. > I very much doubt that that is a "typical" amount for a multi-year > contract. > > Deborah Lenares > > Manager Acquisitions and Resource Sharing > Science Collection Management Librarian > Clapp Library - Wellesley College > Wellesley, Massachusetts 02481 > [log in to unmask] > > > On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 10:02 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]> > > Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:05:36 -0500 > > > > This passage was of particular interest to me: > > > > > Since 1999, spending on books has fallen by almost a fifth in real > terms, and from almost 12 > > > per cent of libraries' total spending to just over 8 per cent. > Expenditure on serials, on the > > > other hand, has increased sharply: from just under £70 million to over > £130 million. In real > > > terms this represents an increase of 63 per cent; journals' share of > total library spendingrose > > > from 16 per cent to almost 20 per cent. > > > > I was under the impression that this change in the ratio of book to > > journal spending had ceased during the past decade, and that spending > > on books had leveled off. I can't cite any studies to that effect > > right off the top of my head, but I wonder if others can? > > > > Sandy Thatcher > > > > > > At 11:25 AM -0700 3/27/13, Heather Morrison wrote: > > > > > Interesting preprint from Harvie, Lightfoot, Lilley and Weir: > > > > https://lra.le.ac.uk/bitstream/2381/9689/1/What%20are%20we%20to%20do%20with%20feral%20publishers%20final%20August%2031.pdf > > > > > > best, > > > > > > Heather G. Morrison >