From: Joseph Esposito <[log in to unmask]> Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 21:04:22 -0500 Does anyone really believe that this merger will result in LOWER costs to libraries???? And as for the notion that the two companies will continue to operate autonomously, I would be astounded if that proved to be true. The point of a merger is to merge. Joe Esposito On Mon, Jan 19, 2015 at 8:55 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > From: Colin Steele <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Mon, Jan 19, 2015 at 4:42 PM > > http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/springer-nature-deal-sign-of-times/story-e6frgcjx-1227187481600?nk=4c5503e7bb13693a21dbc4cfbf6b1104 > > by: ANDREW TROUNSON > From: The Australian > January 19, 2015 12:00AM > > Andrew Trounson > Higher Education Reporter > Melbourne > > THE merger of scholarly publishing giant Springer with the publisher > of leading academic journal Nature, is the latest sign of the > disruption facing scholarly publishing in the face of online > technology and the growing pressure for journals to provide free > access to research papers. > > The incorporation of the Nature suite of journals will give Springer a > big boost in prestige compared with rival giants such as Elsevier, > Wiley and Taylor & Francis. Macmillan Science and Education, which > owns Nature and is proposing to merge with Springer, only produces > about 160 scientific journals, well behind sector leader Elsevier with > 3,057. But in Nature it has arguably the biggest single journal brand. > Springer has 2,987 titles, putting it second behind Elsevier, but if > the merger goes through it will be the biggest, just. > > The proposed merger still needs clearance from European competition > regulators and academic libraries have been quick to voice concerns > that they could be squeezed by the reduction in competition. But there > is also optimism that the merger will bring efficiencies that can be > passed on to libraries in the form of lower subscription costs. > > “We are continually becoming more efficient and are expect the > publishers to also take some of the hard yards they need to rather > than expect us to simply keep paying more,” said Philip Kent, the > University of Melbourne’s library head. Mr Kent is also chairman of > the Council of Australian University Librarian’s journal purchasing > consortium. He noted that the weak Australian dollar, which has > declined steeply since September, is significantly increasing costs > for university libraries. > > Mr Kent welcomed the fact that both Springer and Macmillan were > quality publishers, suggesting there was no reason to worry that > quality could be put at risk from the merger. “They are both quality > publishers and we have had good dealings with both of them,” he said. > > Aidan Byrne, chief executive of the Australian Research Council, said > the proposed merger continues a long trend of publishers seeking to > get bigger through mergers. He said a key question will be whether > they may be some centralisation of how the often autonomous journals > in the enlarged stable are run. “My guess is that they will stay > fairly autonomous.” > > In a stock market research note Exane BNP Paribas said “the players > are two of the largest scientific publishers and in our view the > merger will create significant cost synergies and make their journal > collection more ‘must have’ for university libraries.” > > “Nature’s smaller, very high quality journal portfolio will complement > Springer’s wider, lower impact factor portfolio,” it said. > > [SNIP] > > Selective belt tightening: Journal publisher Springer’s merger with > Nature publisher Macmillan looks to be a defensive move, securing the > high profile journal when the future of academIc publishing is looking > decidedly shaky. But will the merger deliver economies of scale that > can be passed on to the libraries? As Melbourne University library > head Phillip Kent points out, there’s been a lot of belt tightening in > recent times and it would be nice to see the journal publishing giants > cutting back on costs and passing them on. Given the merger is the > first step to an ultimate plan to sell the business on a stock market, > HW suspects Mr Kent is dreaming. > > --------------------------------------------- > > Colin Steele > Emeritus Fellow > ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences > The Australian National University > Acton, ACT, 2601 > Australia > E: [log in to unmask]