Transcript Implementing Electronic Access for an Independent Journal

Implementing Electronic Access for
an Independent Journal: Technical
Issues, Business Decisions, Legal
Matters
Klaus Kaiser
Houston Journal of Mathematics
[email protected]
http://math.uh.edu/~hjm
Contents
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Building a WEB Site
Pricing Electronic Subscriptions
Providing Restricted Access
Adding an Archive
Final Remarks
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Building a WEB Site
• 1997 Site with contents, abstracts and
comprehensive index
• 1999 Moved up from a print to
print+electronic journal
• 2004 Added backfiles
• Site is text based. Internal links kept at a
minimum
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• Abstracts author provided, in HTML,
without any TeX.
• References have to be explicit.
• No keywords and subject classification
numbers.
• All abstracts are on one page.
• Abstracts meant for mathematicians.
• MathReviews, Zentralblatt, ISI can
download files for extracting metadata
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Screenshot of an upcoming Contents and
Abstracts page
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• No registering with CrossRef for DOI
• HJM has confidence in MathRev and Zbl
that they can manage their files with their
own identifiers.
• Laura Gasaway: “DOI content providers
would not only control the indexing but
also access to the indexing and through
the index access to the digital object
itself.”
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• Only one kind of PDF files. No hyperlinks or
bookmarks.
• Print would look funny.
• Mathematicians don’t read from screen. And
Acrobat allows for personal view.
• We were guided by the Philosophy of Project
Gutenberg: Keep everything simple,
electronic editions should be meaningful for
later generations.
• HJM had no need for an electronic publisher
• HJM WEB site is mirrored by the math dept
of Uni Zürich.
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Pricing Electronic Subscriptions
• Print and electronic editions are sharing
the same upfront expenses for production
of final PDF files.
• For print add: printing +mailing expenses
• For electronic add: work for updating WEB
site.
• ALA recommends 20% discount for
electronic subscriptions
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• Fact: Printers charge primarily for #pages
per issue and not so much for #copies.
• Price for 300 copies or 1000 copies
essentially the same.
• Increase in #pages matters a lot!
• Result: Discount for electronic editions
hurts publisher.
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• Simple calculation: Typical commercial
journal, 2000 pages per year, $1,000
subscriptions for print, 800 subscribers.
• Printing costs: $40,000, 5% of $800,000
subscription revenue
• Assuming 10% discount for electronic-only
to 400 subscribers results in a loss of
about $36,000!
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• For HJM, printing and mailing costs make
up about 50% of revenue!
• Discount for electronic-only would reduce
revenue for the same reason.
• For independent journals, a lower price for
electronic subscriptions would probably
not increase # of subscriptions.
• Commercial journals are so expensive that
libraries drop print even for a small
discount for electronic subscriptions.
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• Free electronic access: This might be
suicidal.
• Why pay for print if online access is free.
• And if print disappears, then what??
• Free electronic with print: HJM decided on
that.
• Most convenient, e.g., for agencies and it
makes good business sense.
• Major societal publishers are doing the
same, like AMS and SIAM.
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• Springer Verlag offers enhanced
subscriptions for print and electronic.
• Duke Math. J offers a 1% discount for
electronic only but print+electronic for an 11%
surcharge.
• Indiana Univ. Math. J. offers a 20% discount
for electronic only.
• Illinois J. Math still offers free online access.
• Geometry and Topology dropped free access.
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Providing Restricted Access
• HJM decided on access by IP numbers.
Proxy servers are allowed
• But what kind of access:
• Only current issues?
• Or access to all previous issues?
• Should all access cease with
cancellation or maintained for issues the
subscriber had paid for?
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• Options depend on how the publisher has
implemented restricted access.
• Apache: all restricted files are in one
directory, called “restricted”, can contain
any number of subdirectories and folders.
Files called “.htrestricted” contain allowed
IP numbers.
• HJM decided that it can maintain only one
.htaccess files
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• Consequently: access means access to all
restricted files and cancellation means loss of
all access.
• Input from subscribers: Mostly positive.
Typical response: “The library paid only for
print and it got what it had paid for. If it
cancels there is nothing to complain about!”
• Online access to digital material does not
provide ownership of anything!
• My impression: Libraries don’t want to buy
journals on CD’s!
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• Online access requires a license!
Publisher sets up the terms and conditions
how digital material can be used!!
• What is a license? Carrie Russel,
Copyright specialist of the ALA: “Licenses
are private contracts between two
parties…Once a license agreement is
signed, the agreement takes precedence
over any rights libraries or users may
enjoy under the federal copyright law.”
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• HJM license addresses all the usual points
but of importance are only two clauses:
1. License holder must inform HJM about
cancellations to have access removed
2. Files cannot be used for ILL’s
• 1. requires that the subscriber adheres to
some sort of honor code. Violation of 1.
constitutes theft of service
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• Exclusion of files for ILL’s is a hotly
debated issue.
• Pay-Per-View viable alternative.
• HJM license similar to the one for AMS
journals.
• At least a dozen institutions have helped
to polish our license.
• I dislike the “Standard License Agreement”
promoted by Yale University.
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• Ill’s no longer meet standard criteria of
what should constitute a loan.
• “Borrower” does not return anything to the
“lender”.
• Copyright Acts, USCode 108, 109
granted libraries exemptions.
• Exemptions apply only to paper based
documents.
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• Yale: Files should be allowed if used for
printouts to be faxed and then destroyed.
• I disagree. One cannot dictate that outdated
technology must be used.
• What to do in case of violation of clause 1?
• HJM mails a termination letter, approved by
the UH legal department:
• Violator no longer qualifies for free online
access. Would be subject to further
negotiations.
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Adding an Archive
• HJM archiving: 25 volumes,15,000 pages.
• Costs: Same as printing and mailing of one
current print issue.
• Including backfiles in a subscription:
• Great advertising tool for getting new
subscribers. Online access provides full run
of the journal.
• Moving wall would make new subscriptions
less attractive.
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Final Remarks
• Future belongs to electronic subscriptions
• Illegal copying hurts everybody
• Commercial publishers stress “hidden”
values: IP, DOI, usage statistics
• Independent journals have inherent
advantages: efficient production, small
personnel, more academic policies etc
• Future for independents looks safe!
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