Transcript Document

Pricing Models for E-journals in a Consortia
Environment
I.R.N. Goudar * and S.L. Sangam**
*Head, ICAST
National Aerospace Laboratories
Bangalore – 560 017
[email protected]
**Chairman, Department of L & IS
Karnataka University
Dharwad-580003
[email protected]
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Challenges for LICs
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Increasing demands of users for information requirements
Information explosion and the expansion of electronic resources
Proliferation of new and important journals
Dwindling budget and decreasing staff
Developments in computers and communication networks
Commercial publishers controlling journals publishing with lion share
Merging/Acquisition of publishers
Licensing problems of e-resources
Archiving problems of e-resources
- Non-availability
- Reluctance of publishers to make available back volumes for local
archiving
- Hardware and software for archiving
- Retrieval software, publishers not supplying
Lack of IT skills of LIC staff
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Features of an Ideal E-Journal
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Full text
Back issues- Pre-web +
PDF files
HTML files
Advanced search features
References linked to full
text and related articles
Additional colour possible
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Expanded papersaccess to raw data
Graphics, video and
sound, if required
Comprehensive help
Alerting
Usage statistics for
librarians
Refereed, but quick
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Expectations of Customers
Readers
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Authors
Enhanced content
 critical mass
 multimedia, more colour,
additional data
Enhanced functionality
 powerful search, alerting
Seamless access
 ubiquitous access to past
and present
Powerful links
 abstracts to full text
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Quality imprint
 journal brand
 improved visibility
Better author service
 responsiveness
 faster publication times
 web-submissions, web
peer review
 No Page charges
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E-Journal Models
 E- journal continues to coexist with its print version.
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E-journal replaces its print version.
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E-journal gets value addition, but continues to coexist
with print.
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Print version plus abridged e-version
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Born digital and remains digital only.
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E-journal with a facility to supply individual articles.
Delayed e-version than its print equivalent.
 E-version first and then print.
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E-Journals: Major Players
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Primary publishers
 Aggregators
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Subscription agents
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Document delivery agencies
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E-print systems
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Journals Publishing Costs: Print Version
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First copy costs more - Marginal costs for rest
 Article
processing costs very high
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Refereeing costs
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High marketing and admin costs
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Physical distribution costs
Commission
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Journals Publishing Costs: E-Version
Existing Print Costs + New costs:
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Content delivery infrastructure
Software, hardware & ISP
Customer support
Access control
New human resource: Production, IT
Marketing costs
New content costs: tables, maths & chemistry symbols
Meta-data costs
Low distribution costs
Service costs
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Experiences/Challenges of Publishers
Some publishers’ systems not ready for e-only
 Parallel publishing environment
 Test bed for electronic pricing & consortia policies
 Protection of current revenue
 Closer to the market (community feedback)
 Guarantee of new subscriptions?
 VAT
 Consistency with consortia overseas
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Consortia
Consortia is a Strategic Alliance of
Consortia is a Strategic Alliance of
Institutions that have Common Interests.
Institutions that have Common Interests.
Consortia have become the latest strategic front in the electronic
revolution and are helping libraries to leverage their bargaining
power, and publishers are vying for the market potential that
networked consortia represent.
So….There is a need for striking the balance between cooperation
and competition both among libraries and among publishers. Both
publishers and libraries should look for affordable and sustainable
economic models based on values.
This is where Consortia can play a major play.
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…Continued
Consortia Goals …….
 Improved infrastructure
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Enhanced image of the library - Visibility for smaller libraries
Improve existing library services -Boosting professional image
Harness developments in IT - Facilitate building digital libraries
Cost sharing for technical and training support - Access from
desktops of users
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Increase user base
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……. Consortia Goals
 Increase the access base - More e-Journals
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Rational utilization of funds - A little more pays a lot
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Ensure the continuous subscription
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Qualitative resource sharing - Effective DDS
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Avoid price + models - Pay for up-front products not for R&D
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Library Consortia: Expectations & Experiences
Flexibility for cancellations and multi-year deals
 Quick and Simplified Negotiations
 Single offers cannot meet all needs
 Pricing options desirable
 Extended electronic access desirable
 Unresolved terms and conditions
 Publishers are experimenting with pricing
 Clarity on VAT
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Continue…
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…Continued
Library Consortia: Expectations & Experiences
Regional, State, National consortia can be influential
 Option for unbundling electronic from print
 Mixed views for access to all titles of publishers
 Price alone is not the only factor
 Standardised licensing
 Clear archiving policy
 Price including back files
 Capped annual inflation
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Consortia Values
Libraries Vs Publishers
Libraries
Usefulness
 Members driven
 Lower price
 Full text access
 Expert vs. Student
 Accessing Internet resources
 Combined purchasing power
 Simplify purchase procedure
 Distribute financial and other
risk
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Publishers
Pricing/Education
 Usage Reporting, Interface
options
 Linking/Delivery
 Indexing/Filtering
 Gain credibility with libraries
 Protection of current revenue
 Single point payment
 Increased marketing/ Uncertain
new subscription
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Continue…
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Consortia Values
Libraries Vs Publishers
Libraries
Increase participation of
members
 No storage & documentation
problem
 Instant Access
 Quality of services
 Free flow of information
 Sharing – ideas, information
 Contribution – time, resources
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…Continued
Publishers
Reduced cost of production
 Reduced surcharges like
mailing
 Less extra efforts and
expenditure for new customers
 Get consortium tool
o Gather library information
o Invoice libraries
o Products support
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Consortia Challenges
Access control and portals
 New price models
 Transition to e-only
 Perpetual access
 Archiving
 Tight budgets
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Consortia Models
Participants Oriented Models
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Geographical location linked
Ex: - Bangalore Special Libraries Group
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Libraries in the same discipline
Ex: - Aerospace Libraries Group
Libraries belonging to the same parent organization
Ex: - CSIR LICs
 Libraries of academic organizations
Ex: - INFLIBNET
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Consortia Price Influencing Factors
Quantum of business
 Number of consortia members
 Types of institutions
 Contract period
 Number of IP enabled nodes
 Number of campuses
 Value added services
 Rights to archive
 Perpetual access
 Training facilities
 Multi year agreement
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Charging /Pricing
 Users are almost universally divorced from the direct
funders of libraries – universities, local authorities
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Discontinuity – between library and publisher. Most
transactions are handled by intermediaries
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Generally agents take a commission from the publisher
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Discount to libraries comes out of the intermediary’s commission
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The price is set by the publisher - unaffected by any discount
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“Charge” is defined as the way the consumer is charged
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Charging Model
Familiar charging models in information publishing include oneoff lump sum payments for unlimited access, shorter and longer
periodic charges, units of content and units of time.
Elements in Charging Models
- the basic charging models(One-off, time based, client based)
- time of charges
- what is unitized
- rights at end of payment period
- mechanics of payment
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Unit-based Charges
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Units can consist of content – e.g. Journal articles
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Access
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The number of people access
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Consumption the information resources
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Combination of above
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Business Models
The business model is really the totality of revenue streams for a product or service.
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The content owner’s model
annual fee, sales of journals, discounts on bulk purchases
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The mobile operator’s model
one-off connection charges, monthly subscriptio
time and volume access charges, advertising revenue
fees for add-on services, subsidies/discounts
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Super-distribution services
A user pays for access
Then pass the content on to another user
The new user pays for it
A part of the commission to first user
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Pricing Models: Some Facts
No universally acceptable E-journals
Pricing and Licensing Models
 Varies from publishers to publishers
 Varies from same publishers to different
customers
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Ongoing experimentation
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Negotiation possible
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Charge for content
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Delivery format optional
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Increasingly will be based on usage
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Pricing Models in Operation
 Bundled – Free with print
AIP, APS, AMS, Elsevier, Wiley
 Print as base + surcharge on electronic
Premium payments range from 10-25%
ACS, OSA
 Electronic only
Small increase - ACS
Same price - OSA
Discount from print AIP, AMS
 Totally unbundled – No discount for both
JBC (P=x, E=y, P+E=x+y)
 Free e-version only
Charge for print if required
British Medical Journal
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Pricing Models in Operation
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 Membership/Community Fee
 Sponsorship/Advertising/Govt. Funding
 Authors funded – Page charges
 Usage based pricing
- Concurrent users
- Site population, Based on FTE
 All
titles of publishers with print optional
 Subject clusters
 Virtual Journals: Narrow subject from
single/multiple collection
 Pay–per–view: Credit cards, Deposit accounts
 Free completely – Differently funded
 Extra fee for software
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…Continued
Pricing Models in Operation
Separate Current (1-2 years) + Archive
Extra for value added services
Consortium discount
Number of sites
 Consortium surcharge
Access to all consortia titles
All titles of publisher
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Subscription to core titles – Rest pay-per-view
 Slice and dice pricing
– Single article sales
– Deposit accounts
– Article bundles
– Current and archive subscriptions
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A Lot More for a Little Extra
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Access to all titles of publishers for little surcharge
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Multi year agreements with fixed annual price cap
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Users happy – Wider access
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Publishers happy – Guaranteed revenue, greater
visibility of titles
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But what about non-major publishers?
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Discount on multiple print copies
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Academic/Open Access Initiatives and Pricing
Academic self publishing
Journal of High Energy Physics - SISSA
e-prints (see arXiv.org)
Open Archives Initiative (OAI)
 Library initiatives
HighWire Press - U Stanford Library
 ‘Digital’ Press
Ingenta, HighWire
 Government-funded initiatives
PubMedCentral (NIH), SPARC (ARL)
 Archival approaches
JSTOR
 Creating online communities, portals
ChemWeb, optics.org, NanoTechWeb
 Journal deconstruction
‘Virtual’ Journals
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E-prints Archives
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Initially started as Physics E-Print Archive (www.arxiv.org)
- hosted by Los Alamos National Lab and recently moved to Cornell
University
- supported by academic, government funding
Free at point of use, very popular
>265,000 submissions since launch in August 1991
>3500 monthly submissions
Usage: 1 to 1.5 connections daily
Subjects Covered: Physics, Mathematics, Non-linear Science,
Computer Science and Quantitative Biology.
Continue…
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…Continued
E-prints Archives
CERN Document Server (http://cdsweb.cern.ch/)
 Over 650,000 bibliographic records, including 320,000 full text
documents
 Particle physics and related areas
 Preprints, articles, books, journals, photographs
Mathematical Physics Preprint Archive mp_arc
(http://www.ma.utexas.edu/mp_arc/mp_arc-home.html)
 mp_arc is an electronic archive from 1991-present
 Mathematical Physics and related areas.
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Pricing Models: Issues
 Underlying Prices should be publishers’ responsibility.
Pricing should be market-based not formulaic.
 Senior scientists/ librarians may resist to the transition
from print to electronic.
 Small publishers like professional societies not
enthusiastic about consortia pricing.
 Publisher – Customer disconnect
 Subscription/site vs. transactional choices
 Perception: Electronic Costs less than Print
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Reality: Electronic + Print costs more than Print
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Trends in Pricing Models
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National licenses for major resources
Increasing in numbers offer electronic-only journals
Virtual Journals
Continued experimentation of models
More publishers to offer consortia pricing
More subject specific packages
Price decreasing
More will offer pay-per-view/transactional allowance
Print as ‘add on’: Optional at discounted price
Choice of format and added functionality
Pricing based on size (FTEs, research activity)
Ongoing access to core and occasional to peripheral material
The increasing archive will have a price on it
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Strong Links make Strong Consortia
Geographical
Coverage
Funding
Mission
Programs
Strategic
Consortia
Issues
Payment
Practical
Tactical
Staffing
Service
Technology
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Library
Types
Governance
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Pricing Constraints Specific to Indian Libraries
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Entering consortia requires initial investments in licenses and
information and communication technology
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Work procedures are still centered around the physical document
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Inadequate funds
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Single point payment
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Rigid administrative, financial and auditing rules
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Problems of defining asset against payment
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Pay-Per-View not yet acceptable
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Big brother attitude
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To Conclude…..
We need to develop:
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More workable pricing models
Models that can be understood
Models affordable by libraries
Models sustainable by publishers
Identify pricing incentives
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