© ebsco the role of the intermediary (subscription agent) julie boyd-reynolds ebsco information...
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© EBSCO
The Role of the Intermediary
(Subscription Agent)
Julie Boyd-ReynoldsEBSCO Information Services
© EBSCO
Topics to be covered
• The Information chain• The Supply chain and its
characteristics• Serial supply ‘life cycle’• Business characteristics of the supply
chain• Why agents/intermediaries exist
© EBSCO
Topics to be covered
• The changing landscape• ‘Agent’ Initiatives in the electronic
environment• ‘The ‘big deal’• Who pays?• Meeting the needs of our
communities
© EBSCO
The information chainPlayers in the print environment
AuthorPublisher
Subscription AgentLibraryReader
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Author
Reader
? Publisher
? Subscription agent
? Library
The information chainOpen Access Model
© EBSCO
Academics & Researchers
Authors & Readers
Libraries Primary Publishers
Subscription Agents
Traditional Model of Scholarly Publishing
Circa 1960
Serials Supply Chain
Abstracting & Indexing Services
© EBSCO
Academics & Researchers
Authors & Readers
Libraries Primary Publishers
Subscription Agents
Traditional Model of Scholarly Publishing
Circa 1980
Abstracting & Indexing Services
Document Delivery Services
Online Information
Services
Secondary Publishers
Print, CD-Rom
Serials Supply Chain
© EBSCO
Academics & Researchers
Authors & Readers
Libraries
Primary Publishers
Subscription Agents
New Model of Scholarly Publishing
Abstracting & Indexing Services
Document Delivery Services
Online Information
Services
Library Purchasing Consortia
Open Access Publishers
Publishers contracted out
Aggregated Gateways
Publishers Online Services
Subscription Agents
Print and Online Gateways
Secondary Publishers
Print, CD-Rom, Online Content Aggregators
Serials Supply Chain
Content Negotiation
Agents
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The supply chain – complexity
Authors?00,000
Publishers60,000+
Libraries?0,000
Readers?000,000
Titles280,000+
Online Titles14,000+
Organisations?,000
Select & Evaluate options
Catalogue records
Ensure delivered
Serials resource life cycle
Order & pay
Bibliographic changes
Missing issues/no service
Management
Information
Renewal criteria/decisi
on
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The Subscription
agent as intermediary
© EBSCO
Provide Support
EvaluateMonitor
Administer
Provide Access
Acquire
Electronic resource life cycle
© EBSCO
Trial useTrial use
Assess need/budget
Assess need/budget
License terms
License terms OrderOrder
PayPayPricePrice
EvaluateEvaluate
Acquire
Electronic resource life cycle
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IP AddressesIP Addresses
RegisterRegister
Proxy ServersProxy Servers
CatalogueCatalogue
Portals/Access lists
Portals/Access lists
Campus authentication
Campus authentication
URL maintenance
URL maintenance
Provide Access
Acquire
Electronic resource life cycle
© EBSCO
ClaimingClaiming
User IDsUser IDs
Admin module information
Admin module information
Preferences (store)
Preferences (store)
Holdings listsHoldings lists
Access restrictions
Access restrictions
View rights for use
View rights for use
Administer
Provide Access
Acquire
Electronic resource life cycle
© EBSCO
Provide SupportProblem logProblem log
Hardware needs
Hardware needs
Software needs
Software needs
Contact infoContact info
Troubleshoot/ triage
Troubleshoot/ triage
Administer
Provide Access
Acquire
Electronic resource life cycle
© EBSCO
Provide Support
EvaluateMonitor
Problem logProblem log
Usage statsUsage stats
Downtime analysis
Downtime analysis
Review problemsReview
problems
User feedback
User feedback
Administer
Provide Access
Acquire
Electronic resource life cycle
© EBSCO
Electronic resource life cycle
ClaimingClaiming
User IDsUser IDs
Admin module information
Admin module information
Preferences (store)
Preferences (store)
Holdings listsHoldings lists
Access restrictions
Access restrictions
View rights for use
View rights for use
Provide Support
EvaluateMonitor
Problem logProblem log
Hardware needs
Hardware needs
Software needs
Software needs
Contact infoContact info
Troubleshoot/ triage
Troubleshoot/ triage
Usage statsUsage stats
Downtime analysis
Downtime analysis
Review problemsReview
problems
User feedback
User feedback
Administer
Trial useTrial use
Assess need/budget
Assess need/budget
License terms
License terms OrderOrder
PayPayPricePrice
EvaluateEvaluate IP AddressesIP Addresses
RegisterRegister
Proxy ServersProxy Servers
CatalogueCatalogue
Portals/Access lists
Portals/Access lists
Campus authentication
Campus authentication
URL maintenance
URL maintenance
Provide Access
Acquire
© EBSCO
Electronic resource life cycle
ClaimingClaiming
User IDsUser IDs
Admin module information
Admin module information
Preferences (store)
Preferences (store)
Holdings listsHoldings lists
Access restrictions
Access restrictions
View rights for use
View rights for use
Provide Support
EvaluateMonitor
Problem logProblem log
Hardware needs
Hardware needs
Software needs
Software needs
Contact infoContact info
Troubleshoot/ triage
Troubleshoot/ triage
Usage statsUsage stats
Downtime analysis
Downtime analysis
Review problemsReview
problems
User feedback
User feedback
Administer
New processes introduced
Trial useTrial use
Assess need/budget
Assess need/budget
License terms
License terms OrderOrder
PayPayPricePrice
EvaluateEvaluate IP AddressesIP Addresses
RegisterRegister
Proxy ServersProxy Servers
CatalogueCatalogue
Portals/Access lists
Portals/Access lists
Campus authentication
Campus authentication
URL maintenance
URL maintenance
Acquire
Provide Access
© EBSCO
Electronic resource life cycle
Provide Support
EvaluateMonitor
Title listsTitle lists
Administer
Provide AccessUsage statsUsage stats
Fulfillment reports
Fulfillment reports
Offer trialOffer trial
Marketing/ Sales
Marketing/ Sales
License terms
License terms
Order handling
Order handling
InvoicesInvoices
PricingPricing
Acquire
Hosting siteHosting site
IP AddressesIP Addresses
Campus authentication
Campus authentication
Metasearch/ Z39.50
Metasearch/ Z39.50
Durable URL Support
Durable URL Support
RegistrationRegistration
Subscription upgrades
Subscription upgrades
ClaimingClaiming
User IDsUser IDs
IP ChangesIP Changes
Title Lists for packages
Title Lists for packages
Enforce License terms
Enforce License terms
Title ChangesTitle Changes
Subscriptionproblems
Subscriptionproblems
Hardware problemsHardware problems
Software problemsSoftware problems
Customer Service
Customer Service
Technical Support
Technical Support
Publishers
© EBSCO
Business Characteristics of Serials SupplyPrint and Electronic Environment
Acquisition ManagementPayment
Multi Transactional & Low Margins & High Volume
•New Orders•Transition•Renewals•Cancellations•Customer Needs•Publisher Needs•Licensing•Access•Consolidation
•Secure•In-Advance•Prompt•Methods•Currency•Invoicing
•Claims•Title/Frequency &•URL Changes•Management Information•Quality Assurance•Archiving•Authentication•Usage Stats•Price capping•Bundle analysis•Cancellations auditing
Awareness
•Alerting/SDI•Catalogues•Database•Specimen Copies•Quotations•Inflation Forecasts
© EBSCO
Authors?00,000
Publishers60,000+
Libraries?0,000
Readers?000,000
Titles280,000+
Online Titles14,000+
Organisations?,000
So Why do ‘Agents’ Exist?
© EBSCO
Authors?00,000
Publishers60,000+
Libraries?0,000
Readers?000,000
Titles280,000+
Online Titles14,000+
Organisations?,000
So Why do ‘Agents’ Exist?
© EBSCO
Authors?00,000
Publishers60,000+
Libraries?0,000
Readers?000,000
Titles280,000+
Online Titles14,000+
Organisations?,000
So Why do ‘Agents’ Exist?
Agent
© EBSCO
So Why do ‘Agents’ Exist?Authors?00,000
Publishers60,000+
Libraries?0,000
Readers?000,000
Titles280,000+
Online Titles14,000+
Organisations?,000
Agent
Simplify
Add value
Representing thousands of libraries to the publishers
Representing thousands of publishers to the libraries
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Simplify & Add Value?
• Economies of Scale • Reduced Overheads through
eased administration.• Rights Management• Currency Management
• Outsourcing/consolidation
© EBSCO
Simplify & Add Value?
• Licensing & Authentication• Awareness/Alerting
• ILS Interfaces• Abstract & Full-text Databases
• Electronic Linking• Industry Knowledge & Expertise
© EBSCO
Challenges……brought on by changes in the landscape
The changing role of Intermediaries in the electronic world
• Declining budgets• Price increases• New technology• eJournal Management• Linking & OpenURL
• Access v Holdings• Outsourcing• ILS integration • Consortia• Distance learning• Open Access
© EBSCO
‘Agent’ InitiativesSupplying Electronic Information
• Aggregation Services • Model Licenses
• Agents as negotiators• EDI & E-commerce
• ‘Software’ services & tools
© EBSCO
‘Traditional’ Text Aggregators
• Full text plus A&I– Potential one stop shop for user– Extra revenue stream for publisher
• Business model– Low entry cost for publishers– Aggregator does the work & takes
risk– Recent volumes embargoed to
protect subscription revenue?– Library widen content base &
electronic availability
EBSCOhost ‘databases’, Ovid, ProQuest & Gale
© EBSCO
‘Contracted out’ Hosting Aggregators
• Hosts full text in place of publisher – Restricted to contracted publishers
• Business model- publisher outsourcing service– charge to publisher– Publisher retains subscription revenue
(existing model)
MetaPress, Extenza, Highwire & Ingenta
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Gateway & Hosting aggregators• Point and hosts full text
– Potential one stop shop for user (headers/abstracts & full-text)
– High usage– Avoids data ‘silos’
• Business model– Low /No charge to Agents customers– Publisher retains subscription revenue
(existing model)– Library widens content base & electronic
availability– Pay for view– Linking
EBSCOhost EJS & SwetsWise
© EBSCO
Agent Initiatives• Model Licences
– http://www.licensingmodels.com/– Agreed terminology between all
players – Starting point for most negotiations
• Agents as negotiators– NESLI (now non-agent NESLI2)
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Agent Initiatives
• ILS and E-Commerce Solutions• EDIFACT & X12
– orders, claims, check-in, financial, & management information.
• B2B business transactions – standards & protocols – integration with e-commerce platforms– ( Ariba and Commerce One etc).
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Agent services
• Software services & tools– Serials Management tools
• Think of the ‘traditional’ role of the agent as an intermediary
• Apply that thinking to the electronic field
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Agent services
• Look to agent provide support in– License negotiation– Title management – A to Z listing
• Marc record services
– Link resolver services (OpenURL)– Bundle auditing – Cancellation alerts
© EBSCO
• Group purchasing brings the opportunity for economies of scale
• Electronic delivery can mean the sharing of resources
• Tendering improves the ‘transparency’ of the process– Providing the tender is framed ‘properly!’
Consortia purchasing:the tender process
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The emergence of ‘The Big Deal’
• ‘Bundling’ by publishers locking libraries into multi-year, no cancellation agreements
• Increasing proportion of library budget ‘ring-fenced’
• Increased availability of electronic content
• ‘Off the shelf’ (one size fits all) license• Role of agent?
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• (Some) libraries resistance to renewing TBD• Fragmentation of bundles• ‘Bespoke’ (tailored) license• Role of agent?
– Detailed invoices– ILS integration & information (marc records)– Managing ‘bytes’ of information
• Cancellation clauses, title auditing
‘The Big Deal’ (phase two)
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The ‘Big Deal’ ?
• “The University of… and other research libraries are holding out, convinced that the Big Deal serves only the big publishers…” Kenneth Frazier – Director of libraries U of Wisconsin. D-Lib magazine March 2001
– http://www.dlib.org/dlib/march01/frazier/03frazier.html
• “…I was surprised to hear speaker after speaker declare that they thought that the ‘Big Deal’ was unsustainable and likely to go sooner rather than later”
• Comment on the launch of the Ingenta Institute report “The Consortium Site Licence – is it a sustainable model?” September 2002
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Who pays?
• Agent (and all intermediaries) need resources to develop and deliver service(s).
• Traditionally the agent’s income derived from a combination of publisher discount and library ‘service’ charge.
• The changes we are witnessing are forcing a revision to this traditional model.
© EBSCO
• Cost to organisation of placing an order…
• Cost to organisation of raising/paying an invoice…
• The need for profit– To ensure stability– To invest in new service developments– To deliver quality service
Who pays?
© EBSCO
Publisher discounts
• The high value title– Sub price (say) £1000– Publisher discount to agent 10%– Income for agent £100
• The low value title– Sub price (say) £50– Publisher discount to agent (unlikely!) 10%– Income to agent £5
• The importance of the ‘mix’ of titles
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• Does it cost the agent (or the library for that matter) any less to process the ‘low value’ title?
• Result is that the high value titles subsidise the low value ones (or the departments that subscribe to the high value titles subsidise the departments that subscribe to the low value titles)
Publisher discounts
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• If a library decides to place such high value subscriptions direct with the publisher, then the subsidy is removed.
• The ‘mix’ is disturbed
• The consequence (in the long term) could be higher (agent) charges for libraries for the titles that remain via an agent.
Publisher discounts
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Alternative pricing models
• The need for transparency…and to be able to determine ‘value for money’
• Cost plus models– Where the discounted price has an agreed mark-up added
• Low/no discount– Where those titles that do not generate enough revenue
for the agent are marked up to an agreed level prior to terms being applied
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In a fragmented world of change
…as the complexity of the industry grows –
- the value the agent/infomediary brings to both the publisher and
the library grows
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Agents – meeting the needs of the community
Traditional values still apply
• Financial security• Value for Money• Quality assurance• Stability• Order generation &
checking• Claim generation &
processing
• Publication information
• Invoicing flexibility• Single intermediary• Outsourcing journal
receipt (consolidation)
• Innovative technology partnership
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Agents – meeting the needs of the community
Even in the world of ‘E’
• Single access point for e-journals
• Single sign on Athens and Athens DA
• Seamless linking to full text
• Ensuring users can locate resources
• Library Branding of resources
• Integration of resources E-Journals, Databases and Library catalogues
• Licensing• Usage statistics –
Counter compliance
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Staying up to date
• Association of Subscription Agents (ASA)http://www.subscription-agents.org
• United Kingdom Serials Group (UKSG)http://www.uksg.org
• Lib-licence http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/index.shtml
• Lis e-journals
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/LIS-E-JOURNALS.html