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Consortia Expectationsfor Licensing and Pricing

SSP Fall Educational SeminarInnovations in Pricing and Licensing

November 14, 2007

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Outline for Today

• Consortia 101

• Consortia Pricing Models and Considerations

• Consortia Licensing Expectations

• Resources

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Library consortia come in many flavors…

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Composition• Geographic area

– National (particularly international)– Statewide (public HE’s, private HE’s, public + private, multi-type)– Regional

• Affinity Groups– Research institutions– Small private liberal arts colleges– Institutions with religious affiliations (i.e. Jesuit colleges)– Independent schools– Museums

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Funding

• Central – subsidized (full/partial), government funding

• Membership fees

• Grants

• Individual institution payments

• Mixed

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Organization

• National or state government office

• Non-profit organization

• Volunteer-run

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Purpose• Buying group – secure discounts for members on

products of choice (cost savings)• Provide access to same content for all members

(equality of access)• Provide access to more content for all members

(expansion of access)• Secure access to particular kinds of content for all

members• Other services not related to purchasing

(cooperative catalogs, training, etc.)

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Services consortia may provide…

• Single point of contact for multiple sales• Opportunities for group sales presentations• Consolidation of billing and collections• Renewals• First line customer support• Gathering/updating technical data• Conduit for dissemination of information to

subscribers

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Consortia as marketing partners…

• Mentions in newsletters• Links on web sites• Materials in member mailings• Visibility at member events• Special promotions or offers• Group trials• Mail/email lists

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Some benefits of working with consortia…

• Increase reach and market penetration (especially when launching a new product)

• Access to new markets and customers• Greater dissemination of content• “Serendipity factor” for bundled content (new

readers)• Reduction in overhead/expenses (accounts payable,

accounts receivable, customer service, renewals, order entry, sales force)

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Some challenges of working with consortia…

• Must have enough content to garner consortia interest• Decision by committee• Lengthy negotiations which do not always lead to a sale• Contract negotiations may require legal expertise• Contract requirements (functionality, service guarantees)

may be beyond current capabilities• Centralized funding disbursements may not be on track

with subscription term• Centralized or subsidized funding may not be stable• Substantial risks if too much business is tied up in

consortia, and one or more unexpectedly cancel

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There are as many ways of pricing to consortia as there are flavors of consortia…

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Selected Pricing Models• Special per-user price based on total FTE• Pricing based on current print holdings “plus”• Sliding volume discounts based on number of

participants• Flat rate discounts based on services provided• Standard discount for all consortia• Customized price based on composition of

members, level of participation, other factors• Multi-year contracts

– Annual price caps– Contractual spend

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ICOLC “Preferred Pricing Practices”International Coalition of Library Consortia

Statement of Current Perspective and Preferred Practices for Selection and Purchase of Electronic Information (October, 2004)

• Electronic and paper purchasing unbundled• Allow print cancellation• Flexibility in bundled collections (ability to switch

out titles, shave off titles)• Shift from “print plus” to “electronic plus” model

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Some considerations…• What types of content/journals benefit from consortia

sales, and which may experience considerable risk? (widely held journals vs. niche titles, society journals)

• Do you have the expertise and resources in house, or easily available, for license negotiation, contract review, pricing analysis, risk analysis, and other elements essential to successful consortia sales?

• Does the pricing to consortia accurately reflect the value to the publisher of consortia sales? Does the additional business balance potential lost revenue?

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More considerations…

• Consortia sales may reduce personnel needs in customer service and fulfillment, but require new hires in sales and technical development – what, if any, are the savings?

• Consortia can ask for and expect more in terms of functionality, service, customization – who pays for this, especially if consortia prices are discounted? If all customers benefit from enhancements made to meet consortia demands, is it fair for all to absorb some of the cost?

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Licensing expectations are as varied as consortium types and pricing models…

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ICOLC “Goals for Access”

International Coalition of Library ConsortiaStatement of Current Perspective and Preferred Practices for Selection

and Purchase of Electronic Information (October, 2004)

• Facilitate information technologies• Educational “exceptions” to national copyright

laws not lost in electronic environment• Permanent access and archiving• Effective measures of use and value• “Broadest possible access”

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ICOLC Guidelines for Usage

International Coalition of Library Consortia

Revised Guidelines for Statistical Measures of Usage of Web-Based Information Resources (September, 2006)

• Reiterates endorsement of Project COUNTER• Endorses NISO’s Standardized Usage Statistics

Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI)• Endorses XML delivery of usage statistics

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Model NESLi2 LicenseNational Electronic Site Licensing Initiative (UK)Model NESLi2 License for Journals (most recent revision, May 2007)

• Compliance with COUNTER• Compliance with Open URL• Compliance with W3C standards• Compliance with Project Transfer• Support access via Athens/Shibboleth• Allow interlibrary loan• Allow authors’ deposit of material in institutional repositories• Electronic version available simultaneously with print• “Acceptable levels of service”• Cancellation/substitution options for multi-year deals• Perpetual access

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Resources• International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC)

www.library.yale.edu/consortia• Model NESLi2 Licence for Journals

www.nesli2.ac.uk/model.htm • Project COUNTER (usage statistics)

www.projectcounter.org• National Information Standards Organization (Open URL,

SUSHI)www.niso.org

• Project Transfer Code of Practicewww.projecttransfer.org

• W3C standardswww.w3.org

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Contact Information

Melanie Schaffner

Marketing and Sales Manager, Project MUSE

melanie@muse.jhu.edu

410-516-3846