uksg 2005 all or nothing: towards an orderly retreat from big deals?
TRANSCRIPT
UKSG 2005
All or Nothing: towards an Orderly Retreat from Big Deals?
Big Deals: what are we talking about?
• Full Collection (Elsevier: Freedom Collection!)
• Subject Collections• Cross-access arrangements• E-access to Print collections• E-only access to former Print
collections
Publishers and Big Deals
• Publishers have been remarkably flexible in defining new models, to ensure that:
+ Actual spending levels are not decreasing
+ Pricecaps are above inflation• Publishers mainly are defending existing
cashflows
Seduction and Addiction 1
• Big Deals are attractive for:
+ Users: never find a closed door
+ Librarians: easy to handle and no embarassment of choices
+ Publishers: no intermediairies; guaranteed turn over; broad visibility
Seduction and Addiction 2
• Big Deals are addictive because:+ It’s what users expect from
Internetsources: always an answer, everything for free
+ Change is difficult to realise; optimal value for money; unattractiveness of alternatives from a value for money perspective
Problems
• Lack of Flexibility
• Cost Sharing and Cost Division
• Decisionmaking within Institutes & Consortia
• No Entry for countries with no substantial subscription track
The Netherlands
• Negotiations with Wiley, Springer, Elsevier
• Current Agreements: full package, pricecaps ± 5 %
• Ambitions UKB:
+ decrease increase
+ more value for money
+ more flexibility
Results 1
• Wiley and Springer: new full package deals, differnt combinations of lower pricecaps, more content, more participants
- NB 1. Not more Flexibility!!- NB 2. Discussions with Wiley about
pay per view
Results 2
• Elsevier: no lower pricecap, but more flexibility:
- pay more OR get less- Still negotiating on more
content (back files) and more participants (Polytechnics)
Other Remarks
• Libraries (and Publishers!) find it difficult to walk away from Big Deals
• As soon as publishers offer choices, consortia tend to disagree
• Consortia show little awareness of the benefits of mutual behaviour
Yet another Complication: getting your figures right
• Important but hard to Perform, because:
+ different combinations of P and E
+ effects of E-only discounts
+ effects of higher VAT
+ effects of costdivision models
• To be noticed: some publishers have different business units for P and E!!
Thank you