International Atomic Energy Agency Journal Consortia Yves Turgeon Systems Analyst, INIS

International Atomic Energy Agency 2Background INIS provides bibliographic data and the full text of non-conventional literature INIS does not provide access to the full text of commercial literature (mostly scientific journals) INIS Centres are expected to provide access to commercial literature through their own means

International Atomic Energy Agency 3 INIS Members Dilemma Users expect to view documents online, not wait for document delivery INIS can provide hyperlinks to documents, but users need a subscription to view them National Information Centres have difficulties maintaining (let alone increasing) their subscriptions

International Atomic Energy Agency 4 Current Services from the INIS Secretariat The INIS Secretariat is often asked to provide copies of articles through the IAEA Library In exceptional cases, we ask Centres to make a request through their Mission to the IAEA An extension of this service would require a change in the mandate of the Library and an increase in their budget to cover the cost Result would at best improve document delivery, not online access

International Atomic Energy Agency 5 Consortia as a Solution Consortia are groups of institutions that pool their resources to negotiate better terms with commercial publishers A number of regional or national consortia exist Many INIS Members may already belong or be able to join one The INIS Secretariat has explored the possibility of creating an INIS Consortium to negotiate online access for its Members

International Atomic Energy Agency 6 29 th ILO Meeting (Vienna 2001) Results of the discussion INIS is an ‘unusual’ consortium because of its membership A single offer may not satisfy all INIS Members because of the disparity of their needs A consortium negotiated through the INIS Secretariat would have to follow the IAEA procurement and financial rules

International Atomic Energy Agency 7 IOPP Consortium The INIS Secretariat agreed to act as facilitator, not manager of a consortium Contacted publishers to identify potential offers Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP) made an offer Package providing online access to most of their journals Special price for printed copies Special price for back issues Cost established on the basis of existing subscriptions and the country’s development status (according to the World Bank) IOPP to manage the consortium and invoice Members individually

International Atomic Energy Agency 8 IOPP Consortium (cont’d) IOPP offer distributed in March 2003 Open to all INIS Members (with a few exceptions) Deadline of 16 May Response so far disappointing Hope that more will join, otherwise it may have to be cancelled