Goudar & SangamDRTC I.R.N. Goudar * and S.L. Sangam** *Head, ICAST National Aerospace Laboratories Bangalore – **Chairman, Department of L & IS Karnataka University Dharwad Pricing Models for E-journals in a Consortia Environment

Goudar & SangamDRTC Challenges for LICs 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

Goudar & SangamDRTC Features of an Ideal E-Journal  Full text  Back issues- Pre-web +  PDF files  HTML files  Advanced search features  References linked to full text and related articles  Additional colour possible  Expanded papers- access to raw data  Graphics, video and sound, if required  Comprehensive help  Alerting  Usage statistics for librarians  Refereed, but quick

Goudar & SangamDRTC Expectations of Customers Readers  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 Authors  Quality imprint  journal brand  improved visibility  Better author service  responsiveness  faster publication times  web-submissions, web peer review  No Page charges

Goudar & SangamDRTC E-Journal Models  E- journal continues to coexist with its print version.  E-journal replaces its print version.  E-journal gets value addition, but continues to coexist with print.  Print version plus abridged e-version  Born digital and remains digital only.  E-journal with a facility to supply individual articles.  Delayed e-version than its print equivalent.  E-version first and then print.

Goudar & SangamDRTC E-Journals: Major Players  Primary publishers  Aggregators  Subscription agents  Document delivery agencies  E-print systems

Goudar & SangamDRTC Journals Publishing Costs: Print Version  First copy costs more - Marginal costs for rest  Article processing costs very high  Refereeing costs  High marketing and admin costs  Physical distribution costs  Commission to agents

Goudar & SangamDRTC Journals Publishing Costs: E-Version Existing Print Costs + New costs:  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

Goudar & SangamDRTC  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 Experiences/Challenges of Publishers

Goudar & SangamDRTC Consortia 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. Consortia is a Strategic Alliance of Institutions that have Common Interests. Consortia is a Strategic Alliance of Institutions that have Common Interests. This is where Consortia can play a major play.

Goudar & SangamDRTC …Continued Consortia Goals …….  Improved infrastructure  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  Increase user base

Goudar & SangamDRTC ……. Consortia Goals  Increase the access base - More e-Journals  Rational utilization of funds - A little more pays a lot  Ensure the continuous subscription  Qualitative resource sharing - Effective DDS  Avoid price + models - Pay for up-front products not for R&D

Goudar & SangamDRTC  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 Library Consortia: Expectations & Experiences Continue…

Goudar & SangamDRTC  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 …Continued Library Consortia: Expectations & Experiences

Goudar & SangamDRTC Consortia Values Libraries Vs Publishers Libraries Publishers  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  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 Continue…

Goudar & SangamDRTC Consortia Values …Continued Libraries Vs Publishers Libraries Publishers  Increase participation of members  No storage & documentation problem  Instant Access  Quality of services  Free flow of information  Sharing – ideas, information  Contribution – time, resources  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

Goudar & SangamDRTC Consortia Challenges  Access control and portals  New price models  Transition to e-only  Perpetual access  Archiving  Tight budgets

Goudar & SangamDRTC Consortia Models Participants Oriented Models  Geographical location linked Ex: - Bangalore Special Libraries Group  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

Goudar & SangamDRTC 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

Goudar & SangamDRTC Charging /Pricing  Users are almost universally divorced from the direct funders of libraries – universities, local authorities  Discontinuity – between library and publisher. Most transactions are handled by intermediaries  Generally agents take a commission from the publisher  Discount to libraries comes out of the intermediary’s commission  The price is set by the publisher - unaffected by any discount  “Charge” is defined as the way the consumer is charged

Goudar & SangamDRTC Charging Model Familiar charging models in information publishing include one- off 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

Goudar & SangamDRTC Unit-based Charges  Units can consist of content – e.g. Journal articles  Access  The number of people access  Consumption the information resources  Combination of above

Goudar & SangamDRTC Business Models The business model is really the totality of revenue streams for a product or service.  The content owner’s model annual fee, sales of journals, discounts on bulk purchases  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  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

Goudar & SangamDRTC Pricing Models: Some Facts  Varies from publishers to publishers  Varies from same publishers to different customers  Ongoing experimentation  Negotiation possible  Charge for content  Delivery format optional  Increasingly will be based on usage No universally acceptable E-journals Pricing and Licensing Models

Goudar & SangamDRTC 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 Continue…

Goudar & SangamDRTC …Continued Pricing Models in Operation  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

Goudar & SangamDRTC  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  Subscription to core titles – Rest pay-per-view  Slice and dice pricing – Single article sales – Deposit accounts – Article bundles – Current and archive subscriptions …Continued Pricing Models in Operation

Goudar & SangamDRTC A Lot More for a Little Extra  Access to all titles of publishers for little surcharge  Multi year agreements with fixed annual price cap  Users happy – Wider access  Publishers happy – Guaranteed revenue, greater visibility of titles  But what about non-major publishers?  Discount on multiple print copies

Goudar & SangamDRTC 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

Goudar & SangamDRTC E-prints Archives  Initially started as Physics E-Print Archive ( - 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…

Goudar & SangamDRTC …Continued E-prints Archives CERN Document Server (  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 (  mp_arc is an electronic archive from 1991-present  Mathematical Physics and related areas.

Goudar & SangamDRTC 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  Reality: Electronic + Print costs more than Print

Goudar & SangamDRTC Trends in Pricing Models  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

Goudar & SangamDRTC Strong Links make Strong Consortia Tactical Consortia Issues Strategic Practical Mission Funding Geographical Coverage Library Types Programs Service Technology Governance Staffing Payment

Goudar & SangamDRTC  Entering consortia requires initial investments in licenses and information and communication technology  Work procedures are still centered around the physical document  Inadequate funds  Single point payment  Rigid administrative, financial and auditing rules  Problems of defining asset against payment  Pay-Per-View not yet acceptable  Big brother attitude Pricing Constraints Specific to Indian Libraries Continue…

Goudar & SangamDRTC We need to develop:  More workable pricing models  Models that can be understood  Models affordable by libraries  Models sustainable by publishers  Identify pricing incentives To Conclude…..

Goudar & SangamDRTC