Facing the future: Round-up and overview Stephen Town Director of Information University of York

Round-up Strategic challenges and tactical responses The value proposition Working together Bargaining

Speakers points: a selection 1 Gary: vendor management David:value proposition David:fair pricing Martin:access benefits Martin:complex reality Martin:use price Martin:value for money

Speakers points: a selection 2 Martin: brand driven use Martin:open access 11:38 Tony:competitive concerns Tony:collaborative working Tony:reduced overheads Sally:no certainty Sally:content imbalance

Speakers points: a selection 3 Sally:sustainable expenditure Sally:finding failures Sally:new activities Sally:library rethink Sally:special differentiation Sally:value presentation Sally:relevant indicators

Lessons from the past? Avoid lose-lose situations Dont get caught in the middle: blame- blame Neither fight nor flight reaction Dont reward negative behaviours Failure to influence scholarly communication at any point? Giving it all away? Collecting counter-productive evidence?

Cost and Value focusing on cost without being able to demonstrate [service] value and quality … leaves the initiative to people whose chief concern is cost-control or profit: the funders and the vendors Whitehall, T (1995)

Strategy or tactics: the context Resource inflation greater than growth Service development demands Quality and expectation demands Competitive differentiation? Low staff inflation

Conclusions 1 Costs must be controlled –Individually –Institutionally –Collectively Purchase choice must shift to value –Quantitative measures insufficient –Qualitative evaluation critical to debate –Understanding of new user behaviours

Conclusions 2 Maximising return –Better awareness –Active exploitation –Intermediate guidance Minimising overheads –Licensing, compliance and bureaucracy –Active engagement with publishers at all levels –Charging back for University contributions –Managing expectations

Questions?