Re: Investment vs. value (RE: Costs of open access publishing)

[Brian Simboli <brs4@lehigh.edu>]

In the below, liked your reference to consultation for a fee--bravo. We
librarians need to get tougher about this, esp. given the price-gouging
dimension of various commercial publishers. 

Brian Simboli
Science Librarian
Library & Technology Services
E.W. Fairchild Martindale
8A East Packer Avenue   
Bethlehem, PA 18015-3170
(610) 758-5003
E-mail: brs4@lehigh.edu


Rick Anderson wrote:

>>Established publishers tend to assume that the various elements of 
>>"value-added" that they put into their journals are all wanted, and 
>>valued, by one or both of their two markets (authors and readers).  
>>This may not be so. 

>I always chuckle, bitterly, when a sales rep tries to justify a price
>increase by telling me how much the company has invested in improvements.  
>I give the same speech every time: "You may have increased your investment
>in the product, but that doesn't mean you've increased your product's
>value.  You can tell me how much you've invested, but only your customers
>can tell you whether your product is now worth more.  If you want to
>maximize the fit between investment and value, consult with your customers
>BEFORE you spend money on 'enhancements.'"  (Then I tell them that I'm
>available to provide such consultation -- for a fee, of course.)
>
>----
>Rick Anderson
>rickand@unr.edu