RE: Question for some librarians......

["Bolton, Karen S." <bolton@msoe.edu>]

Hello, We are subscribers to Science News, and this is a popular 
publication for our faculty, I think because of the short format.

We always closely scrutinize large percentage increases in price 
for publications--or databases or any other acquisitions--before 
renewal. That said, well-used publications tend not to be 
cancelled unless there is some other problem with them.

As far as online access, this title is available online now 
through 9 of our aggregated databases, some back to 1975.  We 
like having this access, and this is easier for us than site 
licensing an individual title. Of course, if we have to pay more, 
we would expect to have free online with our increased price, at 
least for a year or two. I am sure our students and faculty would 
miss this publication.

Just my two cents.

Karen Bolton
Serials Librarian
bolton@msoe.edu
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Walter Schroeder Library

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
[mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Harry Rothmann
Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 12:09 AM
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Subject: Question for some librarians......

As a publisher, I'm writing to get some feedback from some 
librarians out there that may be able to help me get a feel for 
how our current subscribers would react to a new pricing model.

Our magazine, Science News, currently has a significant number of 
Institutional subscribers (mostly high schools, and public 
libraries, mixed in with some universities and corporations) that 
have been paying the same rate as individual subscribers ever 
since our magazine has been in business, since 1921 to be exact. 
In addition to that our individual subscription price hasn't gone 
up since 2001.  We are leaning towards introducing increased 
rates for institutions and offer a site license to our online 
content and archives.  We intend to keep our pricing competitive 
and much cheaper than most journals but even so, our rates for 
our institutional subscribers would be increasing quite 
significantly.

As a librarian, or any other type of institution, that is paying 
hundreds of dollars for other journals, would it be difficult to 
accept this significant change?  Or would most librarians 
understand such a change in direction?  Any other concerns or 
feedback would be much appreciated.

A little more about our magazine: Science News is an 
award-winning weekly newsmagazine covering the most important 
research in all fields of science. Its 16 pages each week are 
packed with short, accurate articles that appeal to both general 
readers and scientists.  There are 51 issues printed per year. We 
are a non-profit organization.

Thank you.

Best Regards,
Harry Rothmann
Science Service