OF MAKING MANY BOOKS THERE IS NO END

Report on Serial Prices

for the

ASSOCIATION OF RESEARCH LIBRARIES

This is a contractor report prepared for the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The views expressed in this report are those of the contractor and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the ARL Board or those of the ARL Membership.

Ann Okerson
Eastchester, New York
April 1989

NOTE ON HTML EDITION (2001): This study was controversial in its time and is now a piece of history. To make it available for discussion, I have placed it in HTML form with no editing or updating. Tables and figures are linked as images rather than text. Some corrections still need to be made: I would welcome notes about errors that I have missed. --Ann Okerson (ann.okerson@yale.edu)

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary

Chapter 1     Introduction & Background

        History of Serial Prices
        Current Activities
        ARL Interest in Serial Prices
        ARL Contributions to Serial Prices

Chapter 2     Description of the Problem for ARL Libraries

        Overall Impact on ARL Libraries
        Institutional Impact
        Effects of Serial Prices

Chapter 3     Causes of the Serials Crisis

        Part 1- The Consumer Problem

Dual Pricing
Foreign Exchange
Privatization
Concentration of Serial Publishers
Increases in Excess of CPI Production Costs
Growth in Journal Size
Specialization of Journals
Photocopying & Resource Sharing
Page Charges
Society vs. Commercial Publishers         Part 2 - The Systemic Problem Size
Competitiveness
Academic Tenure System
Academic Grant System
Open-Endedness of the System
Historic Expectations of Libraries
Historic Expectations of Faculty
Uninformed Librarians
Role of Serials Publishers         Part 3 - The Economists' View of the Problem

Chapter 4     Summary & Recommendations

        1. Immediate
        2. Role of Publishers
        3. Publication Quantity
 

Appendices
 
        1-Data from ARL annual statistics
        2-Data from Library Materials Price Index Committee
        3-RTSD Resolution on Differential Pricing
        4-RTSD Resolution on foreign exchange
        5-Wayne State University Press Release

Acknowledgements

Thanks and appreciation to the following for their assistance with the ARL Serials Project:

Data Gathering for ECS Study

Rosemary Panas, Library School Student at the University of Maryland, for many hours devoted to the project. Also: Julia Blixrud, NSDP Project, Library of Congress; Lois Ann Coliani, National Library of Medicine; Mary Fugle, formerly of Springer Verlag, New York; Nancy Heredia, New York Public Library, Anne Pascarelli, New York Academy of Medicine; Natalie Seweryn, New York Public Library, John Tagler, Elsevier Scientific.

Time and Expert Advice for Serials Report

ARL staff in Washington, D.C.

Bill Browning, Crystal Kleitz, and Bruce Malashevich at ECS.

For technical assistance: Jerry Alper and David Okerson.

Also, Judy Holoviak, American Geophysical Union; Alfred B. Willcox, Mathematical Association of America; Edwin Shelock, Royal Society of Chemistry; Kendon Stubbs, University of Virginia; Ken Marks, Utah State University. Dozens of librarians, both in ARL libraries and other organizations, for studies, draft comments, telephone conversations, clippings, and ideas. Also to staff at NIH, NSF, CRS, ISI, Bowker/Ulrich's, and Computer Horizons; to faculty and scientists in many organizations for insights and assistance.

For launching the new 1980s wave of serials consumer awareness: Chuck Hamaker, Louisiana State University, and Deana Astle, Clemson University; who pioneered detailed studies of serials prices; and to Richard Dougherty, University of Michigan, a strong advocate for alternatives to the present journal publishing system.

Funding

ARL member libraries, Council on Library Resources, and the support of ARL and OMS offices.