I.R.N. Goudar*
Head, ICAST
Poornima Narayana**
Deputy Head, ICAST
National Aerospace Laboratories
Bangalore – 560 017
E-mail: *goudar@css.nal.res.in
**poornima@css.nal.res.in
E-Journal: Expectations
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Full text
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Back issues- Pre-web +
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PDF files
HTML files
Advanced search features 
References linked to full text 
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and related articles
Additional colour possible 
Expanded papers-access
to raw data
Graphics, video and
sound, if required
Comprehensive help
Alerting
Usage stats for librarians
Refereed, but quick
E-Journals: Major Players
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Primary publishers
 Aggregators
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Vendors
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Subscription agents
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Document delivery agencies
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E-print systems
E-Journal Models
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E- journal continues to coexist with its print version.
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E-journal replaces its print version.
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E-journal gets value addition, but continues to coexist
with print.
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Print version plus abridged e-version
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E-journal only.
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E-journal with a facility supply individual articles.
Delayed e-version than its print equivalent.
 E-version first and then print.
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Journals Publishing Costs: Print Version
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First copy costs more - Marginal costs for rest
 Article
processing costs very high
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Refereeing costs
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High marketing and admin costs
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Low physical distribution costs
Journals Publishing Costs: E-Version
Existing Print Costs + New costs:
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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
E-Journals Pricing
The e-journal pricing through consortia varies from publishers
to publishers and from same publishers to different library
groups depending upon number of factors and issues
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
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Pricing Models
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No Universally Acceptable E-journals
Pricing and Licensing Models
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Ongoing experimentation
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Negotiation possible
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Charge for content
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Delivery format optional
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Increasingly will be based on usage
Pricing Models in Operation
 Bundled – Free with print
AIP, APS, AMS, Elsevier, Wiley
 Print as base + surcharge on electronic
Premium payments range from10-25%
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…
Pricing Models in Operation
 Membership/Community Fee
 Sponsorship/Advertising/Govt.
 Authors funded – Page charges
 Usage based pricing
…Continued
Funding
- 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
Continue…
Customers Expectations
Readers
Authors
 Enhanced content
 Quality imprint
 critical mass
 journal brand
 multimedia, more colour,
 stamp of authority
additional data, ‘live’ math
 improved visibility
 Enhanced functionality
 Better author service
 powerful search, alerting
 responsiveness
 Seamless access
 faster publication
 ubiquitous access to past and
times
present
 web-submissions,
 Powerful links
web peer review
 abstracts to full text
…Continued
Pricing Models in Operation
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
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Subscription to core titles – Rest pay-per-view
 Slice and dice pricing
– Single article sales
– Deposit accounts
– Article bundles
– Current and archive subscriptions
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Libraries: Expectations & Experiences
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
 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 (licence, archiving)
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Experiences of Publishers
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
 Challenges traditional pricing & ‘selling’ of information
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Consortia
Consortia is a Strategic Alliance of Institutions that have
Common Interests
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 sustainable
economic models based on values.
This is where Consortia can play a major play.
Consortia Challenges
 Access
control and portals
 New price models
 Transition to e-only
 Perpetual access
 Archiving
 Tight budgets
Consortia Goals
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Increase the access base
More e-Journals
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Rational utilization of funds
A little more pays a lot
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Ensure the continuous subscription
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Qualitative resource sharing
Effective document delivery service
 Avoid
price plus models
Pay for up-front products not for R&D
…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
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Consortia Services
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Union catalogues
Books, Journals, Technical Reports and Conference Proceedings
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Shared library systems
Hardware, Software and other infrastructure
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Shared professional expertise
Develop and realize consortia goals
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Human resource development
Training staff and users
Electronic
contents licensing for providing access to
Bibliographic databases, e-Journals, Full test reports, Conference
Proceedings etc.
 Inter Library Lending and Document Delivery
….contd.
Consortia Services
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…Continued
Electronic content loading
Contents generated by members and acquired on common
server
Physical storage for archiving
Old back volumes and less used documents
 Seminar/training programmes
Professional development to serve user community
 Development of enabling technologies
IR systems, Portals and other web interfaces
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Evolve standards for techniques, hardware, software and
services
Consortia Models
Participants Oriented Models
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Geographical location linked
Ex: - Bangalore Special Libraries Group
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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
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Consortia Models
Purpose Oriented Models
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Consortia for accessing electronic journals
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Consortia for avoiding duplicate collection
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Consortia for training and library workshops
Consortia Models
Client Oriented Models
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Clients according to their age
Ex: - Children, Senior Citizen
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Clients according to their interest
Ex: - sports, game
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Clients according to their educational background
Ex: - Technical, Professional
Consortia Negotiation Objectives
Discounts for electronic journals
 Ideally, choice of electronic-only
 Added value
 Standardised licensing
 Single year agreements
 Extended electronic access
 Capped annual inflation
 Price including Back files
 Maintain existing spend level
 Limit on cancellations
 Print optional at deep discount
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Consortia Values
Libraries Vs Publishers
Libraries
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
 Increase participation of members
 No storage & documentation
problem
 Instant Access
 Quality of services
 Free flow of information
 Sharing – ideas, information
 Contribution – time, resources
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Publishers
Pricing/Education
 Usage Reporting
 Linking/Delivery
 Interface options
 Indexing/Filtering
 Gain credibility with libraries
 Increased marketing
 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
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Pricing Models
“No universally acceptable pricing models, but ongoing experimentation with
lot of scope for negotiation”
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
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Publishers Issues
Free titles on Internet
 Free access against print subscription
 All titles of a publisher for fixed fee
 Surcharge on print subscription
 Discounts for electronic journals
 Capped annual inflation
 Discounts on non-subscribed titles
 Access to subject clusters
 Protection of current revenue
 Uncertainty of new subscription
 Single point payment
 E-Only not all publishers ready
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Innovative Initiatives
 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
E-prints Archives
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Physics E-Print Archive (www.arxiv.org)
- started by Paul Ginsparg (high energy physicist) in 1991
- hosted by Los Alamos National Lab and recently moved
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to Cornell U
- supported by academic, government funding
Free at point of use, very popular
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>167,000 submissions since launch in August 1991
Subject based
A Lot More for a Little Extra
 Access
to all titles of publishers for little surcharge
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Multi year agreements with fixed annual price cap
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Users happy – Wider access
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Publishers happy – Guaranteed revenue, greater visibility
of titles
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But what about non-major publishers?
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Discount on multiple print copies
Pricing Models: Issues
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Underlying Prices should be publishers’ responsibility.
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Pricing should be market- based not formulaic.
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Senior scientists/ librarians may resistant to the transition
from print to electronic.
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Small publishers like professional societies not
enthusiastic about consortia pricing.
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Publisher – Customer disconnect
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Perception: Electronic Costs less than Print
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Reality: Electronic + Print costs more than Print
Trends in Pricing Models
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Increasing numbers offer electronic-only version
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
Strong Links make Strong Consortia
Geographical
Coverage
Funding
Mission
Strategic
Consortia
Issues
Programs
Tactical
Library
Types
Payment
Practical
Staffing
Service
Technology
Governance
Indian Consortia Initiatives
INDEST (IISc, IITs, IIMs, …..)…MHRD
 Consortia of IIMs
 CSIR Consortia
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RGUHS: HELINET
 FORSA (Forum for Resource Sharing in Astronomy and
Astrophysics)
 ICICI- Knowledge Park
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ISRO Initiative
 INFLIBNET Initiative
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Consortia Constraints Specific to Indian Libraries
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Lack of awareness about consortia benefits
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Slow acceptance of e-information by the users.
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Difficulties in changing the mind setup of librarians
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Maintenance and balancing both physical and DL
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Inadequate funds
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Single point payment
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Rigid administrative, financial and auditing rules
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Problems of defining asset against payment
Consortia Constraints Specific to Indian Libraries
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Pay-Per-View not yet acceptable
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Uncertainty about the persistence of digital resources.
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Lack of infrastructure for accessing electronic sources
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Unreliable telecom links and insufficient bandwidth
( But lot of developments in pipeline)
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Lack of appropriate bibliographic tools
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Lack of trained personnel for handling new technologies
 Absence
of strong professional association
 Big brother attitude
Difficult Issues
Pricing
Perpetual Access and Archiving
 What does customer get at end of
 develop more, workable models
contract? is there a residual
 develop models that can be
product?
understood
 Is it a useful residual?
 identify pricing incentives
 Is there any ownership of a
 subscription/site vs. transactional
physical artifact (cd, tape, etc.)?
choices
 Is backup allowed?
 Prices commensurate with value
being added?
 Who does all this and at what cost?
 shouldn’t the electronic environment What do we all really want/need
be more
here?
 affordable than print?
Strong Links Make for Strong Chains
Payment
Mission
&
Vision
Sponsor
Staffing
Funding
Consortium
Governance
Technology
Type of
Library
Geography
Services Programs