---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 09:21:13 -0400
From: Aurora Ioanid <aioanid@MONMOUTH.EDU>
Subject: EBSCO statement

Hi all,
For who's interested, here's the EBSCO statement one more time. I
apologize for any duplication, but we've had problems with the e-mail, I
got dropped off the Serialst, and I have not seen any responses or the
original Ebso statement on the Serialst.
Thanks
Aurora Ioanid

>>From owner-ebsco_web@epnet.com Mon Mar 19 09:49:31 2001
From: owner-ebsco_web@epnet.com
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 09:34:35 -0500 (EST)
Message-Id: <200103191434.JAA13292@eastwood.epnet.com>
To: ebsco_web@epnet.com
Subject: Message from EBSCO - Attn: Academic Librarians
Sender: owner-ebsco_web@epnet.com
Precedence: bulk

Full Text Databases, Print Journals, and Electronic Journals -
Distinctly
Different Products

EBSCO's leading online full text databases offer access to full text
articles from peer reviewed journals published by many of the world's most
prestigious academic publishers.  EBSCO's full text databases offer
tremendous value to an academic library by expanding access to the content
of important publications already in the library's print or e-journal
collection while, at the same time, providing new access to a great number
of highly valuable full text resources previously unavailable to the
library's users.  In addition, EBSCO's databases offer a convenient way
for users to search the full text articles from a large collection of
publications in one easy process.  And now, with the advent of EBSCO
SmartLinks(TM), users can access the full text of articles after searching
popular abstract/index databases such as PsycINFO and Sociological
Abstracts.  Users can link to full text articles in EBSCO's aggregated
full text databases as well as to online journals from citations in
leading secondary databases available via EBSCOhost.

Online journals (also known as e-journals) provide users with online
access to articles from current issues of the journal.  Online journals
generally contain the same current articles that are included in current
issues of the printed journal.

Many full text journals in aggregated databases have embargo periods
(delay of availability of full text articles imposed by publisher), and
some journals that don't now have embargoes may have embargoes in the
future.  In addition, as the publishers own the content and control the
availability of the full text through databases, there is no guarantee
that a full text journal currently available via a database will continue
to be available in future years.  These are important distinctions between
aggregated databases and online journals.  For these reasons, full text
databases are not a practical, long-term substitute for print or e-journal
subscriptions purchased or licensed directly from the publisher.

Over the past several years, libraries have realized tremendous benefits
from the use of full text databases.  Costs for print subscriptions have
increased an average of 8.3% each of the last two years.  This is greater
than the average price increase for full text databases, despite the fact
that the amount of content available in these databases has increased
dramatically over that same period.  However, if these databases are
exploited, the benefits now experienced by libraries and their users could
erode.  Full text databases are here to stay, but the favorable ratio of
content and access to cost may not be.  Naturally, modest price increases
will take place as publisher royalties increase and delivery methods are
improved, but dramatic cost increases may be avoidable.

Databases should be viewed as a complement (not a replacement) to the core
print and electronic journal collections.  If publishers experience
cancellations of current (print or online) journal subscriptions due to
the inclusion of their content in aggregated databases, they are likely to
remove their content from these databases or increase their royalty
requirements.  Were this to happen, library users could be forced to deal
with incomplete library collections as publishers remove content from
aggregated databases, and the price of databases could increase
significantly.  However, this potential turmoil can likely be avoided if
librarians make print and e-journal purchasing decisions independent of
whether the full text of a journal is available in an aggregated full text
database.  Proceeding in this way should result in price and content
stability within aggregated databases, ensuring that end users continue to
enjoy the benefits of access to these large collections of valuable data.

Sincerely,

Sam Brooks
Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing
EBSCO Information Services

----- End of forwarded message from owner-ebsco_web@epnet.com -----

  Aurora Ioanid
    <aioanid@monmouth.edu>
    Work: Monmouth University, Guggenheim Library, Bibliographic Control
Dept.,
    (732)263-5364

  Additional Information:
  Last Name
            Ioanid
  First Name
            Aurora
  Version
            2.1