-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Individual vs. institutional subscriptions -- Ellen Simmons
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001 15:20:43 -0600
From: "MD_Buddy (Buddy Pennington)" <MD_Buddy@kclibrary.org>

I don't know the legality here, but it seems to me that the publisher
may
have a problem with a library, which is an institution, claiming it is
an
individual when it subscribes to a journal.  Even if you say you are
ordering a journal on a faculty member's behalf, if the library is
paying
for it and it is being housed in the library for general use, that falls
under the instutional rate not the individual rate.

The only real power libraries have here is to call up the publisher and
complain about the price discrepancies and/or let them know that is why
you
are not subscribing to that title.  It may not make much difference, but
I
do not think unethical practices by libraries is the way to combat these
practices by the publishers.

It is the market economy at work.  A producer puts a price on it and you
either buy it or you don't (or you haggle over the price).  To me, what
you
are suggesting is similar to getting a database and misrepresenting the
number of students you have to get a cheaper price on it.

Buddy Pennington
Document Delivery Librarian
Kansas City Public Library
md_buddy@kclibrary.org
816-701-3552

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Individual vs. institutional subscriptions
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001 14:11:24 -0600
From: Ellen Simmons <esimmons@acad.udallas.edu>

Susan Shelly wrote:

>>>The faculty members are willing to pass their issues
along to the library.  The library would pay for the individual
subscription.
>>>

Yes, you are right that such an arrangement would save the library
thousands
of dollars, but you are probably also right that many libraries and
librarians (not to mention publishers) would consider this a
questionable
ethical practice.

>>From what I understand, the institutional rate is higher (tremendously
higher it seems) because the journal will be made available to a higher
number of users - an unlimited number of users, if you will, where an
individual subscription is confined (theoretically) to one user, or at
least
a small base of users (a family or household).  True, every library
receives
donated items.  However, if your library pays for the subscription that
goes
to a faculty member, how is that considered a donation?  This seems
ethically hazy since the library is paying for one use and offering
unlimited use.

We receive donated _issues_ of a journal, which often will include every
issue in a given volume/year, and then we count ourselves lucky.  If an
issue is missing, we're stuck.  Depending on donated issues as a
substitute
for a subscription is not reliable, of course, so we do not represent
these
journal titles as being active or anything that we can count on, and we
pay
no part of their cost.  We checked with our University lawyers before
making
the decision to add these donated issues to our collection.  There is an
old
saying, "you can justify anything," so some may see this practice in
shades
of ethical gray, as well.

Ellen Simmons
Periodicals Librarian
University of Dallas Library
1845 E. Northgate Drive
Irving, Texas 75062
Phone: 972 721-4130
Fax: 972 721-4010
email: esimmons@acad.udallas.edu