Please make plans to attend the following session at ALA Midwinter:

What: ALCTS SS Journal Costs in Libraries Discussion Group
When: Saturday, June 21, 2003 from 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Where:  Fairmont Royal York, Alberta Rm.
Topic: The divine aftermath:  impact on the serials industry

The charge of this discussion group is to keep the issue of escalating
journal costs in the forefront of discussion; to encourage collaborative
partnerships between librarians, publishers, and subscription agents that
will foster the evolution of journal publications; and to ensure open
forums that will provide productive avenues of communication and education
within the diverse serials community to ensure equitable access to journals.

For this session, we're focusing on the divine/RoweCom collapse and its
likely future impact on the serials industry, including pricing models,
working relationships, financial health, etc.  A few panelists will
kick-off the discussion with brief thoughts about the impact on their own
segment of the industry.

Our panel of experts includes:

- Adam Chesler -  Impact on Publishers and Providers
- Julie Gammon, University of Akron -  Impact on Libraries and Small
Publishers
- Dan Tonkery, EBSCO -  Impact on Subscription Agents

Please join with the panel in assessing the impact of the divine/RoweCom
failure on your own part of the serials chain.   We look forward to a
lively discussion.

We are also looking for volunteers who would be willing to chair or
co-chair the discussion group for 2003/2004 beginning in June after the
meeting.  Please contact one of us if you're interested.  Thanks!

************************************************************
Amira Aaron, Manager for Projects and Analysis
Office for Information Systems
Harvard University Library
amira_aaron@harvard.edu

Marla Whitney Chesler, Collection Development Librarian
University Libraries
Northeastern University
mchesler@neu.edu