THE OPINIONS, RANTINGS AND RAVINGS HERE, are strictly those of the writer and not of the institution or anyone else. That said: Hello Sharon, ALL of what Allison mentioned is right there. I would like to add or emphasize my $ .02 into this. Are you with a new publisher starting new titles or an established with established titles? 1. (PRICING) Whatever structure you can think up, some publisher is already using. When you look at the larger publishers, many now offer a slight discount for e-only over print. I think there is a society where print is $ A, Online is $ B and both is $ A + B. ( No savings) 2 (USER/PASSWORD OR IP RANGES) IP Range(S) are the way to go. I stress plural in that larger institutions have multiple ranges and are behind firewalls. (not that I know much about that) 3 (ACCESS AFTER SUBSCRIPTION EXPIRES) Any variation you can think of, some publisher is using it. With some, you have e-access after you are forced to cancel your subscription because of funds. Others allow it IF you pay a 'nomimal' yearly access fee (What is nominal??) Still with others, you are NOT buying the publication but BUYING ACCESS ONLY, so with these titles, we definitely want an archive which means print. Libraries, particularly state supported ones, feel they need to have something to show for the tax dollars spent, not for an access that ceased years before because it had to be cancelled) Please investigate the possibility of the publisher having its titles be part of an electronic archive service orginization such as LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, JSTOR, Portico, PubMed Central, OCLC ECO and others, which offer various methods and criteria for archiving your electronic journals. With LOCKSS, the publisher allows an electronic copy to be 'stored' on the Library's (institutions) file server to be used in case of catastrophy or for inhouse use should the institution eventually have to cancel their subscription, they still maintain access to the content purchased. Think of it as an electronic copy of the print copy that the library purchased. (sorry about the ranting) 4. (NUMBER OF USERS) For some important titles, site licenses with unlimited number of concurrent users is really needed, (NEJM, BMJ, JAMA, etc) However, for most medical titles, 1 or 2 concurrent users is sufficient. 5. (USAGE STATISTICS) A very much would like to have. (If 'Counter' compliant, even better) Statistics are better if you do not have to go to every title / publisher to gather statistics, usually monthly. 6. (SINGLE SITE vs MULTISITE) It seems each publisher has their own definition of Multisite. We are a medical school / associated hospital complex which has a number of clinics etc at a converted shopping mall a mile or so away, runs and supports a couple of hopsitals in other parts of the state and has programs to provid opportunities for our interns and residents in that are not set in large, civilian hospitals. For certain titles, all of our authorized users need access. Some licenses prohibit anything but a single site. I saw recently, a title which uses TIER Pricing based on some Higher Education Directory. (cannot think of the name) where if the outlying places were listed separately, then it is a separate license. A few publishers have (had) a 'Click Through' online site license. Libraries, make every reasonable effort to maintain a secure site and prevent unathorized users from access, & etc. The publisher makes every reasonable effort to maintain an accessible archive and ensure accuracy & etc. (A "gentleman's" agreement that had been in place through print, Interlibrary Loan, Copyright, Faxing and all of the issues that have affected Libraries) That is about it. Have a great rest of your life, (why limit yourself to a day) John Lucas Serials Librarian University of Mississippi Medical Center 2500 North State St Jackson, MS 39216-4505 (PH) (601) 984-1277 (FAX) ( 601) 984-1262 JLUCAS@ROWLAND.UMSMED.EDU >>> firemom82@AOL.COM 9/29/2006 9:24 AM >>> Hello. I'm with a publisher of various scientific/medical materials and was hoping that some of you would be willing to share information to assist us with structuring our online pricing. We would like to start offering online only subscriptions to institutions, but are at a loss as to how to price these subscriptions. If any of you would be willing to share general information and actual prices that you've been quoted from other publishers, I would greatly appreciate it. Here's what we're looking for: -general information -pricing information and what all that price includes -access information (do you access by username/password or by IP address?) -Do you have access to current or past content after your subscription expires? -Is there a limit to how many users may log on at any given time? -Is there a limit to how many IP addresses may be included? -Are you able to access through a proxy server? -Are you provided usage statistics? If so, in what form? -If you have more than one location (such as different campuses), are you required to purchase multiple subscriptions? Thanks in advance for any responses. It will be a big help to us. We want to create a system that will be the most beneficial to subscribers such as libraries, and while staying competitive, we still want to set this up within an average library's budgeting situation. I appreciate your attention and any information you are willing to provide. Regards, Sharon Landers
