Date: Thu, 02 Feb 1995 10:19:15 +0000
From: GEDYE Richard <GEDYER@OUP.CO.UK>
Subject: RFI:Learned Journals - Market Trends

Please reply to Richard Gedye, not to SERIALST. Thanks --ed.
___________

I wonder if anyone can help guide me in the direction of a useful
information source.

I'm leading the Journals Marketing session at an Introduction to
Journals Publishing course at Book House Training Center in
London, and I'd like to kick off with some basic information
about the current state of the market and the trends over the
past 5-10 years.

What I'm looking for is some statistical information relating to
learned peer-reviewed journals (i.e. not all of Ulrich's) which
would show, from up to ten years ago to as recently as possible,
some or all of the following:-

a) Number of journals published worldwide by broad subject
area/by region or country

b) Breakdown as above but by total subscription costs (i.e. how
much it would cost a library if they subscribed to every journal)

c) Breakdown as above but by total revenue to the publishers (I
suspect this information does not exist in any collated form....)

Is anyone aware of any original sources, or alternatively of any
published articles which have collated any or all of this
information?

Basically, I'm after anything that would show how the cost of
subscribing to serials is outstripping the budgets allocated to
purchase them, so any other statistics relating to library
expenditure over the last 5-10 years (international, national, or
even local ones for your own institution - an example can
sometimes be as good as a general overview) would be very
welcome.

All information gratefully received - however small!

Richard Gedye
Oxford University Press
Walton Street
Oxford
OX2 6DP

Tel:    +44 1865 267785 (direct)
Fax:    +44 1865 267782
E-mail: gedyer@oup.co.uk