My administration recently agreed to increase my serials budget to
accommodate the 14.5% estimated price increases in 1996 subscriptions.
However, they made it clear they expect to see librarians, and especially
me, doing something to lower the prices of journals.  They feel that
group purchases of specific titles, boycotts, or other organized approaches
by librarians and their organizations would encourage publishers to
lower prices.  My question is:

      Do any of you know of library organizations or groups of libraries
      that have organized in any way to either obtain discounts or to pressure
      publishers into lowering prices?

I have already approached our local consortium, and they did consult with
serials vendors in the past about group discounts. The vendors, however,
indicated that the discounts would be minimal, since their profit margins
are so low (5-6%).  I'm not sure how boycotts would work, since the massive
cancellations of the recent past only seem to drive prices upward.  Also,
I couldn't boycott needed titles without enraging scientists here who
depend on these journals for their research. Any suggestions about how
to address my administration's request for action would be much appreciated.

Karen Albert
Director of Library Services
Talbot Research Library
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Phila., PA 19111
email:  albert@hslc.org     phone: 215-728-2711      fax: 215-728-3655