Michele Crump wrote:
> The ACRL JOURNAL COSTS IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES DISCUSSION GROUP
> will meet in New York at the ALA Annual Conference on Saturday,
> July 6, 1996, 2:00-4:00.  I invite librarians, subscription agents,
> and publishers to attend and join in candid discussions on issues
> concerning journal pricing.  I've listed a few areas of concern
> below, but welcome other topics of interest that serials librarians,
> vendors, and publishers will want to consider in an open forum.  I
> also would like volunteers to lead the conversations and encourage
> all attendees participation.  Please send ideas and comments to this
> email address:  MCRUMP@NERVM.NERDC.UFL.EDU

> Also at this meeting, we will discuss the future of this group and
> investigate the possibility of broadening its scope to appeal to all
> types of libraries.

I would add to the list of interesting (but worn-out) topics the following
questions:

How has the gap between budgets and prices has affected students, researchers,
and faculty?

=> Has the decimation of browsable collections affected the quality of research
and the effectiveness of eduction? ... have U.S. researchers lost out on some
Nobel Prizes, such as the 1989 prize in physics which was rooted in an article
published in Revue de chemie minerale?

=> Has the reduction in purchase of monographs forced an increase in publishing
subsidized by the author?  ... an increase in the number of  presses subsidized
by their universities?

=> Has the cancellation of subscriptions capped the coverage of indexes (see
Scientific American, August, 1995)? ... discouraged  the publication of many
reviews, bibliographies, and other formats that link the researcher with the
primary literature?

=> Isn't there something wrong at the policy level when billions of dollars
investment in research is, for most purposes, abandoned  (see White Papers
in LJ 15 Nov 1990)?

I'm not sure I'll be available for your July meeting, but I would certainly be
more interested if it took a new approach. Best wishes,

Albert Henderson, Editor, Publishing Research Quarterly.
70244.1532@compuserve.com