PW: Academic Librarians Warn Publishers on Journal Prices

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Academic Librarians Warn Publishers on Journal Prices
Jim Lichtenberg -- 7/20/98
Many academic librarians are concerned that the current system of academic publishing is in crisis and warn that their own lack of institutional funding, along with skyrocketing journal subscription rates and publisher restrictions on electronic dissemination, are straining the library system to the point of possible collapse.
In fact, this past April the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC), a group of 42 libraries, fired a shot across the bow of journal publishers and the academic publishing system in general, challenging publishers' pricing structure and calling for universities to launch their own nonprofit publishing ventures. (The full text of the group's statement is available on the Internet).

While not new (see, for example, "UPs Wonder: Will 'Publish or Perish' Perish," Oct. 13, 1997), these claims are being taken seriously by the publishing community. John Tagler, a spokesman for Reed Elsevier, noted that his company is "trying to expand the options on pricing models." A spokesperson for John Wiley &Sons, which began offering electronic versions of some of its scientific journals, recently noted that the company "fully understands and appreciates, the concerns expressed in the statement."

In the intervening two months, PW spoke with three leading librarians about the current state of journals publishing.

Sidney Verba, Harvard University's Carl H. Pforzheimer University professor who directs the university's nearly 100 different libraries and who is also chairman of the board of the Harvard University Press, told PW: "I think librarians have been somewhat defensive and have not been willing to walk a mile with the publishers."

Across the country, Michael A. Keller, the Ida M. Green University librarian and director of academic resources at the Stanford University libraries, agreed the current system is flawed: "I think we'll see a major correction over the next five years in the direction of not-for-profit publishing. For-profit publishers take value from the university and sell it back. The faculty is getting smart and probably this system will not remain in place as it is."

Although skeptical that the library system might collapse, Sharon Hogan, university librarian at the University of Illinois at Chicago, told PW that "people have been predicting a cataclysm since 1983, but it hasn't happened yet. However, libraries are buying a smaller percentage of the publishers' output." And although she noted that points made in the Library Consortia's statement were sound, the strident "attitude" of the statement made it hard for her library association to support it.

Hogan also noted publishers' concern over copyright, often placing prohibitive restrictions on a work's dissemination. Her library, she noted, is part of a public institution and has a responsibility to provide access to the general public, yet the restrictions imposed by publishers on distribution of electronic material can prevent her from fulfilling that mission.

Asked to provide advice to publishers, Keller told PW, "For-profit publishers should diminish their role." He noted that the technology is just too powerful to maintain the status quo. Verba suggested that publishers consider lowering prices and cease selling journal subscriptions in "bundles," a practice that creates problems for smaller institutions.

Taking a more conciliatory view, Hogan noted that she is pleased by "creative approaches" from a number of the large publishers and academic associations. However, she pointed to "certain triggers" that could push the library system to the brink. Among them: dramatic changes in copyright law, or that groups of universities may decide that they own faculty work and elect to "take over the market," that is, to publish the material themselves. Verba's conclusion: "There is no single player or process that will bring about a quick or easy resolution."
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