Re: Price increases for 2005 (Sandy Srivastava) Sandhya D. Srivastava 17 Nov 2004 13:39 UTC
Hi Kim Just to keep the conversation going -- I have a list of 227 titles which have increased more than 10% for 2005. We are doing an analysis ourselves since our vendor cannot provide the price history until mid 2005. We are looking at each title individually and I think that it is going to be necessary for publishers to explain exactly how changing their pricing model is a true reflection of what the price should actually be. Sandy >>> kmaxwell@MIT.EDU 11/16/2004 5:08:19 PM >>> Hi Sandy, I think you need to look at the individual price increases, rather than lumping them all together. Here is some quick research on the titles you mention: Harvard Law Review For years, we've paid about $50, most recently $55 last year. Now, our cost is $200. I suspect HLR has instituted an individual vs institution subscription price recently, though I can't tell for sure from their web site; if you have access to the actual issues, compare the statement on the verso of the title page. However, the web site also says that "Nonprofit institutions may receive a discounted annual subscription for $95." My guess is that your subscription agent and my subscription agent are unaware of this special price, and should be made aware of it. See http://www.harvardlawreview.org/order.shtml#subscriptions for more details. Personnel Psychology I think this title just switched to Blackwell Publishing; they only have v.57:no.3 (2004:Sept.) up on their web site, and I seem to recall it used to be published without the benefit of a commercial publisher. We've been paying $70/year for several years now. Prices are now at http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/subs.asp?ref=0031-5826. For an institution, the cost for 2005 will be around $300, depending upon what kind of subscription you want (premium print plus online, standard print plus online, or online only). We don't subscribe to the other title you mention, so I can't comment on that one in terms of our own price history. Based on these two examples, I think you need to look at changes in publisher and changes in subscription models. That should give you a clearer picture of why certain titles are increasing more than you might expect. Kim _______________________________________ Kim Maxwell Serials Acquisitions Librarian Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT Libraries, Room 14E-210 77 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 phone: 1-617-253-7028 fax: 1-617-253-2464 email: kmaxwell@mit.edu At 04:39 PM 11/16/2004 -0500, you wrote: >Hi Serialsters: > >I just need to ask -- has anybody else noticed that some subscription >prices have skyrocketed to over 100% or higher on their invoices? I >just wanted to confirm that everyone else has seen these as well i.e. >Harvard Law Review, Marriage and Family Review, Personnel Psychology and >I have a growing list I could put up here. > >I am used to price increases of 7-10 % but this is just crazy --? Is >anybody else experiencing higher than usual increases on subscriptions? >Are the publishers having a free for all now? > >Sandy Srivastava > >Sandhya D. Srivastava >Assistant Professor >Serials Librarian >Hofstra University >Axinn Library >123 Hofstra University >Hempstead, New York 11550 >Telephone: (516) 463 - 5959 >Fax: (516) 463 - 6438 >Email: librsds@hofstra.edu <mailto:librsds@hofstra.edu>