UKSG 2005

All or Nothing: towards an Orderly Retreat from Big Deals?

Big Deals: what are we talking about?

• Full Collection (Elsevier: Freedom Collection!)

• Subject Collections• Cross-access arrangements• E-access to Print collections• E-only access to former Print

collections

Publishers and Big Deals

• Publishers have been remarkably flexible in defining new models, to ensure that:

+ Actual spending levels are not decreasing

+ Pricecaps are above inflation• Publishers mainly are defending existing

cashflows

Seduction and Addiction 1

• Big Deals are attractive for:

+ Users: never find a closed door

+ Librarians: easy to handle and no embarassment of choices

+ Publishers: no intermediairies; guaranteed turn over; broad visibility

Seduction and Addiction 2

• Big Deals are addictive because:+ It’s what users expect from

Internetsources: always an answer, everything for free

+ Change is difficult to realise; optimal value for money; unattractiveness of alternatives from a value for money perspective

Problems

• Lack of Flexibility

• Cost Sharing and Cost Division

• Decisionmaking within Institutes & Consortia

• No Entry for countries with no substantial subscription track

The Netherlands

• Negotiations with Wiley, Springer, Elsevier

• Current Agreements: full package, pricecaps ± 5 %

• Ambitions UKB:

+ decrease increase

+ more value for money

+ more flexibility

Results 1

• Wiley and Springer: new full package deals, differnt combinations of lower pricecaps, more content, more participants

- NB 1. Not more Flexibility!!- NB 2. Discussions with Wiley about

pay per view

Results 2

• Elsevier: no lower pricecap, but more flexibility:

- pay more OR get less- Still negotiating on more

content (back files) and more participants (Polytechnics)

Other Remarks

• Libraries (and Publishers!) find it difficult to walk away from Big Deals

• As soon as publishers offer choices, consortia tend to disagree

• Consortia show little awareness of the benefits of mutual behaviour

Yet another Complication: getting your figures right

• Important but hard to Perform, because:

+ different combinations of P and E

+ effects of E-only discounts

+ effects of higher VAT

+ effects of costdivision models

• To be noticed: some publishers have different business units for P and E!!

Thank you