Making the Switch from Print to Online. When, Why and How? A Publisher’s Perspective.

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Making the Switch from Print to Online. When, Why
and How?A Publishers Perspective.
Noella D. Owen Academic Licensing
Manager noella.owen_at_springer.com 212-620-8088
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When?

• 1994
• Beginning of the World Wide Web
• Changes in the way we search for information.
• Overall , electronic journal subscriptions are on
  the rise
• 5 electronic subscriptions in 1995
• 37 electronic subscriptions in 2006
• Significant shift in 2008.

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Format Migration in Journals Large Consortium
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Why Not?

• Financial
• Shipping and handling costs are 5 to 8 per
  title
• Binding Costs
• Storage Space
• Accessibility - Discoverability
• Print journals have lower use
• No concurrent usage with print journals or books
• End user is limited to being physically in the
  library to access journals
• Online access may present opportunities to obtain
  content that end user did not know was available.
• Threat of theft of damage
• Floods, fires and sticky fingers

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Why bother???

• Aversion to converting to electronic only due to
  archive policies.
• Resistance from faculty and staff to eliminate
  print subscriptions.
• Usage behavior of certain types of researchers.
• Finding content via OPAC and searching databases
  is not always intuitive to end user community.
• The perception that having a tangible copy is
  easier for an end user to browse.
• Some say its difficult to allocate costs for
  electronic journals.

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Why the push for electronic only?

• Types of subscriptions
• Print only
• Print plus free electronic
• Print plus enhanced access
• Electronic only
• Managing the types of subscriptions requires a
  lot of staff hours.
• Managing subscriptions take a lot of coordination
  between library, publisher and agent.
• Lots of coordination may result in lots of
  delays.
• Negotiating with consortia one point person
  over fifty.

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Benefits of Electronic Subscriptions

• One time savings in migrating from print to
  electronic journals.
• Automatic contemporary journal archive with
  access back to 1997
• In many cases, access to more content than to
  what your library currently subscribes.
• In many cases, consortium members pay
  considerably less than list price for their
  subscriptions.
• Greater access for end users.
• No limits on concurrent users.
• Use in course packs, eReserves and ILL.
• Package prices are more cost effective than a la
  carte purchases.
• No DRM.

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eJournals Usage 2006-2008
Statistics
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9.2
9.3
9
8
7
2006
5.8
5.3
6
2007
5
2008
Fulltext downloads in millions
4
3
2
1
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Usage accelerates in 2007 75 million downloads
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eBooks Usage 2007-2008
Statistics
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4.2
3.7
4
3.6
2007
3
2008
2.4
Fulltext downloads in millions
2
1
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Usage total in 2007 25.2 mio downloads Q1 08
10 Mio Already 50 of Journal usage
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Some Challenges with Electronic Subscriptions

• Licensing
• Aversion to multi-year arrangements
• Aversion to Big Deals
• Allocating costs of journals.
• Fear of future budges and sustainability of big
  deal packages.
• Packages prefer a la carte purchases.
  Especially for eBooks
• Staffing issues more costly for electronic
  subscriptions.

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The Future of Print

• Print is not going to go away. Completely.
• Springer has no intention of eliminating print in
  the near future.
• The world is going green. This may impact the
  way print is produced. Smaller print runs.
• Springer is exploring print on demand options.

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• Thank you for your time!
• Questions or Comments? Contact me
• (noella.owen_at_springer.com)

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Useful Websites.

• Montgomery, Carol Hansen, and Donald W. King.
  Comparing Library and User Related Costs of
  Print and Electronic Journal Subscriptions. A
  First Step Towards a Comprehensive Analysis. D
  Lib Magazine. October, 2002. Volume 8 Number 10.
  http//www.dlib.org/dlib/october02/montgomery/10mo
  ntgomery.html
• Case, Mary M. A Snapshot in Time. ARL Libraries
  and Electronic Journal Resources.http//www.arl.o
  rg/resources/pubs/br/asit.shtml