Forwarded with permission of Lorraine.  Apologies to those 
who have already seen this message (originally sent to 
lis-nesli-reps).

--- Begin Forwarded Message ---
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 17:00:51 -0000
From: Lorraine Estelle <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Update on the JISC Journal Negotiations for 2003


JISC Journals negotiations, 2003

Please see below for a report on the status of journal offers for 2003

**A message from the chairman of the JISC Journals Working Group**

There have been many queries and comments about the time taken to make
offers to JISC from publishers for electronic journals for the
subscription year 2003 available to the community. I thought it would
be helpful to report on this work, so that institutions were aware of
the current situation. This introduction is accompanied by a note of
the present state of play with all the publishers with which the JISC
has been negotiating.

The decision to move away from the use of a Managing Agent for journals
management (and in particular negotiation) was taken in 2001, but the
detailed implementation of this decision was delayed because it
coincided with a major restructuring of the JISC which is now
completed. In line with the concern expressed in the community about
the time taken to make offers available, work began in early summer on
2003 negotiations. At that stage, however, several publishers were
simply not ready to make offers available for consideration. It is also
clear that the change of management arrangements has "thrown"
publishers in three ways: -

- They have been used to working with a single agent who brought
together a number of functions, and did not find it easy to move to a
situation where libraries could choose an agent. Several wished to
maintain the situation of a single licence handled through the single
agent, because of the efficiencies: the previous system had a simpler
chain of agreements and a single payment to publishers.

- The change has made some publishers rethink their approach to the
consortium. Some have felt that the national agreements should have
generated additional business. Others have taken the view that they
wish the consortium to be "real". i.e. to be able to deliver all the
institutions for any deal, a la Ohiolink. This is becoming a
significant issue. Negotiations, even with publishers who have been
NESLI partners for some time, have been lengthier as a result.

- The need to modify the NESLI/JISC licence has also, surprisingly,
meant that aspects of the JISC licence, previously accepted readily,
have now been questioned. Given the recognised value of the licence,
this has been particularly frustrating.

These, and other issues, have made the negotiations significantly more
protracted than in the past, at precisely the time when the JISC was
seeking to improve "turn-round" times. In addition, once agreement has
been reached, there have been serious delays in getting final
signatures on contracts with publishers. In the past few weeks,
however, the situation has improved greatly through the efforts of JISC
staff. The notes below summarise offers which have been finalised and
provides an update on the progress of other offers.

The Journals Working Group will be reviewing the effectiveness of the
2003 negotiation round, in terms both of its progress and operation on
the one hand, and of the changes in the nature of offers made by
publishers at its next meeting. We shall also have to take on board any
recommendations from the RSLG once these are known. We are seeking to
build on the practical experience of the NESLI operation, developing
knowledge of journal business models, and experience of more recent
national initiatives throughout the world.

Representatives are invited to send comments on this year's experience
to Lorraine Estelle <[log in to unmask]>, the JISC Collections
Team Manager so that these can be reported to the Working Group as it
takes this work forward for the JISC.

Tom Graham, Chairman, JISC Journals Working Group. 18 November 2002


**Update on the JISC Journal Negotiations for 2003**

Please note that the following web page will be updated to reflect any
changes in status:
http://www.nesli.ac.uk/negotiations_update_2003.html

Publishers' offers accepted and issued:
·     BioOne
·     Elsevier ScienceDirect Backfiles
·     Internet Archaeology

Publishers' offers accepted and at contract stage:
·     Association for Computing Machinery
·     Blackwell Publishing
·     Charleston Advisor
·     CRC Press
·     Kluwer
·     Lawrence Erlbaum
·     Lippincot, Williams & Wilkins
·     Mary Ann Liebert
·     Oxford University Press
·     Springer Verlag

Offers still under discussion with the publishers:
·     American Chemical Society
·     Economist.com
·     Nature
·     Project Muse / Johns Hopkins

Publishers' offers rejected:
·     American Physical Society Journal
·     Emerald (MCB Press)

Lorraine Estelle
JISC Collections Team Manager
Tel: 020 7848 2563
Email: [log in to unmask]
--- End Forwarded Message ---

Linda
JIBS User Group secretary

----------------------
Linda Humphreys
Science Faculty Librarian
University of Bath
Claverton Down
Bath BA2 7AY
[log in to unmask]
01225 385248