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Thought you might be interested in this message sent to the US listserv
Liblicense-l.
Ros
Ros Doig
Serials & Inter-lending Librarian
University of Derby
Learning Centre
Kedleston Road
Derby
DE22 1GB
Tel. +44 1332 591204
Fax. +44 1332 622773
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Recently a reader of this list posted a question regarding the reason
for
the difference in the pricing of ScienceDirect contracts. The
following
explains the variations among the ScienceDirect agreements.
There are four types of contracts available to ScienceDirect
customers.
Each varies according to the amount of content available, the types of
functionality available, and the archival rights. Each customer
decides
which contract best meets the needs of their institution taking into
consideration a number of factors and including price.
Let's take a moment and look at each of these and see what they offer.
1. ScienceDirect Web Editions. This is electronic access to any
subscribed
journals and has a backfile of twelve rolling months. It offers
browse
capability but not searching, linking and personalization. In
short,
the flexibility of choosing titles and the electronic access fees
are
included in the full price of the print holdings.
2. ScienceDirect Standard Limited Contract. This offering has more
features
than Web Editions and provides the full functionality of
ScienceDirect,
including all abstracts, full text searching, linking,
personalization,
and the ability to add Backfiles and Reference Works as well as a
Pay
Per View option. It provides four years of rolling backfile that
continues to build throughout the license. Archiving rights are
also
included. The library makes the choice on a title-by-title basis as
to
which journals it wants to receive in electronic form. This choice
can
change from year to year and is not tied to any historical print
holdings. The price is a standard rate set at 25% fee based on the
selected print subscriptions.
3. ScienceDirect Standard Complete Contract. This is the
ScienceDirect
offering most customers chose since it provides all the same
benefits
as the Standard Limited plan but includes the additional option for
enhancing access to content through Subject Collections, Consortia
Collections and the Freedom Collection. Price is based on
historical
print subscriptions as well as a commitment from the customer to
maintain their collection. Based on the customer's commitment, the
electronic fee is discounted by 50% to 12.5%. The Complete Contract
also provides archiving rights.
4. ScienceDirect Freedom Plan. In short, this plan is available to
customers who have purchased the Complete offering and it allows
them
to purchase access to all of the available ScienceDirect content to
which they do not subscribe at a very reduced rate. The consortia
and
subject collection models follow the same principle.
A comparison of the models may be viewed at:
<http://www.info.sciencedirect.com/licensing_options/index.shtml>
So why this type of pricing?
1. To provide the most access to scholarly material at traditional
levels,
namely what content institutions have determined met their needs.
Historical print subscriptions have been the basis.
2. To increase this access, where possible, with a variety of
additional
content models.
3. To add value to the content by enhancing it with full text
searching,
integrated linking throughout the content, and sophisticated
filters
(Alerts, Personal Journal lists, Saved Searches).
4. To continue investing in digitizing collections and creating
productive
features and functionality for scientists and researchers.
In sum, these models currently provide a means of acquiring access to
as
much content and as many features as possible given the limitations of
the
library's budget.
Daviess Menefee
Library Relations
Elsevier
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