A few weeks ago I posted a letter on LIS-PUB-LIBS about access by SMEs to
research journals asking for information. I only received a few replies but I
have now had a letter on the same topic published in Library & Information
Update.
I have summarise the information gathered from the replies and other research
and would like to ask for more feedback on this issue.
Public libraries can obtain articles for SMEs through the British Library
Document Delivery service. Prices range from £8.10 (standard delivery -
electronic) to £25 (2hour delivery - electronic). In addition a copyright fee
must be paid. This varies but is typically c£20. In the "Fines and Charges"
survey under the heading British Library Reservation charge, reported charges
vary from free to £10. However there is insufficient information to know if the
provision of articles, especially fast-track and electronic delivery, is included in
this pricing. Copyright fees should be charged in addition.
When I asked for information through the JISC LIS-PUB-LIBS list I received the
following two replies:
X currently charges £3 for journal requests obtained via BL. This is the general
price for any customer and since we don't ask for any reasoning/justification
we wouldn't know if the customer was from a SME, a student or anything else.
Having said that, we have just (this week) suffered a severe budget cut and
BL requests are likely to be suspended, and the charge probably increased
from April, to reflect the actual cost to us. Analysis of the stats shows the
majority of requests are placed by a tiny minority of customers.
Our current pricing in X is £3 for a inter library loan - this includes journal
requests. We may also be able to source information via our subscription to
Business Insight. We currently provide very limited access to journals, and
have no online subscriptions to journal modules.
This suggests that some library authorities do provide a service considerably
below cost but I suspect with the following restrictions
• The service is not marketed to local SMEs
• Fast-track and electronic deliver are either not offered or are
charged at full cost
• Copyright fees are charged in addition or it is a grey area run on
a "don't ask, don't tell" basis
I would like further feedback on these points. Does your library offer and
promote the full range of document delivery services to SMES including fast-
track, electronic delivery and copyright clearance? What do you charge? Is
there a specific policy to support local SMEs by providing a subsidised service?
Another aspect is the provision of local access agreements which provide
inter-library loans and walk-in access to academic libraries. I had a reply from
LINC y Gogledd which is a resource sharing partnership across North Wales
and SINTO operates a similar service. Again I would like more information
about similar services.
Carl Clayton
SINTO
[log in to unmask]
|