The serials crisis in the age of electronic access

Abstract

I am surprised and alarmed that there has been very little mention of the package deals that some commercial publishers, especially Elsevier and Academic, are currently promoting to academic libraries for purchasing their print/electronic journals. Acceptance of these offers, I believe, would be a watershed event in the history of scientific/technical/medical (STM) journal pricing. Perhaps the word has simply not gotten around yet, but from what I have heard, time is running out. Some major libraries or library consortia are either seriously considering these proposals or may have already signed on the dotted line. In hopes of provoking some discussion, I would like to describe the offer that Elsevier has presented to my university and make some comments. I do not have all the details, but here in essence is the package. Met reacties van: Hub. Laeven, Bas Savenije, Gerard Köhler en Alex Klugkist.