One of the very unfortunate realities about ACS is that they have even more leverage in their pricing behavior than most publishers do, since they not only publish core titles in the field but are also (as the organizational body that certifies chemistry programs) in a position to require libraries to subscribe to them. This they do in the cases of both the Chem Abstracts database and the Journal of Chemical Education; the last time I checked (when I wrote about this problem in the Scholarly Kitchen in 2011), it was the case that unless the institution subscribes to both titles, the ACS won’t certify your chemistry program.

Sharp and unexpected price hikes have been an all-too-common ocurrence with ACS products in recent years, and this, I believe, is one significant reason they’ve been able to get away with it.
 
---
Rick Anderson
Assoc. Dean for Scholarly Resources & Collections
Marriott Library, University of Utah
Desk: (801) 587-9989
Cell: (801) 721-1687
rick.anderson@utah.edu

From: Jill Emery <jill.emery@GMAIL.COM>
Reply-To: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum <SERIALST@LISTSERV.NASIG.ORG>
Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2014 at 2:20 PM
To: "SERIALST@LISTSERV.NASIG.ORG" <SERIALST@LISTSERV.NASIG.ORG>
Subject: Re: [SERIALST] Sudden jump in renewal pricing?

Hi Alana,

ACS pricing is based on your size as well as on your usage in combination. Go back to your ACS representation and ask for a full explanation on the cost increase. It may be your FTE and usage both drove your institution into another pricing bracket with ACS. If this is the case, ask the representative if there is a a way to step up the cost increase over a two year period so you do not have to absorb it all in one single subscription year. Lastly, go back to your license agreement and see what language is in the license. If you signed a multi-year deal, you may be negotiate pricing steps across the years of the deal. Lastly, let faculty in your Chemistry department know of this situation difficulties it puts on the library to serve all areas of campus when societies use publications as a means of supporting the society.

all the best,

Jill

On Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 12:47 PM, Lopez, Sol M <smlopez@utep.edu> wrote:

Hello Alana,

 

Not sure if you attended NASIG 2014 in Fort Worth, TX, this year. Jenica Rogers was a keynote speaker and your email reminded me of her message regarding this. You may access it at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVvnh_CzXS8YgftuvIypTiQ

 

Best,

 

Sol

 

 

Sol Maria Lopez

Serials, Cataloging Librarian

Subject selector for Psychology

University of Texas at El Paso

Library Room 102

(915)747-6703

 

 

 

 

 

From: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@LISTSERV.NASIG.ORG] On Behalf Of Verminski, Alana
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2014 1:10 PM
To: SERIALST@LISTSERV.NASIG.ORG
Subject: [SERIALST] Sudden jump in renewal pricing?

 

Hello everyone,

 

Last week, we were notified of a significant increase (almost 40%) in our renewal cost for our American Chemical Society Journals. We were told that our 2013 usage was higher than previous years, which bumped us into a higher price tier. Needless to say, we were very unpleasantly surprised.

 

Have other libraries experienced a similar and recent jump in ACS journals pricing? What are you doing about it?

 

Thank you,

Alana

 

--

Alana Verminski

Reference and Instruction Librarian

St. Mary's College of Maryland

Library Office 125

 

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