ARL Scholarly Communication Catalyst for Change Mary M

ARL Scholarly Communication Catalyst for Change Mary M. Case • UIC • April 25, 2008

Overview Ø 5 Major Tenets of the Scholarly Communication Program Ø Accomplishments Ø The Future

1. Data Driven Serials & monograph stats & time-series trends Ø Serials Pricing Project - analyzed publisher costs Ø Mellon Study, University Libraries and Scholarly Communication - examined the economics of scholarly communication (published by ARL) Ø Directory of Electronic Journals Ø Publisher profit data Ø Cost per page/ cost per impact studies Ø Impact of mergers on prices Ø Bundling studies Ø

“Without this chart, there wouldn’t be a serials crisis!”

2. Urgency Inducing Ø Build Capacity l l l Ø May 1989 “It is the sense of the membership that the issue of serials prices is of such a critical nature that we would support a supplementary dues assessment in order to expedite association action. ” Motion passed. Led to the creation of OSAP/OSC (1990) Build consensus for action l l AAU Research Libraries Project (1992) Task Force Reports issued in 1994 • foreign acquisitions (Global Resources Project) • STI and IP Task Forces recommended greater role for the academic community in ownership & mgmt of faculty intellectual property

3. Action-Oriented Ø ARL Scholarly Communication TF Report 1985 l l Ø Work with learned societies to monitor changes in disciplines and scholarly behavior Communicate instances of unfair trade practices & pricing to regulatory agencies Take leadership role in developing models for licensing agreements Facilitate dialog among the players in scholarly communication system Other recommendations l l Communicate nature of problems broadly Introduce competition & cost-based pricing through adoption of electronic publishing Explore feasibility of mandating retention of ownership of IP Promote system of national repositories

Finding the “Right” Action “A Conference is a gathering of important people who singly can do nothing but together can decide that nothing can be done. ” Fred Allen, 1940 Ø Proposals l l l Author self-archiving - Stephan Harnad Electronic Scholarly Publishing (ESP) Program International Scholars Academic Network (ISc. AN) SPARC Decoupling - Cal Tech Conf, Chuck Phelps NEAR (National Electronic Article Repository) - David Shulenburger

Taking “Some” Action Ø SPARC - Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition l l l Proposed May 1997; official launch 1998 Just do it! Proof of concept Fabulous PR efforts Flexibility to adapt to support multiple approaches

4. Network-Dependent

5. Educationally Focused Serials Prices Project Ø Publishing Mellon Study Ø Symposia, conferences, roundtables Ø Articles, white papers, Spec Kits, TL Ø Workshops and webcasts Ø Create Change Website Ø ARL/ACRL Institute on Scholarly Communication Ø Presentations around the globe by ARL and SPARC staff and members Ø PR - SPARC Ø

Summary of 5 Tenets Ø Data Ø Urgency Ø Action Ø Networks Ø Education

Accomplishments Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Getting far more content for our dollars NIH Mandate Provost support - Tempe, NIH, FRPAA, addenda Sustained attention by the media Increased faculty knowledge & willingness to act - PLo. S, Harvard, boards, resolutions, SC Significant international support for open access International scrutiny of STM publishing Continued building of evidence base Cadre of knowledgeable librarians Licenses moving to best practices (SERU)

The Future Ø STM industry still strong (Elsevier’s net operating profit was 32% for 2007) l l l Ø Aggressive negotiations - bldg support to decline deals Investing in alternatives (IRs, Publishing, OA models) Challenging anti-competitive behaviors Integrating our services into the workflow of faculty and students l l l Build on efforts to understand disciplinary differences & similarities Develop expertise & services to work w/ faculty as projects are being conceived Engage faculty on issues of copyright management, access, preservation

We are not the only ones… “Digital technology enables Reed Elsevier to move up the value chain with its customers by providing a range of innovative solution orientated products that become embedded in their workflow. This is playing a major part in Reed Elsevier’s strategy going forward. ” Reed Elsevier 2007 Annual Report, p. 81 (italics added).

Endangered Species? Urgency remains Ø Let’s not let access to scholarship become as endangered as the rhinoceros! Ø

ARL Scholarly Communication Catalyst for Change Mary M. Case • UIC • April 25, 2008