This report covers a workshop held by the Serials and Electronic Resources Interest Group
E-Journals: The Vendor and Publisher PerspectiveThe first speaker of the morning, Lois Bacon (director, Publisher Services, EBSCO Information Services), examined current trends in e-journals from the vendor and publisher perspectives. She was able to draw on her experience as EBSCO's liaison to publishers in the mid-western United States and to small and mid-sized publishers around the world. She stated that the financial downturn has had a massive impact on libraries and by extension, on publishers and vendors.All of these organizations have been forced to critically examine their missions, goals, and how they provide services.Bacon presented the results of EBSCO's latest annual surveys of libraries and publishers. The respondents to the surveys were among the larger customers and publishers of the 50,000 libraries and 83,000 publishers that EBSCO works with worldwide. The majority of the libraries responding were academic. According to EBSCO's survey data, the primary way that librarians have dealt with the new budget realities has been to drop print in favor of online-only subscriptions. The reporting of this data came as no surprise, as almost 70 percent of EBSCO's business is now for subscriptions with an electronic component (either online only or online plus print) and online-only subscriptions comprise almost 60 percent of EBSCO's sales. Publishers have found this transition difficult as they were used to two revenue streams, one from the electronic and one from the print. Even if print subscriptions were deeply discounted, they created a second stream of income. EBSCO's survey also asked librarians how they made the decision to keep or cancel a subscription. The most significant decision factor was usage statistics followed to a lesser degree by faculty recommendations, historical price increases, value metrics, and local rankings.Librarians were asked in what parts of their budget they planned to increase expenditures. The five most popular responses involved e-content in one form or another: individual e-books, electronic journal subscriptions, e-book packages, e-journal packages, and full-text databases.Only a very small percentage of respondents indicated that expenditures on print materials would increase. For this reason, when small publishers call Bacon for advice and indicate that they are planning on publishing a new journal in print format, she explains to them that this strategy will not be successful and that they must offer materials online.The vast majority of respondents to EBSCO's annual survey of publishers were STM and society publishers. Of the publishers responding to the survey, 49 percent indicated that the economic downturn has had a negative impact on their overall business, and 62 percent indicated that the downturn has changed their business practices. In many cases, publishers have not been replacing staff, have realigned staff, or have instituted hiring freezes. They are seeking...
