earnestly seeking greater flexibility: the pros and cons of pay-per-view journal access
TRANSCRIPT
Earnestly Seeking Greater Flexibility
The Pros and Cons of
Pay-Per-View Journal Access
Concurrent Session
34th Annual Charleston Conference -- 6 November 2014
Marija Markovic
Acute Source, Inc.
Steve Oberg
Wheaton College (IL)
What we will cover...
● Overview of PPVo Types of content
o Pricing models
o Implementation
options
o Challenges
o Pros and Cons
● Exampleso Academic
o Corporate
● Takeawayso Greater flexibility
o Greater access
o A bit more for library
to manage
First, a little background info...
Marija…copyright law and library services
consultant with corporate library experience.
Steve...currently works at Wheaton College (IL)
as e-resources and serials librarian.
Types of Pay-Per-View (PPV) content
● journal articles
● ebook chapters/sections
● reference works
● streaming video
Our focus for this presentation will be on PPV
for journal articles.
Pricing models
● Prepaid token
bundle purchase
● Postpaid
● Institutional credit
card (on demand)
● New option: article
rentals
Implementation options● Activated/open for use to all library users
● Activated/open for use to selected super
users/mediating access for the wider audience. Super
users can be internal (library staff) or external
(document delivery supplier)
● Technical aspects of implementation option (applicable
to either one)
● Dependent on library’s budget model (are individual
library users charged back for this type of service, or
does the library absorb the cost)
Implementation challenges
● Pricing: estimating potential usage
● Differing PPV verbiage among vendors
● Implementation
o Open-to-all: potential to deplete the bundle faster
than anticipated
o Open-to-super users: implementing steps for
mediation (an extra step, a delay for library user),
technical aspect of implementation, different
challenges for internal super users (library staff) vs.
external super users (document delivery supplier)
● Perfect solution for
shrinking budgets:o Cost savings and fulfillment
of users’ content needs in
one when no subscription is
available
● Lower cost per article than
individual article purchases
through document delivery
suppliers/ILL or publishers’
web sites
PPV Pros and cons
● Even without a
subscription, user still
has easy/quick access
to content
● Often provides complete
backfile access
● Good collection
development tool, helps
analyze true usage of
content
● Requires significant ongoing oversight and negotiation
with vendors
● Library does not have ownership rights to PPV content
● May impact budget structure: Once funds for tokens are moved
to the part of the budget dedicated to external services/PPV services, it
may be difficult to get it “back” into the part of the budget dedicated to
subscriptions (if it is determined that a resource is less expensive via a
subscription than via PPV).
PPV Pros and cons, continued...
PPV Pros and cons, continued...
● Access for users may not always be as straightforward
as purchased/subscribed access
● User can’t readily determine difference between
subscribed and PPV content access depending on PPV
setup choices (this is both good and bad)
● Still somewhat limited number of vendors who support
institutional PPV
● Need to understand usage data over time to see
patterns/trends
Let’s look at
some examples
Example #1: Academic
Example #2: Academic
Example #3: Corporate
● Key piece of the journal collection development puzzle
● In the cost-per-use analysis, cost comparison of subscription
vs other options, triggered by pre-determined cost threshold ● Example: If the cost threshold is $35, options are reviewed for any journal
where cost per use is $35 and higher:
○ Cost per use of article (via subscription), $35
○ Document delivery vendor cost, $45
○ Individual article order via publisher, $40-50
○ PPV account, $15 per article (for a prepaid token bundle)
● PPV Pro: Selecting the most cost effective solution○ A reversed example: substituting journal collection subscription with a PPV account due to
budget reduction: Journal subject collection, Publisher X, cost, $40,000, article cost per
use, $5.
Example #4: Corporate, continued● Corporate library budget models:
○ Budget is allocated to other functional areas annually
○ All of the library costs are charged back to users
○ Library absorbs all the cost
○ Mixed models: combinations of the above
● Example: Budget types impact the implementation of PPV:
○ Forces a restricted PPV account (via an intermediary)
○ More complicated technical aspect of access
■ Maintenance of user data
■ User experience (forms, different platforms)
■ Troubleshooting
What are some takeaways?
Greater budget flexibility
Greater access for users
A bit more for library to manage
Questions?
