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Helping Level the Playing Field:

The Impact of Digital Technologies on Large and Small Publishers

ASEE 2001 Conference & Exhibition

“E-Journals—Impacts & Possibilities”

Monday, June 25

Albuquerque, New Mexico

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What’s Leveling the Playing Field?

• In the long run, technology is driving

- Diversification

- Decentralization

- Democratization

- Decline of monoculture, gigantism, and information control

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What’s Not Leveling the Field?

• At least in the short term, publishing both print & online means higher costs

• We can’t offer the “Big Deal”

• Just as librarians find it difficult to work with a large number of publishers to establish electronic access (especially those outside consortia), small publishers find it very difficult as well

- Learning curve

- Lack of field sales staff

- Lean staffs and resources

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AIChE’s Early Steps

• AIChE Journal on ScienceDirect ( pressure from volunteers, no AIP or IEEE options at the time, nonexclusive; contract ends this year)

• Developed a dynamic web site and a strong user community

- For March, 2002, an average of more than 3,400 user sessions a day

- These sessions lasted an average of more than 19 minutes

• Digitized all periodicals

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AIChE’s Next Steps

• Offer an online version of our print “package plan”

• Through our E-Advisory Committee, work on archiving, priorities for digitizing the back file, etc. (We need LIBRARIAN representation!)

• Decide between the IEEE Xplore model (the kitchen sink) and the ACS ChemCenter model (peer-reviewed journals and edited magazines)

• Integrate features (news, discussion forums, software demos) of an inherited commercial site

• Consider the best way of structuring digital journals

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How Will Tomorrow’s E-Journal Look? What Do Members Want?

• As soon as publishable (members rate last)

• Hot links to citations (moderate to low interest)

• Searchable archives (members rate first)

• Enhanced graphics—zoomable figures, animations, and video (moderate to low interest)

• Working equations (very high interest)

• Layers—short “traditional” abstract, extended abstract clickable to more detailed information (similar to the traditional journal paper), details & other supplementary material (high interest)

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What We Plan to Offer

• Information gateway

• Aggregator of our own material (by topic)

• Sophisticated search

• Self-service, 24/7

• Implications

- Shifts in staffing

- Need new database and fulfillment operations

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Changing Relationships

• We need to better understand and act on the new relationship between librarians and journal publishers created by digitization…

- licensing and access control

- consortia

- archiving (publisher, library, third party)

- pricing implications from infrastructure costs

• Is there a trend toward greater cooperation and partnerships among association publishers? Between librarians and publishers?

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AIChE & SPARC

• An ASEE ELD session in 1998 was the “spark” that crystallized thinking about commercial journal pricing

• Mel DeSart & Kate Thomes led an ELD Work Group, that gathered data which convinced AIChE we should consider working with SPARC on journal development

• We’ve had the lesson of ACS/SPARC experience with Organic Letters

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AIChE & SPARC

• Productive discussions and planning that could result in the launch a rapid communications journal in chemical engineering by January 2003

- build on strength of the AIChE Journal…

- provide an affordable alternative…

...While better serving our members and the library community

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In Conclusion

• E-journals are leveling the playing field long-term, while redefining that playing field

• Pricing models, archiving models, licensing practices, and access issues will continue to evolve—there are no silver bullets and no pat answers

• We must share information—you can help us learn from our mistakes

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In Conclusion

“In heaven, there are many mansions and in hell there are many houses— all of them publishing.”

- A. L. Kennedy