NEWS
__________________________________________ May 2004 - Number 21

Growing back-files on Blackwell Synergy

Trial Access to Transfer and New Journals – Clarification of Policies

Open Access/Pay to Publish Debate Rages On

Blackwell Publishing Statement on Open Access

Changes to Blackwell Synergy User Registration

Library Advisory Board Meet Again

Blackwell Publishing acquires BMJ Books

Like most publishers, we are working to digitize the back-files of many of our online journals. At present 95% of the titles on Blackwell Synergy have their first online issue published in 1996 or more recently than this. This is because online academic publishing really took off in 1996/97 and we began producing online versions of our journals as standard.

There is an increasing demand from the researcher community for online access to older journal content. Evidence has shown that as soon as back-files are digitized and made available online, they are read and cited by a new generation of researchers.

At Blackwell Publishing we have begun the process of digitizing the older content for journals in a range of subject areas. Already 103 of the journals online on Blackwell Synergy date back to Volume 1, Issue 1. Our aim over the next couple of years is to add more than 30 years of back-files for at least a further 80 journals.

Access to these online back-files is included as part of a Premium or Online-only subscription, or as part of the consortia Collection during 2004. For more information on upgrading your subscription to include back-files access, visit: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/cservices/journal_online.asp?site=1

Analysis of back-file holdings on Blackwell Synergy (April 2004 ) :

Journals with back-file holdings on Blackwell Synergy dating back more than 10 years:

Library e-journal administrators can download an up-to-date Holdings File from the library admin area of Blackwell Synergy . This shows the first and last online issue for each journal title. For instructions on how to do this, contact onlinehelp@blackwellpublishing.com

Trial Access to Transfer and New Journals – Clarification of Policies

From 2004, journal titles which have recently transferred to Blackwell Publishing from elsewhere and titles less than five years old are included in our Collection for consortia customers for a two year trial period. Trial access is at the Standard level, i.e. with access to the current and previous year's online content only and with no archival rights.

The options for taking out full Premium or Online-only subscriptions are different for transfer and new titles, as explained here:

Transfer Titles

For journals which have transferred to Blackwell Publishing from elsewhere, Standard level trial access is available for two years to consortia Collection customers. For archival rights and access to the complete online back-file, customers can purchase a Premium or Online-only subscription at the full rate.

Customers wishing to purchase subscriptions to these transfer titles should contact their usual subscription agent or email onlinehelp@blackwellpublishing.com

This offer affects the following titles in 2004:

Australasian Journal of Ageing

American Journal of Gastroenterology

British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology

British Journal of Sociology

Congenital Anomalies

Cladistics

Educational Theory

Experimental Physiology

Family Business Review

Family Process

Family Relationships

Gerodontology

Journal of Economics and Management Strategy

Journal of Nursing Scholarship

Journal of Marriage and Family

Journal of Prosthodontics

Journal of Popular Music Studies

New Blackfriars

Negotiation Journal

Population and Development Review

Philosophy and Public Affairs

Studies in Family Planning

Journal of Physiology

New Titles

For new titles less than five years old, Standard level trial access is available for two years to consortia Collection customers. Throughout this trial period, and for one year following the trial, Collection customers can gain archival rights and access to the complete online back-file by purchasing a Premium or Online-only subscription at a 50% discount.

Customers wishing to purchase a subscription to these new titles at a 50% discount should contact their usual subscription agent quoting ‘Blackwell Publishing New Title Consortia 50% Discount’ or email onlinehelp@blackwellpublishing.com

This offer affects the following titles in 2004:

Aging Cell

American Journal of Transplantation

City and Community

Conversations in Religion and Theology

Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesselschaft

Genes Brain and Behaviour

Geobiology

German Economic Review

Geofluids

Global Networks

International Journal of Dental Hygiene

Journal of Empirical Legal Studies

The Journal of the Historical Society

Journal of Agrarian Change

Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs

Maternal and Child Nutrition

Plant Biotechnology Journal

Pediatric Diabetes

Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik

Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities

Significance

Traffic

Veterinary and Comparative Oncology

World View on Evidence Based Nursing

Other Information

Following is a list of other journals which are new to the consortia Collection in 2004. Existing Collection customers have full Premium access rights to these titles, including archival rights and access to the complete online back-file:

Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology

Acta Crystallographica A

Acta Crystallographica B

Acta Crystallographica C

Acta Crystallographica D

Acta Crystallographica E

Child Development

Clinical Microbiology and Infection

Econometrica

Endodontic Topics

Evolution and Development

International Journal of Auditing

International Journal of Clinical Practice

International Journal of Nautical Archaeology

Journal of American and Comparative Cultures Culture

Journal of Applied Crystallography

Journal of Synchrotron Radiation

Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care

Midwest Studies in Philosophy

Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development

New Perspectives Quarterly

Nursing in Critical Care

Personal Relationships

Presidential Studies Quarterly

Revue Romane

Sociological Methodology

Sociological Theory

Strain

For a full listing of all the journal titles in the 2004 Blackwell Publishing Collection, including those on trial access, visit http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/librarians/2004Collectiontitles.xls

Open Access/Pay to Publish Debate Rages On

The Open Access debate continues on numerous fronts. In the UK , the issues are being explored by the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee in an inquiry on scientific publications. Bob Campbell, President of Blackwell Publishing, sat on a panel of publishers to give evidence to the Select Committee on 1 st March 2004 . This was an opportunity to draw attention to the tremendous increase in access that has been provided by online publishing and the use of consortia licenses. The Members of Parliament were also keen to hear about Blackwell's work with the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation to improve access in the developing world through the HINARI and AGORA programmes.

For Blackwell's submission visit http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/docs/House_commons.doc

For a transcript of the proceedings visit http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmsctech/uc399-i/uc39902.htm

The committee will report its recommendations to the government at the end of the summer. The two author-pays publishers have been lobbying hard in hopes that the committee will suggest that grants include funding (say 1% of the grant) to pay for publication.

The BBC picked up the item and interviewed Bob Campbell and Harold Varmus from the Public Library of Science on the Today programme a week later. The debate again focused on the breadth of access provided by the current publishing system. Bob also made the point, contested by Harold Varmus, that a system paid for by readers will tend to favour the effective filtering of content and maintain high quality, whereas a system funded by authors will tend to favour the authors but exclude those that do not have the funding to pay the publication charges.

For a transcript of the Today programme visit http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/docs/RadioInterview10Mar04.doc

Blackwell Publishing Statement on Open Access

A number of organizations have issued fairly lengthy explanations of their policy on Open Access. We have summarized our view in a short statement: 

The combination of investment in technology and new pricing models is vastly increasing the access to journal content. As the publishing system develops it is likely that a number of different models will be tried and tested; the Open Access model is one of these. The customer, the research community, will decide what serves its needs best. Any publishing model will have to be sustainable, and not reliant on long-term subsidies or special funding.

Changes to Blackwell Synergy User Registration

We have recently made several improvements to the user registration process on Blackwell Synergy. This includes simplifying the form so that registrants no longer need to provide a full postal address when signing up for such services as email alerts. If users wish to receive subject catalogues by post then they can choose to provide their details on a separate screen.

In order to comply with European Union privacy rules we have also introduced a deregistration option so that users can remove their details entirely from the customer database. This is available within the My Synergy area of the site http://www.blackwell-synergy.com

Library Advisory Board Meet Again

In order to help inform our publishing and sales strategies, we call upon the advice and feedback from our international Library Advisory Board (LAB) made up of 25 librarians and consortia officers from academic and corporate institutions. We have held two LAB meetings in the first part of this year; one in San Diego alongside the American Library Association meeting in January, and one in Melbourne alongside the Victorian Association of Library Automation meeting in February. Both meetings were well attended, full of lively and useful discussion, and we received very good feedback from attendees:

“I would like to thank you, your staff and Blackwell for affording us the opportunity to express our views. It is heartening to see publishers undertaking this type of focus group activity.” Jocelyn Priddey, Senior Manager, Collection Development, University of Queensland

“Opportunity to contribute much appreciated and any critical comment was simply based on a genuine desire to help to make a good service even better.” Neil Renison, Librarian (Acquisitions Services), Information Resources, James Cook University

The meetings involved discussions of:

• preferred future pricing models for library consortia including for online only journals and back volumes;
• policies for handling journals joining and leaving publisher collections;
• implications of purchasing journals based on usage;
• potential demand for e-books;
• perceptions of Blackwell’s service to the library community.

The overriding message we picked up from the librarians was that they want more flexibility in the way that they buy both print and online journals with a variety of options available to suit the budgetary, research and format needs of their institutions.

Blackwell Publishing acquires BMJ Books

We are pleased to announce that on April 8th 2004, the purchase by Blackwell of BMJ Books, the book-publishing arm of the British Medical Journal, was finalised. Each year, Blackwell publishes over 100 books and 350 journals in medicine, biomedicine and allied health. With the acquisition of BMJ Books, titles in specialties such as pediatrics, accident and emergency medicine, anesthesia and intensive care, cardiology, and evidence-based medicine will be added to the company’s list.

“Blackwell has a history of providing the medical community with a comprehensive collection of high-quality medical books. The addition of BMJ titles only strengthens the scope of Blackwell’s service to clinicians world-wide, and demonstrates our commitment to growth in medical publishing,” said René Olivieri, CEO of Blackwell Publishing. “As this transfer moves forward, Blackwell will further the high service standards set by BMJ, reinforcing the strength of publishing excellence for which Blackwell is known.”

Richard Smith, editor of the BMJ and Chief Executive of BMJ Publishing Group Ltd said, “This decision has not been easy to make, but it is no longer feasible for us to continue an extensive book publishing business. We have published great books of which we are proud, but our cost structure has meant that we could not produce the return on the business that we hoped.”

The acquisition of BMJ Books brings 328 additional titles to the Blackwell list. This includes the ABC Series (reference books for researchers, clinicians, and health professionals) and a developing list of evidence-based textbooks, all of which complement Blackwell's existing Lecture Notes, At a Glance, and Blueprints series of books.

“The BMJ Books list is very impressive and we are delighted to work with BMJ Publishing Group to continue production of these quality titles,” said Andrew Robinson, Director of Medical Publishing for Blackwell. “As the leading society publisher, Blackwell is confident that our expertise will help build the BMJ brand in book publishing.” Titles from BMJ will carry the imprints of both BMJ Books and Blackwell Publishing as part of the sales agreement.

Our Websites

• Blackwell Synergy  http://www.Blackwell-Synergy.com
• Tips on how to make the best use of online journals: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/info
• Blackwell Publishing Librarian Information: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/librarians

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Blackwell Publishing

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