[Michlib-l] Article: eBook Availability, Licensing, and Pricing in Canada and the U.S.

[Jim Flury]

Good Morning, 

Thought I'd share the below linked article. It is the best one I've read on the topic in a long, long time. If you don't have the time to read the entire article, or if you get tired of it after reading the first few lines, I've cherry picked what I believe to be some highlights in the article for you. That said, I encourage a full read and also widespread sharing of the article with funding agencies. 

The data forces us to conclude, reluctantly, that not only does print still offer libraries a far better bang-per-book than digital, but that for most popular titles, digital collections are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. 

Ebooks are now 3.63 times as expensive as print. Again, this is a conservative number when all factors for print (damage, wearing out, etc.) are considered. To compare with the 6-year average longevity to match one result we have seen, it is necessary to keep perpetual costs the same and double the other numbers yet again. The result is $24,523.06, with ebooks being seven times as expensive as print. 

In the U.S., the audio titles are available one time for $12,552.78 ($77.97 each). We count the perpetual option for the Penguin Random House titles rather than the 1 year at half-price option—the latter being cost-effective only to fill high short-term demand. That amount is 3.6 times the consumer price. 

The present study makes one thing clear: Medium-sized independent publishers are often giving us much more fair terms than the Big Five. If we are to have broad, deep, and sustainable digital collections, advocacy for fair prices and new licensing models is of paramount—and ongoing—importance, while short-term refocusing of what we acquire while becoming tastemakers to create demand for often neglected non-Big Five content is recommended. 

[ https://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/jul25/Blackwell-Halperin-Mason-Parker--Ebook-Availability-Licensing-and-Pricing-in-Canada-and-the-US-A-Follow-Up-Study.shtml | https://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/jul25/Blackwell-Halperin-Mason-Parker--Ebook-Availability-Licensing-and-Pricing-in-Canada-and-the-US-A-Follow-Up-Study.shtml ] 

Jim 

Jim Flury 
Technical Services Manager 
The Library Network 
41365 Vincenti Court 
Novi, MI 48375 
248-536-3100, ext 133 
Note New Fax Number: 248-716-5584 
Note New Email Address:jflury at tln.org 
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