Hello all,
In case you missed this in the recent AL Direct email, I'm sharing an article about Clarivate's (who owns Proquest) recent decision to stop offering perpetual access licenses to ebooks. For years we have been purchasing unlimited user perpetual licenses for ebooks for specific titles on Proquest eBook Central, because of the ebook platforms we offer, theirs offers a lot of useful features and nice ebook reading experience, and these are titles that we want to continually offer access to. However, that will no longer be an option.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/97170-library-database-providers-clash-over-subscription-models.html
This decision by a major ebook platform provider for libraries is extremely problematic. Imagine if our only options for print books were leasing programs, where we had to pay the vendor annually to keep the books on the shelves, and periodically the vendor could just walk in and decide a book no longer belonged there and take it away! This is what we are left with when ebook subscriptions are our only option and we are left completely beholden to the publishers, who now also have a much stronger influence on our collection development decisions, deciding what books go into the "packages" or subscriptions they offer.
I was pleased to see the Leo Lo is quoted in opposition to this decision, as is the executive director of ARL. But this article was the first place I've seen that messaging and I'm wondering if the conversations are happening elsewhere, if discussion around taking some sort of stand or making some sort of statement about this is happening, etc. This might not be the best venue for that question, but thought I'd start here.
I'm interested in others' thoughts on this issue.
Thanks!
Megan
Megan Dempsey
Instructional Services Librarian
Evelyn S. Field Library
Raritan Valley Community College