Unwrapping the Bundle: An Examination of Research Libraries and the "Big Deal"

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Date

2014

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Johns Hopkins University Press

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Abstract

This study presents and analyzes the findings of a 2012 survey of member libraries belonging to the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) on publishers' large journal bundles and compares the results to earlier surveys. The data illuminate five research questions: market penetration, journal bundle construction, collection format shifts, pricing models, and license terms. The structure of the product is still immature, particularly in defining content and developing sustainable pricing models. The typical "bundle" is something less than the full publisher’s list. Neither market studies nor market forces have produced a sustainable new strategy for pricing and selling e-journals. Finally, a complex history of managing license terms is revealed in the data.

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Keywords

journal bundles, licensing, time series, survey, Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Big Deal, subscriptions, consortia, non-disclosure, price models

Citation

Strieb, KL, Blixrud, JC. "Unwrapping the Bundle: An Examination of Research Libraries and the ‘Big Deal’." portal: Libraries and the Academy 14, no. 4 (2014): 587-615. DOI: 10.1353/pla.2014.0027