Three important changes

Citation

McGrath, M. (2009), "Three important changes", Interlending & Document Supply, Vol. 37 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilds.2009.12237aaa.001

Three important changes

Article Type: Editorial From: Interlending & Document Supply, Volume 37, Issue 1

This quarter has seen some momentous events that will affect the direction and health of libraries generally and document supply specifically. First we saw the agreement between Subito, the German document supplier and the publishers (resolving?) a long running conflict. It is another example, and an important one, of contract law overriding copyright law. Even not-for-profit researchers will have to pay a copyright fee for electronic copies. This agreement follows those made by other document suppliers. It is hard to blame the document suppliers for coming to such agreements – the publishers can, after all, refuse to give them access to electronic files. The income for publishers from such agreements is hard to calculate but must be well over £10 million annually.

Second – the Google deal with American publishers promises to make millions of out-of-copyright books freely available on the web. The advent of print-on-demand (p-o-d) books, especially using the Espresso machine, heralds a new era of accessibility. And all sorts of issues for librarians – an Espresso machine in every library? Even out-of-print but in-copyright books will be available at a modest price. Lots of revenue for book publishers and authors, lots of satisfied readers and a few more forests to the pulping mill. The upside for readers is quicker and easier access to much hard to obtain material. The downside is that those who currently receive a subsidised document supply service for books may find themselves paying the full costs of the p-o-d process, especially if they get to keep the book. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Third – Springer’s purchase of (for profit) BioMedCentral is another step change in the advance of Open Access. But it raises a number of awkward questions. Springer is not renowned for its benevolence; so expect big hikes in author – or more accurately funder – fees when the dust settles. And pity the poor librarian having to cope with still rising subscription costs, more and more Open Access journals that need integrating and now hybrid publishers adding another layer of complexity to hybrid journals. And will library budgets decline in the current economic crisis? Both Obama in the US and Brown in the UK are investing heavily in education. Much of this will be vocational but some will surely be allocated to research budgets as the clean energy industry develops and resource substitution becomes more urgent as traditional materials become scarce and expensive – not just oil but a wide range of minerals. I suspect that document supply will continue to be a vital arm in the library’s portfolio of services to satisfy researcher needs but also the curiosity of the informed citizen.

Mike McGrath