David Stern
david.e.stern@yale.edu

Gaylord Opryland Hotel, Nashville, TN
Monday, June 7, 2004
Moderator: David Stern

Approximately 150 people attended the Physics Roundtable.

The session began with introductions.

Two update presentations began the session.

Update on the arXiv (http://arxiv.org/) e-print server since it moved to Cornell.

Jean Poland was unable to attend, but sent a report via email that David Stern discussed with those in attendance. Key points were (1) the implementation of an endorsement system, a moderated gateway to ensure that content submitted to the arXiv is relevant to current research; (2) a new subject area, quantitative biology; (3) the development of a new interface; (4) work on addressing the long-term preservation concerns; and (5) working with Thomson ISI to enhance arXiv through their "Web Citation Index" product.

Jean encourages all to contact her with comments and opinions: jp126@cornell.edu

Exchange rate profiteering and cost-effectiveness of physics journals—2004 Update presented by Dana L. Roth, Caltech Library System

US subscribers are paying significant "surcharges" for European journals, when USD prices are compared with the corresponding EURO prices, suggesting exchange rate profiteering. Furthermore, large differences in the relative cost effectiveness were observed across three publisher titles. The maximum variance in "cost per use per Impact Factor" analysis was 11/1. See http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechLIB:2004.002 for more information.

The remainder of the program was a series of questions posed by David with comments from the floor. A brief summary of key points follows:

Member-only material is not appreciated and creates access problems for those researchers attempting to use library subscriptions. This should be discouraged. At worst, there should be an add-on option for libraries; although most felt that this should simply be part of the standard library subscription. In addition, it was mentioned that library costs have sky-rocketed as libraries are asked to cover potential lost personal subscriptions... these costs have been charged to libraries, but there has been no demonstration of significant lost personal subscription revenue.

E-community services (i.e. Science Next Wave, IE Village) also create problems for libraries, as most organizations do not pay for such networks using library accounts. One suggestion was to ask Graduate Schools or Career Centers to pay for these services, as they often contain job postings.

It seems that many libraries have moved from paper to online-only access, and that many have moved paper to off-site shelving facilities. There was the recognition that libraries should share knowledge of problems with electronic journals that now serve as the copy of record. The Division will coordinate communication regarding topics such as image resolution problems, scanning failures, incomplete online materials, etc. that might result in remote shelving materials needing to be returned to campus.

The issues of package plans and differential pricing were discussed, along with various approaches to charging archival fees. Through a show of hands, it was obvious that many libraries have cancelled their Package Plans, and that libraries are increasingly turning to document delivery in order to maintain adequate service. It was pointed out that this is a short-term approach, as the subscription cost to remaining subscribers will become untenable and the journal will ultimately fail. General consensus was that this is a natural result if publishers continue to ignore the limits of price gouging.

There was general dissatisfaction with full-text resolvers such as SFX. Many used the services, but the service was seen as not entirely reliable. The Citation Finder "known item search" was particularly troublesome. Other ideas for enhanced links beyond full-text included citation searches, web searches, and book catalog links.

• Conference materials: as essential parts of journals, and as duplicated books.
• Ebooks and online reference materials
  • price models
  • duplication of Inspec and other A&I services
  • Compendex migration to Ei (what is next?)
  • Federated search engines (fee and free databases)
  • CRC handbooks, other online ref books value of PDF format enough?
• Library instruction tips, tricks, sharing techniques
• Open Access price models.