The Aggravation of Aggregation? Jonathan Eaton London Business School UKSG Conference 2003

Overview Why e-journals access = “aggravation” ! Power shifts in marketplace Fragmentation in supply-chain “DIY aggregation” for libraries Pressures each stakeholder faces Lessons to learn…

Supply-chain problems - I Aggregators losing / gaining content “content exclusives” replace former equality of aggregation opportunity Impact on content supply stability & service continuity A marketplace defined by “churn” ? –access problems a common experience

Supply-chain problems - II publishers’ embargoes: current volume / issue availability print subscriptions model for e-access explicit & hidden costs increasing degrees of separation affecting content access –aggregators –gateways –publishers’ own systems

Examples Publishers & aggregators –Harvard Business Review -> content exclusive with EBSCOhost in 2001 –Sage withdraws from aggregators July > Sage FullText Collections (with CSA) Publishers’ delivery systems –Recent problems with Kluwer Law Intl titles (loss of access / confusion over continued availability)

Impact on Libraries Forced into additional DIY aggregation multiple access points & market players (aggregators, gateways, publishers) Ongoing costs to secure / confirm rights Need for resolving servers to maximise linking to “appropriate copy” via OpenURL (SFX etc)

Aggregators Losing key full-text titles from (unique) specialised subject databases Threatening publishers’ current subscriptions revenues? Compete for content -- marginalised for current volume / issue access? Offer better article discovery options –Rich taxonomies aid retrieval

Publishers Favouring (print) subscription income over aggregator royalties Creating own web delivery systems –Direct customer e-relationships –Ongoing cost implications –Creating “content silos” ? Customer relations responsibilities

Lessons from experience Access rights inherently problematic –Who may access what & via which service? Impact on service levels –Content terminations / access issues Communications / information flow problems –Discontinuities between publishers / gateways / customers

Conclusion Increasing e-journals supply options mask persistent access problems DIY aggregation for libraries raises costs Complex interactions in marketplace Better communications & access permissions records continuity needed