While I do think media companies should take size into account in pricing I think the journals issue has relatively little relation to film for two key reasons. Academic Journals are not available at what is often one tenth the price from a legal source, but more importantly the argument made by Judy and others others that the writers of material in academic journals do not get paid has ZERO relation to film where filmmakers depend on sales to survive.
Per above this cuts both ways if a filmmaker decides their film has a big enough audience to sell retail than again they can not expect academic institutions to pay more because it will be used more often or seen by more people anymore than a publisher can ask a library to pay more for a copy of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD because it will circulate to many people. Distributors need to impress this upon filmmakers. However the vast majority of films marketed to the institutional market are not sold retail or through third parties and I think we are a bit sidetracked on that. The kinds of non fiction works that are vital to teaching are never going to be big sellers or cost $30 unless there is a way to sell many hundreds of copies directly. I have always joked that the typical academic film is a documentary about a lesbian basket weaving cooperative in Bolivia and that kind of film is not going to show up on Amazon. OK just my afternoon ramblings. On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 3:04 PM, Norman Howden <[email protected]> wrote: > It might not be lost on publishers and distributors that their model for > marketing is vastly different than that for journals. There are jobbers > for many journals and magazines that aggregate demand and supply and are > able to enforce price models. > > The two models are similar in another way - there is always someone who > has never tested the waters or talked to knowledgeable people that decide > to enter the market expecting to make great inroads. Unfortunately both > are relatively mature markets where breaking in without some forethought is > a direct route to the dustbin. > > > -- > Norman Howden, Ph.D. > Assistant Dean, Educational Resources > El Centro College > 214-860-2176 > [email protected] > Please visit our website at: http://www.elcentrocollege.edu/library/ > > "It may plausibly be urged that the shape of a culture - its mores, > evaluations, family organizations, eating habits, living patterns, > pedagogical methods, institutions, forms of government, and so forth - > arise from the economic necessities of its technology." > - Heinlein, 1940 > > > >>> On 2/26/2013 at 1:49 PM, in message > <0b9cf92d08678b44a5a916e179efe4ec02214030b...@mailcms1.ad.uiwtx.edu>, > "Moshiri, > Farhad" <[email protected]> wrote: > > I'm with Susan on this and I, too advocate a FTE-based pricing by video > > publishers and distributors. I also want to mention that we have to > recognize > > that audiovisual materials are not on top priority in any academic > > institution. AV is always behind databases of journal articles and books > at > > least in majority of disciplines. So any time a library is trying to > manage > > its budget, the AV is usually the loser. Video publishers should take > this > > into consideration that we do not have a gold mine. We are trying our > best, > > as Susan says, to provide as much as we can to our faculty and students > with > > what we get from our library managers at the end of the line after > databases, > > books, e-books, etc. > > > > Farhad Moshiri > > Audiovisual Librarian > > University of the Incarnate Word > > San Antonio, Texas > > > > From: [email protected] > > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Susan Albrecht > > Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 1:29 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [Videolib] A Distributor's Response > > > > Okay, okay, if you insist, Anthony. ;) > > > > A couple of points I'm trying to make: > > > > > > 1) VERY little is offered in print-only format any longer in the > journal > > world. Our periodicals mgr. said that the American Institute of Physics > > does, for instance, offer 6 tiers for their print + online titles. And > for > > those journals we are likely to still get in print only - popular titles > such > > as Rolling Stone or Time - we pay the same rate as an individual would. > As > > you already noted, once we get into online access, there is typically all > > manner of tiering or pricing based upon FTE. > > > > > > > > 2) The other point for me is the issue of limited budget. I get > that a > > large university is purchasing films for a tremendous number of faculty > and > > students. However, consider this, please. You know how Choice creates > it's > > "Outstanding Academic Titles" each year, which are those books it feels > are > > essential and should be in all or most academic libraries? While there > is no > > such list for films, there ARE a couple of similar-idea lists - ALA's > Notable > > Videos and Video Librarian's Best of the Year list. Let's say these are > > similar to Choice's Outstanding Title book list in that they contain > items > > most libraries really ought to own. Let's say there are 30 titles > between > > the two lists. Let's say, as you are suggesting one ought to do in an > > academic library, we purchase them at the institutional/educational rate, > > even when they're available from the retail market at home use level. I > > think it's fair to say that institutional-level documentaries average > $250 a > > pop, no? So 30 titles X $250 for the films that pretty much any academic > > library will want to own in order to have a solid base collection = > $7,500. > > > > My point is this: for a university the size of USC or Northwestern or > > Columbia or NYU, $7,500 is likely a drop in the bucket in order to have > that > > base upon which to build. For a small liberal arts college the size of > > Wabash or Kenyon or Davidson or Bowdoin (I'm going through my daughter's > > most-wanted list right now), that $7,500 is likely a LARGE percentage of > the > > annual budget. Just buying that base of core titles that all libraries > ought > > to have now means there's a lot of stuff I have to pass up. *If,* > however, > > I can buy half of those 30 DVDs at home use level through Amazon, because > > they're there and because we likely don't need PPR, I will now have to > spend > > (15 X $250) + (15 X $25) = $4,125. I've now freed up $3,375, which will > go a > > long way out of my $12K-$15K annual budget to buy additional > documentaries, > > popular features, etc. > > > > Does it not make sense why I advocate for an FTE-based or > > type-of-academic-institution-based pricing mechanism? > > > > Susan at Wabash > > > > From: > > [email protected]<mailto: > [email protected]. > > edu> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Anthony > Anderson > > Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 1:25 PM > > To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> > > Subject: Re: [Videolib] A Distributor's Response > > > > Susan! You're absolutely right about the price differentials that many > > vendors make for > > databases (and some journals) on the size of the institutions. I was > > speaking more > > about what academic institutions pay for paper journal subscriptions. > > > > And please don't shut up! :-) This is a good conversation. > > > > Best, > > Anthony > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > This email and any files transmitted with it may be confidential or > contain > > privileged information and are intended solely for the use of the > individual > > or entity to which they are addressed. If you are not the intended > recipient, > > please be advised that you have received this email in error and that any > > use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this email and > any > > attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in > error, > > please immediately delete the email and any attachments from your system > and > > notify the sender. Any other use of this e-mail is prohibited. Thank you > for > > your compliance. > > VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of > issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic > control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in > libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as > an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of > communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video > producers and distributors. >
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
