Publishers, Libraries, and Costs of Journal Subscriptions in Times of Funding Retrenchment

A study funded by the National Science Foundation and carried out at the Indiana University Graduate Library School examined the economic interaction between libraries and publishers of scholarly and research journals for the period 1969-73. Drawing from the findings of the study, the validity of the fears of librarians of growth in the number of journals published and publishers' profits and the fears of publishers of unlimited photocopying in libraries are examined. The complex price structure of journal subscriptions, their increasing cost, and the problems these pose both to publishers and librarians are discussed. How libraries allocate their budgets is also examined, and problems requiring further investigation are identified.