Dan Tonkery

Mergers and Acquisitions in the Library Marketplace

While the US economy is no stranger to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) mania, in actuality, recent acquisitions have increased in size and are more globally oriented. In 1998,

Publishers, Agents, Users, and Libraries: Coming of Age in the E-World

2.5 trillion in merger deals were completed. 1 In 1999, there were more than 5,000 merger deals worldwide; nearly three-quarters of them took place in Europe. In particular, the European Community experienced large takeovers in the banking, beer, pharmaceuticals, retailing, and telecommunications industries. British companies spent

Profile: Pote N Lee

246 billion to acquire foreign companies, while the United States spent

Web 2.0 and library 2.0 : Subscription agents respond to new technology,trends and opportunity

145 billion. 2 During the last ten years, M&A activity grew more than fivefold worldwide, with the telecommunications and chemical industries seeing most of the action. 3

International Coalition of Library Consortia Statement of Current Perspective and Preferred Practices for the Selection and Purchase of Electronic Information

Coming of age in the e-world has been an exciting time for library users as the volume of information available at the desktop is rapidly expanding. While end users have benefited from the increased volume of content, the workflow to support the control mechanisms developed by publishers has produced a serious volume of new work for libraries. Too often the access and registration procedures are based on the primitive access and control systems developed by hosting services, which requires a library to perform a series of functions to activate and maintain access to this e-content. Subscriptions agents have reengineered their systems to be able to support much of this new e-journal access and registration work. There is no question that the transition from print journals to electronic format has produced a new world order and turned everything in the past upside-down. End users and publishers have landed on their feet. It is the library and the subscription agent that have ended on the bottom of the pile, and both libraries and agents are working to develop systems that reduce the workload and improve access.

Mergers and Acquisitions in the Library Marketplace: Opportunity or Threat?

Helen Henderson and I caught up with Mr Lee at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October at his booth. There, he delighted us with his story of a very interesting and challenging life as a researcher, book dealer, library supply entrepreneur, and founder of iGroup (www.igroupnet.com). iGroup is an information supply corporation with offices in 14 countries and over 1,000 library customers throughout the Asia–Pacific region. It is hard to imagine that anyone would have the vision and foresight to build an information supply business in perhaps one of the most challenging regions in the world. Just consider the language and cultural differences, the struggling economies, the lack of infrastructure, and the political conditions.

Expose yourself to electronic journals

Library literature is currently filled with articles on Library 2.0, and recent library conferences have a program track on either Web 2.0 or Library 2.0. Some authors challenge the notion that either of these concepts is actually a new set of software or technology. Some in our industry believe that this Is all smoke and mirrors. History will show that there is actually a new movement underway that builds on the library as a service to communities. Web 2.0 will help fashion the next generation of library services.

Rethinking the role of the subscription agent in the transition from print to digital collections

Abstract In December 2001, the International Coalition of Library Consortia issued an update to its March 1998 “Statement of Current Perspective and Preferred Practices for the Selection and Purchase of Electronic Information.” New developments in e-journal licensing reflect issues that either encourage or hinder growth in e-journal access. Pricing and purchasing models, usage statistics, usability of electronic journals, and archiving concerns are the major points addressed in the statement and in reactions from the serials community. This article reprints the December 2001 update, with commentary first from Ann Okerson, Yale University Library, “Is It the Price, or Is It the Pricing Model?” From HARRASSOWITZ, Knut Dorn, Danny Jones, and Katharina Klemperer share “A Subscription Agents View” and remind us of key services that agencies provide. “A Middlemans View to ICOLCs Update No. 1” is the concluding response by Dan Tonkery (EBSCO), who adds to the agency perspective by issuing challenges for communication and provides a reality check for libraries, intermediaries, and publishers. Serials Review 2003; 29:3–10.