16th February 2012, 10:32 PM
Individual articals from journals are not priced for personal users, most papers are purchased once, or twice, ever. Personal subscription to journals through publishers are also significantly rarer that you might think. Articals are priced to mean that it is not cheaper for the library to just buy the articals individualy but to allow alternate access. Although it is true that publishers make money the margins are not that good and the big societies, who still own their journals, command massive fees. Indeed, many academic editors - including some in archaeology - Get payed for their editing, and this can be substantual ammounts of money on top of their salary.
Publishers don't even consider individual users as relevent so prices are based on what they belive libraries can pay. Don't buy into this system, if you want a paper email the author or interlibrary loan it from the British library. Alternativly SoA subscribe to may journals so joining can prove cost effective. Equally journal publishers have not considered commercial bussness as a means of generating income and they know they can't get more from libraries. So maybe clever contractors can negociate ocassional use subscriptions for less than librar rates.
Publishers don't even consider individual users as relevent so prices are based on what they belive libraries can pay. Don't buy into this system, if you want a paper email the author or interlibrary loan it from the British library. Alternativly SoA subscribe to may journals so joining can prove cost effective. Equally journal publishers have not considered commercial bussness as a means of generating income and they know they can't get more from libraries. So maybe clever contractors can negociate ocassional use subscriptions for less than librar rates.