Just-Right: Custom-Configured Institutional E-Journals

[Gerry Mckiernan]

   Just-Right: Custom-Configured Institutional E-Journals

    In reading the detailed outline and the associated
overheads of a presentation made at last year's NASIG annual meeting 
by David E. Stern (Yale) on E-journal pricing models that I have cited 
and linked in my Just-in-Time(sm) clearinghouse devoted to Electronic 
Article Delivery Services, I was inspired to take his Discipline-Based 
Model of E-Journals to the local, institutional level 
using appropriate envisioned Intelligent Software Agents 

            BTW: Just-in-Time(sm) is located at:

    http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/Just.htm 

    My new local-level vision uses appropriate Agents and
instititutional knowledge-bases (e.g., departmental or faculty homepages)
to create a collective departmental Research Interest Profile (RIP)
that would be used for among many potential purposes to identify
appropriate E-journals to which a local library might consider a formal 
subscription basis upon a high match between a RIP and a content analysis
of the coverage of a particular E-journal [I provide some details on this
in the context of monographs in a soon-to-be-published Think Piece for 
_Technicalities_].

   In reflecting on his Discipline-based package in the context of the 
potential use of Agents and the current and future inter-publisher
cooperation for E-Articles (e.g., ScienceDirect), I have been inspired to
envision what may be called a Custom-Configured Institutional E-Journal
that would be created by Agents from all appropriate E-Articles that match
the broad as well as specific interest of a _local_ clientele (e.g., 
researchers in Thin Film Deposition at Iowa State University). Using 
the RIP for those at ISU, the Agent would search all publisher sites,
identify those E-journals that match the RIP, organize them into
appropriate categories in a Table of Contents, and package them into the
"ISU Journal of Thin-Film Deposition". [I believe that the 
personalized E-Newspapers present a packaging model here]

   [Yes, It's the above is an enhanced version of an SDI profile, but 
in this case, the full-text is being provided as a re-bundled institutional
E-journal]

  Accordingly the Agent would negotiate with each publisher regarding the cost 
of individual articles that comprise the Custom-Configured Institutional 
E-Journal for a given issue for a particular time frame (e.g., weekly, monthly). 
Using this sample issue, a base subscription rate would be established for a annual subscription for the 'journal' [An alternative would be to do so for the previous year's worth of relevant articles] In either case, a _fixed_ rate subscription is
established for the custom E-journal satisfying the publisher's interest
in a guaranteed income, the library's interest in a known publication price,
and most importantly, journals that most likely would be used by a library's
clientele. [It's Pie in the Sky, but Everyone _should_ be satisfied with
this model [If the price is right]. 

   One could also envision 'subscriptions' that would permit X number of 
articles from the composites collection of articles for the reconfigured 
E-Journal for a _fixed_ 'subscription'. Any number over this would be charged 
on a Block or Transactional basis. [See David Stern's paper in
Just-in-Time(sm) for details of the Block and Pay-Per-View options].

  BTW: I thinking about calling this model Goldilocks as this 'subscription'
would be Just-Right [:->].

   As Always, Any and All Comments, Citations, Questions, Concerns,
Contributions, etc. on this proposed model would be Most Welcome! In
addition, any relevant sites/cites that relate to Re-Bundling E-Articles
would be of interest. [I know that this is *not* a new idea].

   Joy!

/Gerry McKiernan
Theoretical Librarian
and
Curator, CyberStacks(sm)
Iowa State University 
Ames IA 50011

gerrymck at iastate.edu   

  	"The Best Way to Predict the Future is To Invent It!"
				Alan Kay