Periodical prices, 1989–1991

Abstract

This annual comparative periodical price study is the eighteenth compilation in a continuous series of studies published by The Faxon Company since 1974. The price reviews in this series compare periodical prices and identify price changes, patterns, and trends over the most recent three-year time period. The purpose of these analytical price studies is to provide current and historical price data for use in planning and developing library serials budgets for both domestic and non-U.S. source serialized titles. Interpretive material contained in this article is similar to that appearing in earlier studies in this series, but some tables have been altered in this compilation. These changes are noted in the “Table Explanations and Commentary” section. The order of the tables also has been changed, and one table, which has appeared regularly in previous versions of this study, has been discontinued. That table was a comparison of multiple-year subscription rates for titles indexed in the The Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature. This periodical pricing study series appeared from 1974 to 1980 in Library Journal, and, from 1981 to 1990, in The Serials Librarian [l]. The price study analyzes and measures the average and weighted prices for both prepaid and bill-later titles included in the global Faxon title database, which contains bibliographic records for over 200,000 serial and periodical titles. Average prices are based on all active titles in the Faxon database within a given category. Weighted prices included in this review reflect the order activities of Faxon’s 25,000+ client base in the United States and are included in order to provide comparison with the overall average price, which may be affected by the inclusion of inordinately expensive or inexpensive, but seldom ordered, titles. Similarly, the latest reviews in this series reflect the fact that the bulk of orders placed by Faxon increasingly are for academic and other research libraries in the United States. The global nature of the data sources used in this study may not always relate to the specific serials ordering activity of any one library. Care should therefore be exercised in using the pricing information presented in this series to project future budget requirements for a particular library. Each individual library’s title list and serials budget is designed to conform to the needs and resources of that institution. These institutional requirements will not always match the more generalized results represented in the tables included in this compilation. Factors such as the ratio of domestic to non-U.S. published titles, the nature and orientation of the subject disciplines reflected in the title list, and the influence of multiple-year subscription pricing discounts are potentially influential in calculating the serials pricing climate for any specific library situation.