Uh-oh!: UPs on PDA

Becky Brasington Clark

Johns Hopkins University

November 4, 2010

Survey of University Presses

To gauge perceptions of impact of patron-

driven acquisition

Online survey to member presses of AAUP

AAUP: 130 members, of which about 100 are

affiliated with U.S. research institutions

Requested one response per institution

Gathered 42 responses

Five Areas of Concern

PDA and Host Institution's Library

Perceived Impact of PDA

Scholarly Monograph Publication Strategy

Perceived Impact on Scholarly Monograph's

Use In Tenure And Promotion

Ebook Publication Strategy

Great degree of familiarity

93% of respondents already familiar with PDA

64% from conferences/seminars

47% from colleagues

39% from e-book vendors

14% from wholesalers

How often have you spoken to your

host institution’s library about PDA?

50%: Never

50%: Occasionally

0%: Frequently

Is your library participating in PDA?

46%: Don’t know

33%: Yes

21%: No

Potential Impact of PDA on Sales

54%: Negative

19.5%: Positive

19.5%: No idea

7%: No impact

What Percentage of Your Sales Come

from Scholarly Monographs?

Scholarly monographs generate more than

40% of revenue for 60% of respondents

How would PDA impact your output

of scholarly monographs?

56%: We would publish the same number

31%: We would publish fewer

13%: No opinion/no idea

How would PDA impact your ability

to forecast sales?

68%: It will be more difficult to forecast

12%: No impact

10%: It will be easier to forecast

10%: No opinion/no idea

Percentage of monographs that are

associated with tenure/promotion

For 39% of respondents, more than 40% of

monographs they publish are associated with

tenure/promotion

PDA’s impact on the role of

monograph in tenure and promotion

Do you think the widespread adoption of

patron-driven acquisition could have a

negative impact on the role of the scholarly

monograph in supporting tenure or

promotion?

58%: Yes

24%: No

18%: No idea/no opinion

E-book strategy

How does your press publish its e-books in

relation to its print books?

62.5%: Simultaneously

19%: 60-180 days after print

15.5%: 30-60 days after print

3%: Prior to print

E-book strategy

If you don’t publish simultaneously, what is

your rationale?

63%: Strategic decision to embargo

56%: Would like to publish simultaneously

but haven’t perfected workflow

E-book strategy

Has your press opted into patron-driven

acquisition options offered by various e-book

vendors?

57%: No

43%: Yes

E-book strategy

If no, why not?

77%: Taking wait-and-see attitude

18%: Intend to, but haven’t yet

5%: Don’t intend to