London, UK. Online Information 2003. Stanford University's HighWire Press announced the launch of a new feature for institutions, 'Shop for Journals'. 25 society publishers, with content hosted on HighWire, have banded together to create an easy way to select from an initial list of 57 journal titles and create custom packages, with more titles expected to join in the New Year. In addition, these publishers have developed a standard set of Guidelines for Institutional Access (defining authorized use and users), and have agreed to use a common tiered pricing model, based on type of institution: http://highwire.stanford.edu/shopforjournals

"Shop for Journals is the gateway to something we are calling an 'Open Package'. The concept of the Open Package grew out of our conversations with serials librarians," says Michael Clarke, Senior Managing Editor of the American Academy of Pediatrics, who led the Shop for Journals initiative. "They told us that they liked the idea that the Big Deal offers: holding down costs by acquiring a large number of titles at reduced prices. However, they also told us that the problem with Big Deal packages is that they may include a lot of titles that an institution does not need or want."

The Shop for Journals Open Package is a way for institutions to pick and chose what titles they want, obtain the correct pricing for their institution, and to purchase them through one simple mechanism. Along with the customized price chart, there are options for a librarian to send a custom package of titles and prices to their regular subscription agent, to contact the publishers directly to purchase, or to send a subscription request through the HighWire system to serials agent, Otto Harrassowitz KG. The advantage of this third option is that most new subscriptions will be available online immediately after confirmation of the order.

"In the future, our intent is for the participating publishers to introduce a discounting system for new subscriptions," says Mr. Clarke, the leader of the task force of 50 HighWire-affiliated publishers. "We think this will present librarians with a better alternative to the Big Deal, one that provides them with similar savings, but does not lock them into titles they do not need."

"We are excited to participate in this collaborative effort, as we recognize that shrinking library budgets are increasingly going to the 'easiest' buy, rather than the highest quality titles," says Meg McGough, Marketing Manager of the Histochemical Society. "With the wealth of research by the scholarly community that is hosted at HighWire today, we strongly support this group effort to simplify the purchasing process for each of our independent society journals."

To compliment the Shop for Journals feature, HighWire offers a variety of other tools to make a librarian's work easier. See: http://highwire.stanford.edu/institutions for links to manage subscriptions, including viewing usage reports across all journals administered, and the ability to maintain IP addresses in one place for multiple journals.