Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of Thomson West, here is a message from Chip Cater, Executive
Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, West, in response to recent
listserv discussions:
To our customers and partners in the librarian community:
West appreciates efforts to provide clearer insights into pricing and
collection management issues raised by librarians. We know that these
are important issues for you, and would like to address recent listserv
discussions to provide more insight into our policy and approach to the
market.
Q: Is West in violation of the Guide to Fair Business Practices for
Legal Publishers?
A: We recognize that there has been a good deal of discussion around
this point. We are in compliance with the Guide. The Guide states that
"publishers should provide full disclosure about their products,
services, prices and transactions insofar as allowed without violating
contractual agreements or revealing proprietary information." Disclosing
the prices paid by individual customers would both violate contractual
agreements and reveal proprietary information.
Q: Why doesn't West disclose detailed pricing information for
third-party reports?
A: Third-party pricing reports or price indices purport to give
librarians an accurate view of book prices, and help them plan budgets
for maintaining their print collections. It follows that the value of
such a report or index hinges on the accuracy of the information it
presents. We provide new purchaser pricing on our Web site. But West
does not view print pricing in isolation, and instead structures
individual pricing plans for each customer based on their print and
online research needs. Thus, a "one size fits all" model simply does not
provide an accurate picture, as contract pricing will generally be lower
than new purchaser prices.
We know pricing is an important issue for you. We've developed a number
of initiatives including a new library maintenance program that provides
predictable, year-to-year pricing and that many of our customers are now
using to better manage collections, resources and budgets, and control
costs. This is part of our commitment to provide you with the best
products, support and value.
We are proud of our longstanding relationship with AALL and the
librarian community, and believe that open communication and support of
professional programs is the best way to sustain and strengthen this
relationship. We're honored to support scholarships, professional
development and networking programs, and are committed to providing the
best Librarian Relations and Reference Attorney programs in the industry
to support the success of each librarian who uses our products.
We appreciate the opportunity to answer your questions, and look forward
to continuing this dialogue in a productive manner.
Best regards,
Charles B. Cater
Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, West
Anne V. Ellis
Senior Director, Librarian Relations
Thomson West
610 Opperman Drive
D5-N104
Eagan, MN 55123
anne.ellis@thomson.com
651-687-5019
651-848-2737 (Fax)
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