BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA -- SPIE, among the first publishers to respond in 2009 to economic challenges besetting the research library community by reducing subscription prices, is further reducing the prices of its SPIE Digital Library.
SPIE is reducing current prices by 5% for 2012, Director of Publications Eric Pepper announced today.
SPIE implemented a 10% rollback in pricing for institutional subscriptions to the SPIE Digital Library in 2010 to help libraries contain costs, and sustained this by freezing prices in 2011.
Pepper said the decision to institute an additional price reduction in 2012 comes from its commitment to the Society's mission to provide optics and photonics educational resources to as many people as possible, and to the Society leadership taking a long-term and realistic view of the economic situation that research libraries face.
"As our subscription base has grown, we have been able to create flexible new pricing options that have made it possible for smaller and more specialized libraries to subscribe, along with larger libraries and consortia, thereby increasing our subscriber and user base," Pepper said. "This latest price rollback is another way that we can share the very positive results of this growth in a real and practical way with the educational and research organizations and companies interested in optics and photonics technologies."
SPIE has offered the price rollbacks while expanding services, features, and content for a growing number of companies, universities, and institutes. Looking forward, SPIE will continue adding new content to the library, and is planning a major new platform change and upgrade for launch next year.
This year, new functionality such as "more-like-this" recommendations was added to the SPIE Digital Library, and the Society began publication of the new Journal of Photonics for Energy, which is freely available in 2011, and available by subscription starting in 2012. In 2010, SPIE added eBooks to the SPIE Digital Library, and launched its open-access journal SPIE Reviews.
The 5% price reduction applies to current and new subscriptions to the full SPIE Digital Library, which includes the Proceedings of SPIE and all SPIE Journals, and to topical segment subscriptions. It does not apply to consortia arrangements, for which customized discounts are already applied, however, 2012 prices for consortia will be frozen at 2011 rates. The price reduction does not apply to SPIE eBooks, specially discounted subscriptions or promotional packages, or to institutional subscriptions to journals purchased independently of the SPIE Digital Library.
The SPIE Digital Library is the world's largest resource for optics and photonics research. The collection includes nearly 320,000 journal and proceedings articles published from 1990 to the present, with approximately 18,000 new articles added annually.
Topics span the broad interdisciplinary fields of optics, photonics, and imaging, with applications across biomedicine, communications, energy, aerospace, defense, manufacturing, computing, sensors, entertainment, and electronics.
More than 40,000 SPIE papers are cited in over 20,000 high-technology patents registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Thousands of other citations appear in the international patent literature.
SPIE will begin contacting current subscribers with renewal information in late July, which will include the 5% price reduction information.
Learn more about the SPIE Digital Library at SDLinfo.org, or visit the SPIEDigitalLibrary website.
View a presentation on the market research that went in the price-reduction decision, and the Society's philosophy on providing technical resources to the community.
SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, was founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. Serving more than 180,000 constituents from 168 countries, the Society advances emerging technologies through interdisciplinary information exchange, continuing education, publications, patent precedent and career and professional growth. SPIE annually organizes and sponsors approximately 25 major technical forums, exhibitions and education programs in North America, Europe, Asia and the South Pacific. SPIE provided over $2.3 million in support of education and outreach programs in 2010.
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