UK Colleges and Universities save £1.5 million on APA resources

Eduserv Drives Down Costs by Negotiating with Information and Service Providers

Bath , 31 July 2008 – Eduserv, the not-for-profit IT services group, today announces that its software and data Licence Negotiation Service has signed a three-year pricing agreement with the American Psychological Association (APA), which will save colleges and universities a potential £1,505,296 [1] on the cost of subscribing to APAresources.

Currently 114 higher and further education institutions across the UK subscribe to one or more APAdatabases, such as PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, PsycBOOKS, PsycEXTRA and PsycCRITIQUES, through Eduserv’s agreement.

Following negotiations on the renewal of this agreement, subscribing colleges and universities will benefit from savings on two levels: firstly, institutions will see discounts of up to 23 per cent on the data fee they would pay if they subscribed directly through APA; secondly, Eduserv has competitively tendered the service provision of APA resources from five potential vendors [2], helping to drive costs down by up to 66 per cent [3]. Each of the service providers offers a guaranteed level of service and fixed pricing throughout the term of the agreement, giving institutions real choice in terms of the interface through which academics and students can access these important resources.

Ross Hayworth, Serials and Electronic Resources Manager at University of Aberdeen, comments: “Thanks to Eduserv's negotiations, we will save 75 per cent on the cost of the service fee for subscribing to PsycARTICLES and PsycINFO via EBSCO for the next three years. These resources are a very important tool for students and researchers studying psychology and related subjects at the University of Aberdeen."

[1]Over a three year period, dependent on 80 institutions or more subscribing to two or more APAproducts via Eduserv.
[2] PsycNET from American Psychological Association; EBSCOHost from EBSCO Publishing; OCLC from OCLC; OVIDSP from Wolters Kluwer; ProQuest from ProQuest
[3] If all current subscribers re-sign with their current service provider they will save a total of £62,000 per annum. If every current subscriber re-signs with the cheapest option available for their product sets, the savings would amount to £149,000.

About Eduserv

Eduserv is a not-for-profit, professional IT services group with the mission to realise the benefits of IT for learners, researchers and the institutions that serve them. Eduserv achieves its charitable mission through the provision of sustainable services and funding research and development. Services include:

Secure access to online resources (Athens and OpenAthens)
Licence negotiation service – (previously known as Eduserv Chest)
Managed web hosting
Content management (CMS) and web development.

Trading surpluses are used to support work across the education sector.

For more information about Eduserv please visit www.eduserv.org.uk or contact:

Katy Askew / Kersti Klami
Racepoint Group, formerly Fuse PR
Tel: 020 8752 3207 / 3216

Email: katy.askew@racepointgroup.com / kersti.klami@racepointgroup.com