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The following information is provided for descriptive purposes only and is NOT to be considered part of any contract between the AAS and any Party.
The goals of the AAS are to provide as much access to the BAS as possible for the benefit of scholars, students, and others, and to ensure that the operation continues into the future. The first argues for prices as low as possible, but the second means that we must generate enough revenue on an annual basis to cover all or most of the costs of compilation and electronic provision. After considerable discussion, we developed the pricing categories described below.
The annual fee varies by size of institution (defined as a single campus or separated sites directly administered by a central staff). For U.S. colleges and universities, our pricing schedule is based on the Classification Index of Colleges and Universities developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (see http://classifications.carnegiefoundation.org). Definitions of categories (i.e., Masters I, Masters II, etc.) are also given at this site.
The basic annual fees are: Large, $1,200; Medium, $900; Small, $700; Very Small, $500.
The category definitions are:
LARGE: Research I, Research II, or Doctoral I are "Large." However, if enrollment is less than 7,500 AND it awards fewer than 100 doctoral degrees annually AND it has a serials budget less than $750,000, an institution is classified as "Medium."
MEDIUM: Doctoral II, Masters I, or Masters II institutions with FTE enrollments above 2,500 are "Medium." Those with enrollments below 2,500 are "Small," while those below 1,000 are "Very Small."
SMALL: Bachelors I and Bachelors II colleges with FTE enrollments of 1,000 or more are regarded as "Small."
VERY SMALL: Master's I, Master's II, Bachelors I, and Bachelors II colleges with FTE enrollments below 1,000 are classified as "Very Small."
Universities and colleges outside North America, public libraries, and other institutions (independent research centers, museums, foundations, etc.) are classified by analogy with this scheme.
AAS is pleased to encourage the establishment of consortia that bring at least three new subscribers to BAS Online. Existing subscribers may join an established consortium when their current expirations expire, in which case their subscriptions are prorated for the number of months necessary to coordinate their expiration date with that of the rest of the members. A new consortium’s first year discount will depend solely on the number of new subscribers the consortium initially brings to BAS Online, no matter how many existing subscribers join during the course of that first year. PLEASE NOTE: AAS does not recognize a new consortium formed solely of existing subscribers.
AAS defines a consortium as an organized group with a single contact (coordinator) for billing, provision of IP addresses, and other communications. All members of the consortium must have the same subscription periods, and the subscriptions must be made through the Consortium Coordinator, not an agent. We do, however, require a subscription agreement and a separate order form for each member institution (to be submitted in one group by the designated Consortium Coordinator).
The annual discounts allotted to consortia are as follows:
Between three and five organizational members = 10% discount
Between six and fifteen organizational members = 20% discount
Sixteen or more organizational members = 30% discount
These annual discounts are based on the number of subscribers participating in a consortium for the full 12 months.
Although the majority of libraries subscribe with us directly, any individual library not belonging to a consortium may subscribe through a subscription agent if that is more convenient. Agency commissions are five percent.