1       Background

This report is an extension to a report written in the fall of 2001 – An Environmental Scan of Pricing Models for Online Content. In that report, information was gathered on relevant on relevant initiatives in distributing digital content to academic institutions in a variety of different media including text, audio, images and video. Additional research was conducted on electronic journal use in academic libraries and on business models in use on the Internet by organizations distributing various kinds of media to provide background and context. Specific pricing information was gathered where possible.

This, the Phase II report includes the objectives: of investigating the activities of e-content stores, or repositories across Canada including those at the federal and provincial level such as BELLE and POOL; investigating comparable and competitive content stores being offered or contemplated elsewhere, particularly with respect to their pricing and e-business models; of expanding the terms of reference of the research from educational institutions to include governments and government affiliated institutions and educational levels of K-12 in Canada, in particular SchoolNet. The report will review, discuss and assess current pricing models and their relative merits and applicability to both online distribution by the OnDisC Alliance as well as other object repositories. The report will recommend principles on which feasible e-commerce models may be based. Specific attention is paid to the those repositories which focus on content known generically as Learning Objects – modular “chunks” of information which can be assembled into larger levels of aggregation such as educational lessons, units and courses. The report will also review in some detail a template for assessing the value chain for information content distribution adapted from a publisher/library business model.