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4 Myths About Hosting & Access Fees — Busted! By Roger Strong (Vice President of Sales – Academic Libraries, Gale, a Cengage company) http://www.gale.com/
H
osting fees, which can also be known as access, platform or maintenance fees, are often attached to the purchase of a digital archive or eBook content. While the actual application of hosting fees can vary from publisher to publisher, in general, hosting fees support the regular maintenance and upkeep of digital content and the platform that hosts it. While hosting fees are essential for ensuring a positive user experience, they aren’t always clearly defined. To help libraries and other institutions better understand hosting and access fees, this article will bust four common myths.
What is a Hosting Fee? Hosting fees cover annual costs related to data storage, privacy and security, accessibility and improving user experience. Customers have the option to host the content locally, should they choose to do so. However, by paying the annual hosting fees, customers receive access to a vendor’s user interface and infrastructure, which removes local technical and storage challenges, fixed and ongoing cost challenges and benefits all users through enhancements provided by feedback from a broad and diverse base of users.
Myth #1: Hosting fees don’t benefit the end user. Operating systems, web servers, databases, languages and frameworks need to be kept up-to-date. By paying a hosting
Against the Grain / June 2021
fee, libraries don’t have to worry about making these updates on their own, and instead, can rely on a publisher to stay on top of important changes. Hosting fees help fund a variety of ongoing costs, including: • Accessibility: Digital content must keep up with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act1 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines2 (WCAG) from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). As a part of this process, there are product updates and ongoing automated and manual testing components that need to be funded. • Data Privacy & Security: Regular updates are required to remain compliant with global data privacy standards, like GDPR3 and CCPA.4 In addition, steps must be taken to maintain the safety of user data. • Platform Enhancements: Frequent upgrades are essential to keep in line with web browser capabilities, new citation standards, mobile technology and ongoing maintenance to the servers supporting these resources. Staying on top of platform enhancements means that users don’t have to worry about outdated technologies, like the recently retired Adobe Flash.5 As another example, perpetual access6 databases often sit on platforms that must be migrated and adapted to meet changing integrated library systems and technology requirements.
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