An experiment in pricing mechanisms for online information retrieval*

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Holmes, P.L.

Note: [*] This paper was presented at the 7th Cranfield Conference, 1979. Dr. Holmes was at that time Director, Services Planning and Marketing for BLAISE, the British Library's automated information service. He was subsequently Managing Director at Blackwell Technical Services, and presently holds the same position at Jordan Information Services. This paper has never been published, and ISU agreed to its appearance here in view of the unusual relevance of its contents. We hope that readers will find it useful in spite of the fact that it was prepared now more than six years ago.

Abstract: The paper describes an experiment with a two-part—time- and volume-based—tariff structure which is felt to have advantages over present time-based tariffs for searching within online information retrieval systems. The nature of the experiment, tariff of online use, and some problems concerning the proposed tariff are discussed.

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-1985-5503

Journal: Information Services & Use, vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 269-275, 1985