Library Budgets Shrinking as Journal Costs Rise
(Printed in the Campus Journal on February 1, 2005)
Claudia Morner, University Librarian
cjmorner@cisunix.unh.edu
UNH Library is fortunate to be in the lucky minority of academic libraries that have not had an annual journal cancellation project in the last ten years. Unfortunately, journal inflation, which rises at a much greater rate than other higher education costs, is now causing us to seriously review our periodical holdings.
This year, the Library cut its book budget by 23% to avoid canceling any journals without a review by faculty and other users. The Library also decreased the amount of money allocated for videos and books. The consequence of these measures meant that funds for videos were depleted by October 1st and for Reserves by January 1st. The library has to make significant changes in order to balance the budget next year.
During the next several years, the UNH Library will look carefully at periodical use in all formats (journals, electronic resources, newspapers, microform). This information will help us determine how to best allocate funds and realign the periodical holdings to protect the book budget. We believe this will have little impact on Library patrons since low use/high cost titles can be retrieved from an interlibrary loan or a pay-per-view service.
To lessen the impact of this transition, Library liaisons will evaluate journals by analyzing usage statistics, the availability of a title through the Library’s current database subscriptions or through document delivery systems, and the cost of a title relative to its importance to the discipline. Library liaisons look forward to working with faculty and students to provide access to the resources most needed for coursework and research.
This March, the Library will post a list of journals recommended for conversion to a document delivery alternative. Please review that list when it is posted and let us know what you think.
Comments
