March 1, 2005
To: University Faculty, Staff and Students
From: Claudia Morner, University Librarian
Many of you know that the cost of library journal subscriptions has inflated at a higher rate than other higher education costs. This is a problem that confronts all academic libraries. Unlike most of our peers, the UNH Library has not had a journal cutting project in more than 10 years. Improved use-data puts us in a better position now to identify those journals that are low use. With improved document delivery and faster Interlibrary Loan, the Library can offer the “by the article” approach for lesser used and expensive journals.
The Library will be shifting a significant number of high cost-per-use journals from subscription to document delivery alternatives. These document delivery options include Infotrieve and Interlibrary Loan. What this means is that the Library will pay for articles, by the article, rather than maintaining a whole subscription for those journals that have had low use. By doing this we should be able to better manage the high and rising costs of journal literature and also reallocate funds to purchase library resources.
We will still provide material that you need, but in different formats. To help you keep up with your field, Infotrieve offers a free table-of-contents service that provides a way to order articles directly. If you have not taken advantage of this service, I encourage you to sign up.
We will be listing the journals that we recommend shifting on our website on March 1st and Library Liaisons will be in communication with Departmental Representatives to discuss any journals that are assigned to their academic departments. Our data gathering on past use may not reflect future use. We will need your involvement to make this project a success. If you have any information that our liaisons will need to know about new programs or other factors that might take a journal off this list, please get back to your liaison by May 1st. Otherwise subscriptions to the listed journals will be cancelled effective January 1, 2006. Because we are only reviewing a portion of the journal collection this year, we cannot entertain substitutes. We will be posting additional lists of journals and serials over the next several years, until we have worked through the entire collection.
One of the lowest marks we received from the LibQUAL survey last Spring indicated that faculty and graduate students felt that we did not have enough print and electronic journals. We have not had any new funds to add journals to our collection for many years, and we are not funded enough to take advantage of electronic journal packages. We know that the number of new disciplines and journals is always growing. We see no other way to manage this problem, but to look at journal use, offer alternatives for high cost-per-use journals and over time shift some of our gained funds to support new areas. We will do this by monitoring Interlibrary Loan and Infotrieve and when a journal has high use, we will consider purchasing print or electronic access. This is the beginning of an ongoing review as we work to shape the collection to better meet the needs of the University community.
For more information please look at the accompanying materials on the sidebar to the left where we are posting a copy of the journal list, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), contact information for Library Liaisons, and a place for you to post questions and comments. Please use those resources, or feel free to email me at
claudia.morner@unh.edu or call me directly at 862-1540 if you would like to speak to me about this project. I welcome your feedback.
Sincerely,
Claudia J. Morner, Ph.D.
Professor and University Librarian
