Spring 2010 Journal Review
March 11, 2010
Academic research libraries across the U.S. are experiencing budget challenges due to the economic downturn and the cumulative effect of an annual inflation rate of 5 - 8 % on the cost of books, journals, electronic resources and other materials used by students and faculty. At UMass Amherst since FY 08, the campus has struggled to maintain level-funding of the library materials acquisitions budget. But, level funding means we lose more than $300,000 each year in purchasing power due to inflationary pricing. By FY11, a level-funded budget combined with inflation, will have reduced the materials budget purchasing power by more than 15% in a three-year period.
In the short term, we have made up for this inflationary budget reduction by limiting the allocation for print books we purchase. This figure has gone from approximately $1 million in FY 08 to less than $500,000 in FY 10. Absent a significant budget increase in FY11, the Libraries will need to reduce the amount we spend on journals and e-resources by approximately $900,000. This will maintain a minimal level of book acquisitions and pay for the cost of inflation on journals and e-resources.
To make these reductions, we will be examining low-use titles and titles that no longer align closely with campus teaching and research needs. For the past five years, the Libraries have monitored the use of print and online journals. This information allows us to determine whether it is more cost effective to subscribe to a given journal or whether it is better to provide access through Interlibrary Loan. The standard metric for fulfilling an article request through ILL is $50. We used this metric to determine which titles are in low demand
The Libraries shared with the Faculty Senate Research Library Council (RLC) the need to reduce our continuing resource expenditures by $900,000 at their December 2009 meeting. We specifically recommended canceling any title that cost more than $50 per use absent compelling faculty feedback. The RLC concurred with this proposal.
We seek faculty assistance with this campus-wide review. Below is a list of all print and online journals not part of bundled, online journal packages. It includes title, academic department, 2009 price, FY08 and FY09 use, and cost-per-use, and is sorted by the academic department for whom we purchase the title. We recognize, though, that much of the teaching and research conducted on campus is interdisciplinary in nature and have included a second worksheet on the list sorted alphabetically by title.
The Libraries propose to cancel any title where the cost per-use exceeds $50. If there are core journals important to your discipline that should not be cancelled or if there are other titles you would like us to subscribe to, please direct your comments to your Library liaison (http://www.library.umass.edu/reference/liaisons/html) or Leslie Button, Associate Director for Library Services (button@library.umass.edu) by Friday, April 16.
The most recent Electronic Resources desiderata list, which contains titles faculty members across campus have indicated would be valuable to add to our collection to support campus research and curriculum needs, is available to view on the same web page as the journal review list.
The Library remains committed to owning, within our budgetary constraints, those information resources most needed by faculty and students. We will make every attempt to provide timely access to lesser used resources that are vital to the teaching and research mission of the campus. Any decisions can be reversed with the appropriate demonstration of need for resources.
The information below provides additional information on details on the challenges facing the Libraries materials budget. We look forward to working with you.
Jay Schafer
Director of Libraries
[PDF Attachments]
- Spring 2010 journal review list
- FY10 electronic resources desiderata list
- Materials expenditures by type FY09
Last Edited: 16 August 2010
