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Due to a budget shortfall, the University Library was forced to cut over $200,000 worth of periodicals for the 2008 subscription year. The overall cost of journals increases by at least 7% per year, while the Library’s materials budget essentially remains flat. For FY2008, our materials budget was actually about $150,000 less than the total amount spent in FY2007. After factoring in the inflation in journal prices and the weak dollar, it was clear that our FY2008 budget was about $450,000 less than needed to maintain current journal and database subscriptions and continue to purchase books. The Dean of Libraries conferred with the Provost in early fall 2007 explaining the Library’s budget situation. The Provost asked the Library to hold off on canceling journals in the hope that more funding could be secured. The Library postponed renewing our subscriptions until the last possible moment. Since we had not received any additional funds, we knew that we had to cut subscriptions. Typically, when the Library decides to cancel journals, the Library’s subject selectors work with academic departments to identify journals to be cancelled. Due to the last-minute nature of these cancellations, however, this was not possible. The titles on the list below were online-only subscriptions or had an online component. We selected these titles for cancellation based on online usage statistics: titles that were used 10 or fewer times per year in 2006 and 2007 (prorated) were canceled. Subsequently, in early 2008, the Library received a budget supplement of $450,000. This amount will enable us to pay for our journals and databases for the remainder of the year. However, it is not enough to allow for the reinstatement of canceled journals or the addition of new subscriptions. The subscriptions that were cut provided access to the current issues of the journals. In many cases, access to content from prior years is still available through databases such as JSTOR or Academic Search Premier. For available access, consult the Library’s A-Z List of Electronic Journals. For more information on serials costs and the crisis in scholarly communication, and what scholars can do to help, please see the websites of Create Change and SPARC: The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition. If you would like more information please contact the subject selector responsible for your department or college.
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