As a result of continued inflation for books and journals, coupled with the proliferation of costly electronic resources, the University Libraries must make plans to adjust spending for library acquisitions to remain within budget next fiscal year (2007-8). To remain within budget the University Libraries will need to identify for cancellation about $225,000 in recurring commitments (journals, databases and other similar acquisitions) and make plans to buy fewer books. During the current academic year (2006-07), librarians will work with faculty, students and researchers to identify what can be cancelled with the least damage, with most cuts taking effect in 2008.
Even though the acquisitions budget has increased 5% each of the past several years, the cost of materials continues to rise at an even faster rate. As a result of favorable consortial arrangements for licensing some electronic resources and the cancellation of printed equivalents for many of these e-resources, the University Libraries has been able to avoid a system-wide cancellation project for nearly five years. By now we have exhausted alternatives and the cumulative effects of inflation in excess of budget increases require that we take this action now.
The marketplace for scholarly publishing continues to be marked by high costs and high rates of inflation. Between 2001 and 2006 the mean price of the nearly 6000 academic journals covered by ISI’s Web of Knowledge increased by 65% (from an average of $697 to $1147 per title). The Libraries budget during this period has gone up approximately 28%, a generous rate of increase during difficult economic times, but short of the amount needed to cover increased costs.
While a number of efforts like SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) and more recently the Open Access movement have gotten underway and begun to effect change, a small number of commercial publishers still control a large part of the market, especially in scientific publishing. Four commercial publishers, Elsevier, Springer, Blackwell and Wiley currently receive over 25% of the Libraries’ acquisitions budget. Like most of our peer institutions, we have entered into contractual arrangements with these and other publishers and purchase journals from them bundled as a package (sometimes referred to as a “big deal” because of the amounts involved). These bundles provide significantly greater access than before and a cap on price increases, but require that we maintain a specified level of spending over the life of the contract, thus limiting our flexibility. The e-journals supplied by these and other publishers, with their anytime/anywhere access for multiple users, have become highly valued resources for faculty and students, as usage data for online access indicates.
Because the nature of the literature supporting different disciplines varies widely, the impact of reduced spending power will play out in different ways depending on the subject. In the humanities and some of the social sciences, the primary result will be the purchase of fewer books, although journal titles in these fields will also be reviewed and some canceled. In recent years the Libraries has moved aggressively in many fields to electronic only access to journals, eliminating print versions where savings are possible and archival access assured. This change has taken place more slowly in the humanities and social sciences, but we expect during the current project to give serious consideration to elimination of print subscriptions where persistent and reliable electronic versions exist. Subject specialists in many social sciences and in the sciences, engineering and health sciences will have to reduce journal commitments to remain within budget. They will also in some cases cut back on book purchases. In addition to journals (both electronic and print) and books, we expect to scrutinize closely other ongoing commitments, especially databases where cost per use indicates low value.
Questions about the process or the reasons for this project may be directed to Edward Shreeves, Associate University Librarian and Director for Collections and Content Development, by phone at 319-335-5871, or by email at edward-shreeves@uiowa.edu.