MESSAGE ABOUT FINAL LIST OF JOURNAL, E-BOOK, AND DATABASE CANCELLATIONS SHARED WITH FACULTY AND STAFF ON MAY 12, 2022
Thank you for your collaboration and feedback throughout the University Libraries’ project to identify journals, e-books, and databases to cancel. Your guidance in making these decisions was incredibly important and appreciated.
After careful consideration, we have finalized the list of journals that will be eliminated on Dec. 31, 2022, because of duplication, low use, high cost per use, and/or lack of strategic importance to research areas. Cuts targeted duplications first since the dynamic nature of scholarly publishing can lead to the purchase of identical content from multiple providers.
As many of you will recall, we proposed cancelling our subscription to the Web of Science database because it provides the same functions as Scopus. Cancelling Web of Science would have made a substantial impact in reaching the amount of savings we had hoped to realize with this project. However, due to a variety of factors, including your feedback, further evaluation is required to make a final decision. We will continue our assessment of Web of Science over the summer and announce a final decision early in the fall 2022 semester.
Currently, the project has assisted the Libraries in nearly reaching its $1 million goal to offset the inflationary impact of renewing digital subscriptions, support staff retention, and improve recruitment efforts. As the scholarly publishing ecosystem evolves, we will continue to work with you to ensure the Libraries provides robust collections through traditional acquisition methods, such as Interlibrary Loan, or on-demand purchases.
Subscriptions managed by the UI Law Library are not included in the cancellations. For more information on the overall review process, please visit this FAQ.
Thank you again for your participation and please don’t hesitate to reach out to your library liaison with general questions.
John Culshaw
Jack B. King university librarian
PROJECT OVERVIEW INFORMATION SHARED ON MARCH 17, 2022
UI Libraries cutting $1 million in resources to reinvest in staff, combat inflation
Following a growing trend among higher education institutions, the University of Iowa Libraries is initiating a resource review to identify journals, e-books, and databases to cancel. The project will allow the Libraries to reallocate about $1 million to offset the inflationary impact of renewing digital subscriptions, support staff retention, and improve recruitment efforts.
“The services provided by the University Libraries are central to each element of the university’s strategic plan: student, faculty, and staff success; research and discovery; and engagement,” says John Culshaw, Jack B. King university librarian. “Providing the campus community with an appropriate balance of services and information resources needed to be successful in academic and high-impact research pursuits is critical.”
Cuts will target duplication first since the dynamic nature of scholarly publishing can lead to the purchase of identical content from multiple providers.
The most critical element of determining which journals, databases, and e-books will no longer be accessible will be consultation with faculty and graduate students, who will have the opportunity to provide input about which are considered most important to teaching, learning, and research. The specialty and research materials used by faculty and graduate students are typically more expensive than the general subject materials used by undergraduates.
The timeline for the process will be:
- The Libraries will share initial lists of proposed cancellations with colleges and departments via liaison librarians. The lists, based on subscription usage and cost data, will be organized by discipline. Faculty, researchers, and graduate students will be able to provide feedback to liaison librarians.
- Faculty, researchers, and graduate students will receive a proposed cancellation list several weeks later, offering another opportunity to provide input.
- A final list of canceled subscriptions for journals, databases, and e-books will be shared with campus in May.
Subscriptions managed by the UI Law Library are not included in the online subscriptions reduction strategy.