Library Begins Journal Cancellations
Date: March 16, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
The NMSU Library will need to conduct a journal cancellation project during Spring Semester 2012 due to the rising costs of journal subscriptions that continue to outpace the Library’s flat base budget. As purchasing power declines, the Library must balance its FY13 budget by reducing subscriptions.
Annual journal subscription cancellation projects are a reality that the Library will face on a continuing basis unless there are changes in the costs of scholarly publishing, the Library’s budget or both.
The estimated shortfall this year is $200,000, an amount based on inflation projection for serials (7%) and databases (5%), as well as cancellation penalties. Serials and databases account for 91% of the Library’s materials budget expenditures.
The NMSU Library is not alone in facing these difficulties. The cost of maintaining the current scholarly publishing system has challenged academic and research libraries across the country. For the NMSU Library, the system has become unsustainable without an increase to its base budget.
Professors Susan Beck, Collection Development Coordinator, and John Sandstrom, Acquisitions Librarian, will work with all Library subject specialists to develop a preliminary cancellation list by mid-March.
The criteria used to guide decision-making for this project are: high cost-low use titles, low or no use titles, and titles for which full text access has become available through other database subscriptions.
The preliminary cancellation list will be shared with the campus community so there is time for review and questions. Library staff members will also offer sessions at each NMSU college to explain the process used to build the preliminary list and to answer questions.
Above all, staff will work closely with the Library’s constituents to minimize consequences for teaching and research. All documents will be made available on the FY13 Library Cancellation Project Web site at http://nmsu.libguides.com/budgetcuts.
The process of identifying titles for cancellation will be completed by May 1, 2012, in order for licensing agreements, contracts and subscriptions to be cancelled for FY13. The Library will release the final cancellation list at that time.
The Library is working closely with the University Administration to identify options for strengthening the Library’s budget to better support NMSU’s growing research and teaching programs.
Thank you for your assistance with this challenging project.
For more information, contact Beck at susabeck@nmsu.edu.
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