How can I find out more about Western’s Subscription Reductions Review?
What are the relevant deadlines for the Subscription Reductions Review?
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The SATF report enables an academic department to request that a title on the proposed cancellation list be considered for retention based upon defensible criteria as described in the SATF report’s fourth general principle. Department chairs should coordinate all requests within the department and submit a single, department-approved list of titles, with justifications, to
Collections Services, no later than Friday, April 29, at 5:00 p.m. Retention requests submitted after that date will not be considered. Western Libraries is not able to consider journal retention requests from individual faculty.
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After April 29, Western Libraries faculty will meet to review all department retention requests. Western Libraries faculty will collectively analyze and prioritize the retention requests based upon the defensible criteria submitted by each department chair. The prioritized list will serve as the basis for negotiations with vendors. Immediately after completed negotiations with vendors (by or shortly after Friday, May 20, at 5:00 p.m.), Western Libraries will publish on its web site a final list of cancellations and a description of the process and criteria they used in prioritizing the department retention requests. The University will seek to keep as many requested journals as funding allows. Cancellations will take effect in the 2017 calendar year.
Why is the list of proposed cancellations so long, and how did it come to be?
What is the projected reduction, in dollars, of the resource access budget?
Assuming at best minimal permanent additions to the resource access budget or predictable, one-time funds to meet recurring financial obligations, the Libraries estimates that it will need to reduce FY17 resource expenditures by $315,000.
Why does the Library project significant scholarly resource deficits of this magnitude?
The anticipated deficits are primarily the result of escalating journal and database prices, compounded at an average of 6% annually. The Libraries has historically transferred salaries/benefits savings or other unspent operating funds to the resource access budget at the end of each fiscal year, but these funds have dramatically decreased in recent years due to increased costs.
Can funds from the Libraries operating budget transfer to the resources budget, and vice versa?
The Libraries does not transfer funds from the resources budget to the operating budget but will, when possible, transfer funds from the operating budget to the resources budget.
Will the Libraries operating budget be cut?
The Libraries annually reviews its operating budget and makes strategic, programmatic adjustments intended to maximize efficiency and effectiveness while holding costs at or below previous spending levels.
Will the Libraries need to cut staff to cover deficits in the resources budget?
No. The Western Libraries is committed to quality programs and services to faculty and students. Staff cuts would be highly detrimental to the Libraries’ core teaching and learning mission. Further, the Western Libraries’ staff to student ratio is below national peers (Large Master’s-granting institutions with 10,000+ student FTE) and should not be further degraded.
Why must the University focus much of its attention on cancelling serials?
The Libraries spends approximately 89% of collections funds on recurring expenses (primarily journals and databases) and the remaining 11% on one-time expenses (e.g., printed books, e-books, DVDs, microfiche and microfilm, Summit borrowing, single article purchases, and copyright fees). Western’s current subscriptions increase in cost approximately 6% per year, books 4%, and Summit borrowing, single article purchases, and copyright 2%. To prevent subscriptions from consuming the entire collections budget and to bring Western’s subscription and one-time expenditures ratio into line with national peers, the task force must cut serials subscriptions.
Are subscriptions associated with decision package funds on the list of proposed cancellations?
All currently eligible subscriptions with three or more years of use data, including subscriptions associated with decision package funds, are included or excluded as warranted by each title’s 3-Year Cost Per Use, which is determined by Cost (each title’s 2016 unit price) multiplied by 3, then divided by Use (total number of uses over the past three years). All subscriptions with less than three years of use data, including recent subscriptions associated with decision package funds, are excluded from the list.
Will the Libraries also spend less on books?
No. The Libraries will continue to identify effective means of providing books to its users.
Are there alternatives for access to canceled journals, other than Summit and interlibrary loan?
The Libraries provides access to several full-text databases such as Academic Search Complete and Business Source Complete, ProQuest Newsstand and significant portions of JSTOR. These article databases offer access to the full text of many journals, magazines and newspapers.
In some cases, full-text article databases are not an exact substitute for a full subscription to a journal. Coverage may not include every article, letters to the editor, book review, or graphic (illustrations, charts, or maps). Additionally, many of the journals included in these types of databases have “embargo periods.” This means that the publisher of an embargoed title does not allow the database to release the full-text content for a predetermined length of time.
What will happen to the online back-files or archives of a journal if the current subscription is canceled?
In some cases, after cancelling a current journal subscription the Libraries will maintain electronic access to the subscribed years and/or the previously paid backfiles of a journal. The Libraries will carefully watch the implications of subscription cancellations on backfiles and will limit negative impact on library users to the extent possible.
How can Western faculty support sustainable scholarly communication?
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Support open access and contribute a pre- or post-publication version of your scholarly work to Western CEDAR,
http://cedar.wwu.edu/, the university’s institutional repository. CEDAR is a service of Western Libraries in partnership with the Graduate School, the Office of the Provost, and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. By showcasing Western’s scholarly and creative works, CEDAR facilitates global discovery and promotes open access and sustainable scholarly communication.
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Be aware of publisher policies regarding authors’ retention of copyright. Insist on the right to self-archive your work in CEDAR or other open access repositories. Contact
westerncedar@wwu.edu to learn how to retain your rights.
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Consider publishing with professional associations, societies, and other organizations that employ effective, sustainable means of distributing scholarly information. If you serve on the executive or editorial board of a scholarly society, encourage the organization to publish its journal(s) open access.
Whom should I contact at the Libraries for additional information?
Today: