Frequently Asked Questions about MU Libraries Serials Cancellations

How did the Libraries decide which titles to cancel?

The Libraries began working last year with the Faculty Senate Library Committee and quickly agreed on two guiding principles. First, maintaining access to intellectual content would be the primary goal. To make some savings without reducing the number of accessible serials titles we will cancel subscriptions that duplicate one title in multiple formats. For example, titles that we subscribe to in print and microfilm will have microfilm cancelled, or titles that are full-text in EbscoHost will be cancelled in print. These titles were gathered by the Libraries and marked for cancellation.

Second, we decided to focus on the materials with the highest cost and lowest usage. These are journals in the hard sciences, and the Libraries proposed a plan that was accepted by the College of Science wherein the Libraries would provide COS faculty with pay-per-view access for articles in the cancelled titles. Each COS department was given a list of their serial subscriptions, along with cost and estimated usage figures for each title. The College determined a dollar figure in cancellations for each department to meet, the COS faculty will choose the titles to be cancelled.

Are other steps being taken to balance the budget?

Yes, before any reductions were made in the materials budget, operating budgets were reduced as much as possible. Book purchases will be suspended this year, except for items needed for Reserves or critical for research. Commercial binding will also be suspended, and the Libraries also realized significant cost savings by eliminating some print standing orders for legal materials and subscribing to WestLaw Campus online instead. Additional savings were made by shifting some online subscriptions to other vendors who were able to provide better pricing. And some low-use electronic databases were eliminated.

What is the timeline for the cancellations?

The Library must submit the cancellations to our serials vendor by October 1 in order to avoid delays with renewed titles. Cancellations will begin in January, 2004.

Will all the canceled titles be unavailable?

No, the majority of print serials that are cancelled will be available online in EbscoHost. The College of Science titles will be unavailable, except for the document delivery system for COS faculty. Users outside the College of Science may use the normal IDS information delivery service.

If I want an article from a title that was cancelled and is not available in EbscoHost, how do I get it?

Because the COS titles that will be canceled are used primarily for faculty research, a pay-per-view system for access to these titles will be instituted for faculty in the COS. If you are a faculty member in the College of Science the Libraries will provide document delivery access to you for those titles your College cancelled. You may access this service at the Library's Information Delivery Services (IDS) page. Users outside the College of Science may use the normal IDS information delivery service.

Why is so much emphasis placed on subscriptions? Don't the Libraries buy a lot of books?

Serials costs nationwide have been increasing at an inflation factor of 8-10% per year for the last ten years. The ideal mix of serials: book expenditures in academic libraries is 60:40. Over the past few years at Marshall the serials budget has been consuming more and more of the total so that serials expenditures comprise over 90% of the materials budget. Thus, while monographs consume less than 10%, we cannot balance the budget even simply by eliminating book purchases. This year we are greatly reducing the amount we will spend on monographs by purchasing only a small number of titles that faculty deem to be critical for research and teaching, but even so, serials cuts are a necessity.

The Libraries are trying to reduce all continuing commitments. These are generally of two types: subscriptions to print or electronic resources and standing orders for monographic series. The Libraries have subscriptions to over a thousand journal titles and close to one hundred electronic resources, which are also mainly licensed as annual subscriptions. A standing order for a monographic series can cost as much or more on an annual basis than a journal subscription. The Libraries are looking to balance the materials budget by cancellations in all of these categories of commitments.

Can't the Libraries save money by accessing journals online?

Many people wonder if canceling print journals and relying on web-based versions can save the Libraries money. Unfortunately, market-wide, publishers seem more likely to view electronic publishing as an opportunity to increase their revenues than as an opportunity to increase the affordability of their journals. In many cases, print simply cannot be cut without loss of electronic access to the title. In cases where print can be cancelled for a savings, the savings are typically on the order of 10% of the print price.

Large full-text databases like EbscoHost allow us to access thousands of titles for less than the cost of a print subscription for each title individually, and we are canceling print subscriptions to those titles, but replacing print titles on a one-by-one basis with each publisher's online version would not provide savings.

Does this mean no new serials titles are possible?

Yes, the budget will not support any new serials subscriptions for the 2003-04 fiscal year. Until the Libraries are confident that there are sufficient funds to maintain as many existing resources as possible, the addition of new resources cannot be practically considered.

How is the Serials Review we completed last year related to the cancellations?

The Serials Review that was completed last year gave faculty an opportunity to cancel serials titles that no longer met their needs and to add 79 new titles to replace them. Our plan is to conduct such a review every three to five years, but the Serials Review was not related to the cancellations that will be made this year.

Who do I talk to about a cancelled title?

Please direct any questions to Jingping Zhang, Associate Dean of Libraries, at extension 2326.

Will there be further cuts next year?

Looking toward fiscal 2004-05, it is certainly possible that further cuts will be necessary. If there are further University-wide budget cuts then serials cancellations will certainly be needed across all academic disciplines. Even if the University is spared further cuts, published projections of journal inflation are predicting 12% inflation for fiscal 2004-05 due to the weakening dollar and other industry factors. It is important to remember that book funds cannot be raided indefinitely to prop up serial purchases. After all, monographic purchases add value to collections as much as serials.

The Libraries will work the Faculty Senate Library Committee and with all faculty and academic departments during the 2003-04 academic year to ready a list of possible cuts so that we are in a position to respond next year if cuts are needed. More information about this effort will be forthcoming.

Last updated 9-10-04