FY10 Serials Review
General Information
Subscriptions to ongoing resources (print and electronic journals, databases, newspapers, standing orders to monographic series) account for roughly 70% of the Libraries' materials budget. Prices of serial publications have recently been increasing between 8% and 11% per year, whereas the Libraries' budget has remained static. As a result, in order for the Libraries to manage its funds responsibly, regular attention must be paid to our subscriptions to ensure, for example, that
- prices have not increased beyond the perceived value of the publication
- subscriptions remain aligned with campus research and teaching priorities
- changes in publishers or editorial boards haven't adversely affected the quality of publications
- the Libraries are abreast of changes in available formats and pricing options
The Libraries began the practice of the regular review of its serial commitments in FY01 with a mandate from the Provost's Office to continue this review on a regular three-year cycle to insure that the fiscal commitment to serials expenditures assures the most efficient collection possible. The review provides an opportunity for faculty to help the Libraries reallocate commitments from low-demand titles to new and higher-demand titles. At the same time, when the state requires reductions or publishers' annual price increases badly outrun the budget, the Libraries have good information on the best opportunities for reductions. In return, the University is making an effort to adjust for inflation in the cost of serial information.
- Changes in Publishing
Alternative publication outlets have become available to offer direct competition to expensive commercial journal publishers. In a few instances, editorial boards have acted against the pricing practices of their commercial publishers and left to begin competitor publications. See the peer-reviewed, scholarly journals offered through SPARC.- Open Access initiatives and Institutional Repositories (e.g. DRUM) have begun to exert pressure on traditional publishers and to offer alternatives to authors and libraries alike.
- Mergers and acquisitions among commercial publishers have resulted in less competition in the scholarly journal marketplace.
- Publishers are beginning to explore alternate pricing models. Tiered pricing models, in particular, would have grave, adverse affects to an institution of our size.
- Subscribing to journals only in electronic format has not led to reduced serial prices.
- Changes in Library Services
- The Libraries offer desktop delivery of articles from its print collections to faculty, so duplicate print subscriptions on campus have become less necessary.
- Articles requested through Interlibrary Loan are sent directly to the researcher's computer desktop, usually within days.
- The Libraries doubled the amount that it will pay for faculty members to have articles faxed from the Ingenta service to $60 per article (in the fall of 2004).
- Changes in Statistics
- Subscribing to electronic formats enable the Libraries to collect, analyze, and utilize usage data.
- More and more electronic journal publishers and database vendors are adopting the COUNTER standard for usage data, so the numbers have greater reliability and can be compared across publishers.
- The Libraries began collecting use data of its print journal collections in the fall of 2004.
- Cost per use calculations can be made.
Collection management librarians, who are assigned to academic departments, are asked to examine lists of serials the Libraries purchase to support UM research and teaching. Librarians are charged to work with their departments to review the lists of serials to identify 9% of serials expenditures of those titles that are of lower priority.
Serial Review Resources
Supporting Resources
Spreadsheet listing all current serial subscriptions
Guide to checking payments in Aleph (Word)
Guide to customized search displays in Aleph (Word)
