Budget forces library to scale back subscriptions

The Charles V. Park Library is cutting some journal and magazine subscriptions because of budget limitations.

The library has been unable to maintain its budget due to increasing prices on subscriptions, officials said.

Subscriptions take up approximately 80 percent of the library’s acquisitions budget. Cuts have already been taking place in library, but use of the journal subscriptions is one of the key factors in deciding the materials that stay and go.

“We decided to recommend for cancellation the titles for which the use is low and encourage users of those titles to request the articles they need through Interlibrary Loan,” said Associate Dean of Libraries Anne Casey.

She said usage over time determined what is getting cut.

“If a print title had less than 20 uses over the four and a half years, or if an electronic title had less than 60 over the same time period, we put them on a default cancellation list,” Casey said.

Since 2001-02, the subscription budget for the library has increased nearly eight percent. Casey said that cancelling subscriptions has actually already taken place, but now they are looking at taking more drastic measures.

The Park Library has asked professors to stop their lower-priority journal subscriptions. Very few have responded, according to a library serials analysis.

Much of the criteria for deciding the materials that leaves or stays at the library will also be determined by the cost versus use ratio.

From March 1 until April 17 the library will seek input from faculty on recommendations to terminate specific titles, according to a library serials analysis.

A list of serials titles to be removed from the CMU 2010 subscription list will be finalized by May 1.

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