A 1.5 % budget rescission applied to the Libraries' Seattle campus budgets, anticipated additional cuts to those budgets due to expected reductions in state support in 2009-2011, and projected continuing price increases require that we reduce ongoing obligations represented by our serials and electronic resources subscriptions. These subscriptions comprise more than 75 % of our overall information resources budget.
The Libraries submitted a business plan to the Provost in February, 2009 for its Seattle operations that included projected cuts to its operation, personnel and information resources budgets. Estimated cuts in information resources budget purchasing power ranged from approximately $1.9 million to $2.4 million, or 15.7% - 19.7%.
The 8-12% ranges are in addition to this year's 1.5% rescission and an estimated 6.2% unfunded inflationary increase on information resources for next year.
Yes. UW Seattle librarians will be working closely with their respective faculty and departments throughout the review process.
It is very likely that resources of interest to UW Bothell and UW Tacoma faculty and students will be considered for cancellation; every effort will be made to share that information and consider impact across the three campuses during the review process.
A combined list of proposed titles for cancellation from all funds will be posted on the Web. This will allow for a campus review of the titles proposed for cancellation. The funding cycle requires that the process be conducted through summer into early fall. Please contact your library liaison/subject specialist with your concerns about any title.
We will be looking at a variety of factors, but especially at cost-per-use data and duplication of content among databases and other resources. Whenever possible and appropriate, where we pay for print and electronic, we will retain only the electronic. However, it may not be possible to cancel some electronic titles because they may be included in multi-year subscription packages that we cannot at present renegotiate or cancel.
We anticipate cuts to the book budget as well. Subject librarians may reach their reduction targets by a combination of book budget cuts and serial cancellations, and across-the-board book budget cuts may be considered in 2009-2010 depending on the severity of the Libraries information resources budget reduction.
Duplication occurs for various reasons. Many books are only available in print, and multiple copies may be necessary because of high demand. Some subscriptions automatically include print with the electronic version, or a print copy is required because it contains better quality of graphics than the electronic version. Even though an electronic journal may be included in an "aggregator" database (such as Ebsco's Academic Search Complete), we may choose to maintain a subscription to the title because the "aggregator" version may not have cover-to-cover content, or it may be subject to a "embargo period" which means the publisher of the title does not allow the database to release new content for a predetermined length of time (typically 6-12 months). In addition, titles in "aggregator" databases may disappear from one year to the next, for reasons over which the Libraries has no control. Nevertheless, the Libraries will be carefully scrutinizing duplication as one of its strategies.
We will be reviewing our preservation and binding budgets to achieve economies. For example, we will discontinue binding issues of journals we also receive electronically when the electronic version is archived by one of the electronic archiving services to which we subscribe.
At a meeting in January, 2009, of collection development officers of large research libraries, the vast majority reported they are planning for significant cuts to their information resources budgets. Among the libraries engaging in serial and electronic resources reviews are the following:
Work with librarians in your subject areas to identify titles whose cancellation will have the least impact. As titles come up for consideration, lists will be posted for your review. While we are aware that there will be some level of concern about every title proposed for cancellation, we must meet our goal of working within the budget.
Faculty often offer to provide their personal journal subscriptions as a substitute for the higher-priced institutional subscriptions, but we are unable to accept them for legal and logistical reasons. As an alternative, the Libraries can accept monetary donations toward collection development. Please contact Cynthia Asmus, Director for Advancement at 206 685-1973 or casmus@u.washington.edu for more information. In addition, gifts of current books (especially review copies) can provide valuable information resources for our users.
Scholarly communication encompasses such complex issues as journal pricing and author rights, and the Libraries has assembled information to help faculty become and stay informed [for example, see relevant pages on the Libraries Website and on HealthLinks.] Controlling journal price increases is probably the single most critical issue facing library budgets worldwide, and faculty can help by publishing in moderately-priced journals, working with editorial boards to minimize publisher price increases, and by submitting their work to disciplinary repositories like PubMed Central and the UW Libraries' ResearchWorks repository.
The responsibility for developing and managing the Libraries' collections rests with over 70 subject libararians or liaisons who represent the library collection interests of the academic departments. Contacting the liaison/subject specialist for your area(s) is a good first step. A second contact is Linda Di Biase, Collection Management Librarian, ldibiase@u.washington.edu or 543-9784.
For Health Sciences, please contact Bonnie McTaggart, Resources Management Librarian, bmctag@u.washington.edu or 206 543-7229, or Neil Rambo, Acting Director, Health Sciences Libraries, nrambo@u.washington.edu or 206 543-5531.
For general concerns you may also contact Tim Jewell, Director, Information Resources and Scholarly Communication, tjewell@u.washington.edu, 206-543-3890, or Lizabeth (Betsy) Wilson, Dean of University Libraries at 543-1763 or betsyw@u.washington.edu.
