March 2002: Issue 16

2002 Review of Journals and Proposed Cancellations

Patrick Wilkinson
wilkinso@uwosh.edu

Below is the text of a letter that I sent to deans, department chairs and departmental or college library representatives on February 25, 2002. In the next issue of Polk Library News, I will report on how scholars world-wide are trying to make the research literature of the world available at reasonable costs.

Background

As reported in the last two issues of Polk Library News, the 2001 - 2003 state budget contained no increased funding for library materials. The consequences of flat budgets and increased costs for library materials have predictable results. Polk Library will be buying fewer books, videos, reference materials and journals. To stay within budget for 2002 -2003, the library needs to make cuts in its journal collection.

UW Oshkosh is not unique in facing the problem of rising journal costs. According to the Association of Research Libraries, serial costs rose 226% from 1986 to 2000. During the same period, costs for monographs rose only 66%, and the Consumer Price Index increased just 49%. In addition, state funding for UW library collections has increased only 2 years out of the last 10 years. Unfortunately, a few commercial publishers have aggravated this problem by expanding their control of the research journal market and demanding exorbitant prices for their journals. These publishers seem to place maximizing profits over expanding access to research information.

All UW System libraries need to respond to this situation. So far this fiscal year, UW libraries have canceled over $800,000 worth of journal titles. Obviously, this is a difficult situation when so much depends on peer-reviewed literature - - scholarship, teaching, learning, promotion and tenure. Library directors in UW System are aware of this and are looking at ways to coordinate journal cancellations so UW faculty, students and staff have access to all the research literature that they need. For example, I am hopeful that by Fall 2002 Polk Library will be able to provide to all instructors and graduate students effective electronic desktop delivery of articles from journals canceled by the library since 1994.

What Your Department or College Needs to Do By April 12

Attached is a list of all the journal subscriptions currently assigned to your department or college [A spreadsheet was attached to this letter when it was sent to deans, department chairs and departmental or college library representatives]. This list gives title, total use from four use studies, use from the 2001 use study, 2001 cost of the journal and subject codes indicating to what department a specific title is assigned. The journal titles that the library proposes to cancel are shaded in gray. The journals proposed for cancellation had 0 - 3 uses during four use studies or have an extremely high cost per use ratio. The library will not propose for cancellation any of the small number of titles added in the past two years. Also, attached for your information is a listing of the subject codes.

Your department or college is specifically requested to respond to the proposed cancellations in light of current and future curricular trends, accreditation needs and other relevant information known to your department or college. In addition to commenting on proposed cancellations, you may recommend the acquisition of new journal titles. Please note that any new titles added would need to be done in the context of an overall reduction in the number of titles that the library receives.

All comments on the proposed cancellations or requests to add a new title must come officially from the department chair. In Business Administration, Education and Human Services, and Nursing, the library asks that the comments come officially from the chair of the college library committee or dean whichever is most appropriate for the college. These official responses should be sent to Cynthia Huebschen, Polk Library's Collection Development Officer, no later than April 12, 2002.

Final decisions for cancellations and new subscriptions will rest with Polk Library. If a department or college does not respond by April 12, Polk Library will assume that the titles proposed for cancellation can be cancelled without further departmental or college comment.
Guidelines for Decisions

After April 12, Polk Library will review comments and make final cancellation and addition decisions using the following guidelines. All ten guidelines below will be used for cancellation decisions. The last eight guidelines will be used for addition decisions.

• The publication has received low use in four use studies.
• The publication has a high cost per use.
• The publication is indexed in an index owned or licensed by the library.
• The publication fills an information need not covered by other titles.
• The publication is expected to support student research.
• The publication directly supports the department's curriculum.
• The publication is available from the library online in full text or full image. See http://qh9xe5ap4v.search.serialssolutions.com/ for a list of journals that are available online.
• The publication is reasonably priced, and its publisher does not have a history of inordinate annual price increases.
• The publication is owned by another library within UW System.
• The publication is available through interlibrary loan or document delivery.

Final Decisions and Future Considerations

Final decisions will be communicated to departments and colleges by mid-May. Cancellation decisions must be made in May so that savings will occur in the 2002 - 2003 fiscal year.
Currently, Polk Library anticipates that it needs to reduce its journal budget by $45,000 for 2002 - 2003. This figure may be revised up or down when final decisions are made in May. At that time, the library will have a clearer understanding of the impact of journal inflation for the current fiscal year and will know what libraries and periodical vendors are projecting for journal inflation in 2002 - 2003.
Considering the current state budget situation, the prospects for increased library funding do not look bright in the 2003 - 2005 biennium. Consequently, further reductions may be necessary in the coming years. Therefore, Polk Library will continue to do regular use studies of the journal collection.
Polk Library and all libraries within UW System will endeavor to manage these cuts and explore effective means of alternative access to research journals so faculty, students and staff have access to a wide range of high quality research literature. Thank you for your cooperation and input as we all work through these difficult issues.

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Universal Borrowing: One System, One Library

Paulette Feld
feld@uwosh.edu

When the Wisconsin State Legislature approved the Voyager Library System for all University of Wisconsin System libraries, the funding was provided, in part, because it included the concept of "universal borrowing" - UB. UB would make over 9 million titles from all UW System libraries available to every eligible patron on any campus.

Currently, libraries at all UW campuses except Madison, Milwaukee and the two-year Colleges have implemented Universal Borrowing. They will be added to UB as they come online after testing UB. System-wide implementation is expected by late spring 2002.

When would you use Universal Borrowing?

If a title is not available from Polk Library (either not held in our collection, or is checked out), you can locate that item at another UW System Library using the Other Catalogs button within the Polk Library Catalog.

When your item arrives at Polk Library, it will be held for pickup at the Circulation Desk for 5 days. Books will be checked out for 28 days. Audiovisual and curriculum material will be checked out for 14 days. UB material cannot be renewed.

Universal Borrowing does not replace traditional Interlibrary Loan (ILL). If you need materials from libraries outside of the UW system, ILL is still the process to use. ILL will still process requests for materials available at UW libraries. However, UB may get those materials to you faster. ILL is also the method to use to request periodical articles that are not available online. Periodicals (journal articles and reference titles) cannot be requested using UB.

Most collections at Polk Library will be eligible for UB checkout to other UW system library patrons. This includes materials in the Education Media Collection (EMC) and the Browsing Room. Collections excluded from UB include the Reference Collection, Reserves, and periodicals. Book materials will circulate for 28 days, plus delivery time. Videos, software, Browsing Room books, etc., will circulate for 14 days.

Since UB materials are circulated statewide, it will be important that materials needed for classroom purposes, such as videos or items for reserve should be booked at least one month in advance through our Circulation Department.

Fines are not assessed for overdue material; however, individual patrons are responsible for replacement and any other processing fees if the material is not returned to the owning library. All UW libraries will enforce these policies as part of this cooperative venture.

For UB Instructions, visit:
http://www.uwosh.edu/library/ubhandout.html

Stop by the Reference Desk to see how easy UB can be!

Library Outreach Services Go the Distance

Renée Sengele
sengele@uwosh.edu

Teaching a class on the 'Net,
The professor started to fret.
"If my students need articles
On subatomic particles,
Can they get what they need to get?"

Fret no more, my good professor. Whether you're teaching a class on the Internet, via teleconferencing, or at a remote site, Polk Library can provide you and your students with the same kinds of resources and services that are available here on campus.

Your student in Marinette needs an article for her research paper?

Many of Polk Library's journal databases have full-text articles online, and as a UW-Oshkosh student, she can use these databases from home by logging in with her university email username and the last four digits of her Social Security Number.

Your student in Wausau wants an article that isn't online?

We'll send copies of articles we own to UW-Oshkosh students studying at a distance, and those materials we don't own we can get for them from other libraries. See http://www.uwosh.edu/library/distanceed/docdelivery.html for more details and to find online article request forms.

Your student in Stevens Point desperately needs a book for his project?

UW-System libraries are increasingly sharing resources, so he can use his Titan Card to borrow books from the UW-Stevens Point library, or he can make a request for us to send a UW-Oshkosh book to Stevens Point. See http://www.uwosh.edu/library/ubhandout.html for instructions on how to place a request.

Your student in Green Bay doesn't know what keywords to use in her search?

She can e-mail the reference desk at infodesk@uwosh.edu, and a reference librarian would be happy to help her get started.

Your students in your remote class are starting a research assignment and you wish someone could show them some good searching techniques?

We'd be excited to discuss ways that we could teach our information seeking workshops in new online or teleconference formats. Contact Marisa Finkey, Library Instruction Coordinator (finkey@uwosh.edu) or Renée Sengele, Outreach Services Librarian (sengele@uwosh.edu) for more information.

We at Polk Library are excited about the growing opportunities for education at a distance from UW-Oshkosh, and we'd like to talk to you more about ways we can help your distance students find the information they need to learn and prepare for their futures!
For more information, contact Renée Sengele, Outreach Services Librarian, at 920-424-7331 or via email at sengele@uwosh.edu.

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Polk Library News is a publication of Forrest R. Polk Library, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.

Sarah Neises, editor. Polk Library 920-424-0401 neises@uwosh.edu

Patrick Wilkinson, Director, Polk Library 920-424-2147 wilkinso@uwosh.edu

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