What is the impact of the "Scholarly Communication Crisis" on the University of Maryland Libraries?
Like many other research libraries, the budget of the University of Maryland Libraries has not kept pace with the increase in prices of scholarly publications. While our campus' collections have languished, new and dynamic areas of scholarship have been developing and many established areas have grown. In this environment, it has become increasingly important to align our collections as closely as possible with our campus' needs. The Libraries have reorganized their staff and are seeking to engage faculty and other users to work with their liaisons to make the most effective decisions on how to build our collections--both paper and electronic.
Many will remember the two journal cuts of 1993-1994. During the 1990's the budget for the Libraries supported only inflationary increases for the existing collection of journals, but funding for books did not see the same adjustment for inflation. Throughout the decade, new journals could only be added through the cancellation of existing titles to allow for the necessary funding. A small number of new purchases were made as a result of cancellations or opportunities to consolidate existing subscriptions, but this is not the norm.
In more recent times, the FY04 budget brought the third consecutive year of budget cuts for UM Libraries. In response, the Libraries reduced serial expenditures by 5% through a serials cancellation process, which saw the discontinuation of over 600 titles. In addition, budget retrenchments coupled with ever-increasing serial costs has caused the Libraries to move to electronic-only access in 2004 for American Institute of Physics, American Physical Society, Oxford University Press, and Elsevier serial titles.
To find more about the UM Libraries 2003 serials cancellation process, see Budget Cuts and UM Libraries' Collections
To find more about UM Libraries move to electronic-only access for selected publishers, see Moving Beyond Paper: More Journal Subscriptions to be received only in Electronic Form
To find more about the costs of books and journals, see Monograph and Serial Costs in ARL Libraries, 1986-2002.
To find more about materials expenditures for ARL libraries, see Ranked Lists for Academic Institutions.
