FY03 Serials Review
General Information
Regular review of continuing purchasing commitments is part of responsible collection management. Recognizing this responsibility librarians regularly review subscriptions for journals and electronic resources as well as standing orders. The Libraries initiated a regular triennial collection-wide review of journals in FY01. Normally this review would have been repeated in FY04. In light of budget pressures affecting the University of Maryland in FY03 and the reasonable expectation that these will increase in FY04, the Libraries recognized the need to review all continuing commitments for materials during FY03.
The FY03 review included print subscriptions (i.e. journals) along with electronic resource subscriptions (databases, e-journals, etc.) and standing orders for series. Because of the broad implications of this prioritization process, the Libraries worked closely with faculty across campus in this process.
As of May 2, the FY03 serial review is complete, with final prioritization lists available by the links below. In the regular triennial cycle, the next collection-wide serial review will occur in FY06. While the formal review is now complete, active management of the serials collections continues. For instance, the FY03 review was not a cancellation project; however, if future budget cutbacks require cancellations, the prioritizations developed through the review process will guide Library faculty in making cancellation decisions. During the intervals between collection-wide review cycles focused reviews of portions of the serials collections may be initiated by individual library faculty as needed. Faculty with concerns about the Libraries serial collections should contact the librarian acting as liaison to their department at any time.
Final lists of low priority titles
Description of the FY03 review process
Supporting Resources
List of serial funds with fund manager indicated
Spreadsheet listing FY03 journal subscriptions (Excel)
Spreadsheet listing FY03 standing orders (Excel)
Spreadsheet listing FY03 electronic resource subscriptions (Excel) (updated 9.24.02)
Tools to assist in evaluating subscriptions:
Database usage statistics from FY01
Policy on Collecting only Electronic Versions of Journals (2002)
