Proposed Changes to Journals and Other Subscriptions, 2020/21
Looking at the proposed subscription cancellations holistically
We are proposing the cancellation of 189 total journal, magazine, and newspaper subscriptions, which is 1% of our 14,585 current subscriptions and about a tenth of a percent of the journals available through the Libraries' "Journal A-Z list". For many of the titles proposed for cancellation, we will continue to receive new issues (albeit with a delay). And for nearly all titles, we will maintain large backfiles of already published volumes. After this round of cancellations, we still expect to be able to provide UNCG faculty and students with access to over 113,000 journals, magazines, and newspapers, including current subscriptions to virtually every journal published by Elsevier, Springer, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, Cambridge, SAGE, ACS, University of Chicago, ADIS, Annual Reviews, ASM, Emerald, Human Kinetics, RSC, LWW, Mary Ann Liebert, University of California, Taylor and Francis, and several other prestigious academic publishers. In fact, because the title counts in these packages and in aggregators continues to grow, we will almost certainly end the year with more current journal access than we began with.
Draft Lists of Titles and Packages
In identifying specific titles and packages for potential cancellation, library faculty and staff followed a thorough and thoughtful process in analyzing available data for journals, including such details as price, usage statistics, cost-per-use, overlap with other resources, duplicate access to a given title, ability to access the title off campus, expected inflation rates, and current need or relevance. When considering cancellation options, the Libraries looked at three separate areas - legacy formats, individual journal subscriptions, and "Big Deals".
Big Deals
A “Big Deal” is a package containing many journal titles that a publisher offers as a one-price, one-size-fits-all package. Although a Big Deal can be
relatively expensive, it can also be cost effective, because faculty and students gain access to a significantly larger number of
journals than a library could afford through individual subscriptions. The University Libraries have Big Deals with more than 20 publishers, through which we subscribe to more than 12,000 journals. All were reviewed for possible cancellation and one was identified:
- Karger package of 63 current titles
Reason: high cost-per-use
Post cancellation access: We will maintain ownership of many volumes published prior to 2021. Articles published 2021- can be obtained through ILL.
Legacy Formats
At UNCG and in libraries across the nation, usage of print journals and magazines has been plummeting for years. The overwhelming majority of readers now prefer to read and access article-length works online. During a pandemic, we do not want to make our users come to the library and handle physical materials. And, because so many of our classes have moved fully or mostly online, it makes even more sense to prioritize online resources over print formats. Finally, print subscriptions have significant extra costs (receiving, binding, shelving, and long term storage) that we do not incur with ejournals. For these reasons, we propose to completely eliminate all print and microform subscriptions. Once a vaccine is developed and campus returns to normal, we can certainly reinstate print subscriptions if there is a strong need to do so.
List of 83 titles for which we are canceling print and will no longer receive the latest issues as they are published
Individual ejournal subscriptions
The Libraries maintain several hundred subscriptions to individual ejournals. We have identifed for proposed cancellation titles that meet one or more of the following criteria: high cost, large cost increase, low usage, access problems, duplicate access to a given title, ability to provide delayed access to new issues, and current need or relevance.
List of 43 ejournals we are canceling and for which we will no longer receive the latest issues as they are published
Comments and Feedback
We encourage faculty input regarding the impact of these reductions on your research and teaching. If you believe our proposed cuts contain egregious errors or individual resources whose cancellation would cause irreparable harm to UNCG, please let us know. Keep in mind that it is almost certain that next year will see additional cuts. Send comments to Tim Bucknall, Assistant Dean of University Libraries. We are willing to attend departmental meetings or meet with department heads, if more information, context, or discussion would be helpful.