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Message from the Director
Last year the UW-Madison Libraries spent more than $6 million on journal subscriptions and licenses. This translates to about 66% of total collection expenditures. Annual price increases for 2008 are projected to be an average 7-9%. This will result in an increase journal expenditure of $432,000-$555,000.
While campus administration in recent years has provided regular additions to the acquisitions budget, these increases have not kept pace with the rising cost of journals. With current funding, UW-Madison cannot maintain our subscriptions or fully participate in cooperative purchases made by the Big Ten/CIC university libraries. Our budgets have not kept pace with either our regional peer institutions or rising costs. The UW Libraries must make further cuts in the current journal subscriptions. Selectors have exhausted the low use, high cost route for cancellation and will now be looking at more critical decisions.
The campus libraries are consulting with faculty and academic staff researchers regarding proposed journal cancellations for 2008. Data on the cost and use of journals, collected by campus librarians, will be critical in the decision making process. Following the procedure begun in 2006, a campus-wide list of titles to be cancelled is being compiled. In addition, electronic journal subscriptions with back-up paper subscriptions are being re-evaluated. The back-up paper subscriptions will be cancelled while electronic access will be maintained. Some cost savings will be realized and in addition, it will be easier to assess journal usage from a full electronic model.
To compensate for the loss of journal subscriptions, the Libraries will continue to provide fast commercial document delivery in addition to efficient interlibrary loan for journal articles. When researchers need rapid access to journal articles we do not have on campus, the Libraries purchase articles directly from publishers' websites, or obtain them from other libraries that hold the journal title. The $10-$25 commercial document delivery charge per article is a cost-effective way to provide the articles needed. This is currently the best and most affordable option available to provide access to journals we no longer own locally.
In the interest of maintaining access to journal articles, the UW-Madison Libraries encourages faculty and researchers to use the CIC author's addendum (endorsed by the UW-Madison Faculty Senate on May 7, 2007). This addendum addresses a pressing need of researchers and scholars by allowing authors to select and retain key rights to articles. Rights retention is the first step in meaningful changes in scholarly communication. For more detailed information about this critical issue and the author's addendum please see: http://oscp.library.wisc.edu/take_action.html#copyright
Ed Van Gemert
Acting Director
August 13, 2007