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Beyond Paper Journals: More Subscriptions to be Received Only in Electronic Format in 2010
Posted 10/05/2009
MADISON, Wis. –For the past decade we have seen the gradual transition in library journal subscriptions from the print to the electronic format. The pattern of converting journal access from print to online on this campus has followed the trend of other research libraries that began in the fields of engineering and the physical and life sciences and has gradually extended to disciplines within the humanities, social sciences, and area studies.
Changing patterns in how users retrieve journal articles, limited available shelving space, and budgetary pressures have all contributed to the current initiative to significantly reduce journal print subscriptions for 2010. Library usage data collected over several years clearly show a preference on the part of most users for the online format. Cancelling the print also eliminates the costs involved in managing the receipt and binding of issues, and more importantly, will result in long-term savings in shelving/storage costs.
Library subject specialists have been evaluating the print subscriptions for five major publishers which account for nearly $3,000,000 of library expenditures: Elsevier, SAGE, Springer, Taylor and Francis, and Wiley-Blackwell. The print journals of these five publishers have been targeted for cancellation because the licenses governing the terms of access and use provide us with archival rights to the online content we’re purchasing as well as the means to retain the data if any of these companies should fail. Such considerations are critical in guaranteeing long-term access in support of the university’s teaching and research needs. Although the savings in the subscription cost for most journal titles is modest, cancelling 500 of these print subscriptions (and retaining access to its online counterpart) will reduce the Libraries’ expenditures by no less than $50,000.
If you wish to review either the journals that will become available in electronic format only in 2010 or the titles proposed for cancellation, please go to the following website: http://www.library.wisc.edu/collections/cancelled.html
Ken Frazier, Director
General Library System
