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 Overview
For more than a decade, prices for science journals have increased at
rates far above general inflation. These exorbitant prices, combined with
static or decreasing acquisitions budgets, have created a journals crisis
for university libraries, forcing them to cancel subscriptions to scientific
research journals, to refrain from ordering new journals requested by
faculty and graduate students, and to purchase fewer books. Some of the
factors contributing to these price increases include an explosion in
the amount of scientific information published (due in part to publishing
pressures within academe), the increasing role of for-profit publishers
in scholarly communication, and the rise of electronic access to journals
and indexes, which, contrary to initial expectation, has increased costs
to libraries.
For example, consider the average subscription price of a chemistry
journal:
- 1990: $638
- 2003: $2403
- Increase from 1990 to 2003: 277%
During this period, inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index
caused general prices to rise about 36%
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Cancellations
at the University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota has not been immune to this
crisis. Small increases to the Libraries' budget have been far outpaced
by increased costs of materials. In addition, current budgetary pressures
at the University further complicate the situation. The Libraries' budget
was reduced in 2002/03 as the University made across-the-board rescissions
to cope with decreased funding. On the other hand, the Libraries have
received new funding from two sources: contributions from the colleges
with University matching funds totaling $250,000 in 2002/03, and $500,000
per year from the University's patent royalties starting in 2003/04.
Yet this net increase in funding was not enough to cover journal inflation,
so journals again had to be cancelled for 2004.
A list of journals cancelled by the Science & Engineering
and Mathematics Libraries over the past decade is available by year.
The net result is that the Science & Engineering and Mathematics
Libraries cancelled nearly 750 titles, or about a third of their entire
journal collection held in 1992:
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1992/93:
80 titles cancelled (6.8%
of 1991/92)
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- 2003/04:
34 ($69,710)
- Total: 742
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Alternative
Means of Accessing Journal Articles
With a reduction in the number of journal titles that the Science &
Engineering and Mathematics Libraries can provide, library staff are committed
to providing faculty and students with Alternative
Means of Access, through current awareness databases and document
delivery from suppliers outside the University.
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The
Need for Faculty Involvement
Faculty members concerned about the steady erosion of library resources
at the University of Minnesota should support substantially increased
funding for the Libraries, whose level of support has not kept up with
peer institutions; ask your department chairs, deans, and committee representatives
to advocate for increased library support.
To address the fundamental factors contributing to the crisis, there
is also Action Faculty Can Take to
help improve the scholarly publishing system in the sciences. Librarians
encourage faculty members to help shape long-term solutions and welcome
your comments and questions. Please feel free to contact Kris
Fowler, Coordinator for Science & Engineering Collections, or
any of the following subject librarians:
Frank Elliott : Aerospace, Biomedical,
Civil, and Mechanical Engineering
Gary Fouty : Computer Science
and Electrical Engineering; Interim Reference
Kris Fowler : Mathematics and
Statistics; Interim History of Science, General Science
Janice Jaguszewski : Geology and
Geophysics; interim Physics and Astronomy
Jody Kempf : Interim Chemistry
and Chemical Engineering
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