Kansas State University

In preparing for collections cuts, K-State Libraries request feedback from campus community

Submitted by Sarah McGreer Hoyt

Due to ongoing budget reductions and continued inflation of material costs, K-State Libraries is planning a round of budget cuts in FY19, which necessitates a new review of resources for potential cancellation.

We are seeking comments and feedback from the K-State community in response to this most recent list of titles identified for nonrenewal. Please note, the responses we received last spring were very helpful, and some resources were not discontinued as a result of your input.

The list casts a net across all disciplines, so we hope a broad range of faculty members and researchers will provide feedback. We'd like to know which individuals or fields might use a specific journal and for what purpose. For example, is a journal needed for accreditation, to support the undergraduate or graduate curriculum, for research purposes, or other essential needs like course reserves?

Detailed feedback will help us assess the full impact on the user community of any specific journal. All comments will be reviewed carefully over the next several weeks as we receive pricing and offers from publishers.

To see the list of potential cancellation titles, visit our webpage, Potential Databases and Serials for Non-Renewal. Feedback can be provided by using the survey forms available on the webpage. Please provide all comments by Aug. 11.

The following criteria were used to determine the current journal list:

• Low usage in the last year, or a downward trend over the last few years.
• High cost per online viewing or downloading of a journal article. (In some cases, we are paying hundreds of dollars per use.)
• Unreasonable price increases on the part of the publisher; for instance, some journal subscription costs will increase by more than 20 percent in the next year.
• The journal is open access except for the most recent 12-24 months.
• The journal is available simultaneously from one or several content providers.

Other ways users can help us manage our scarce collection dollars include:

• Using permanent article links in K-State Online rather than uploading a PDF.
• Using interlibrary loan to request what you need for courses/research rather than asking a colleague or friend to send you a copy from another institution.

When the K-State community uses permalinks and interlibrary loan, the Libraries have comprehensive statistics of the actual demand for specific materials. That allows us to make collection adjustments over time and build arguments for future allocation increases.