Collection News
Collection News | Database News | Collection News Archive
Journals Review Project
The University Libraries have begun a process of reviewing journal subscriptions this past fall and are working with academic departments to ensure that resources continue to support the instruction and research needs of students and faculty. There are several reasons why this review is being done:
- Price increases for journal subscriptions have been averaging between 10 and 11 percent each year for the past three years.
- The availability of online formats has increased dramatically to meet the demands of students and faculty.
- Academic programs have been re-focused to reflect shifts away from more conventional models to emerging models such as area studies.
- Brand new areas of instruction and research have been introduced in recent years.
The Problem
While many of the journals and electronic databases the Libraries currently subscribe to have price “caps” built into license agreements, many of the journals and other resources are not covered by these guarantees, and prices have risen at an alarming rate. For example, journals from professional societies that have been taken over by commercial publishers have often risen by 60 percent and some by more than 100 percent.
The Libraries must continue to make the transition from print to electronic format of important journals as students and faculty increase demand for ready access to electronic resources and as students and professors increasingly expect rapid delivery of materials to their desktops.
Changes in the focus of academic programs in response to changing societal needs and economic issues in the state and nation have resulted in the need to add resources that the Libraries had not hitherto been collecting. In addition, emerging new programs have resulted in the Libraries having to acquire new resources that had not been requested in the past.
The Procedure
The Libraries are currently looking at journals and other resources with an eye toward considering whether or not to renew subscriptions. Are there other methods of acquiring some of these journals that would be equally effective as annual subscriptions in terms of cost and use?
Library selectors and the director of collection management will meet with campus departmental representatives to review journal titles and to discuss the best methods for acquiring needed research and instruction resources.
The first group of titles to have been reviewed consisted of high-cost items in a number of fields. The departmental recommendations concerning those titles can be viewed on our serials review page.
Please contact Judy Ganson, Director for Collection Management and Systems if you have particular concerns or suggestions regarding journal subscriptions.
Paperback Book Exchange
The UA Libraries announce the launch of the Paperback Book Exchange, a new program designed to circulate paperback books free of charge for pleasure reading. From Anne Rice to
Anne Rivers Siddons, we’ve got lots of choices to fill your downtime between classes.
Anyone can browse the available books at the West Entry vestibule of Mullins Library. After finishing with a book, you can return it there or donate another paperback in exchange. All books
in the program are registered with BookCrossing.com, a Web site dedicated to the free circulation of books throughout the world. Bookcrossing is defined as “the practice of leaving
a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.” Readers may long on to BookCrossing’s Web site and enter the ID number located on the inside
back cover of their paperback to track the “journey” of their freely circulating book.
The Libraries have adopted this method of distributing donated paperback books that are duplicate copies or that cannot be accepted into the collections for other reasons. Permission has been
granted from the UA system to distribute the surplus books in this manner.
Those with questions, comments, or paperback books to donate to this program may contact Molly Boyd, at (479) 575-2962,
by mail at 365 N. McIlroy Ave. Fayetteville, AR 72701, or by dropping by 226C Mullins Library.
Collection News Archive
- Spring 2007
Center for Research Libraries Purchases | Serials Costs - Fall 2006
Nonviolent Peacemaking and Victims of Violence and Wars | Other Named Collections | Recently Processed Manuscript Collections
