Academic Library Budget Cuts – Are Serials Always First Resort?

While I agree with the sentiment that appeared in library committee minutes at our sister institution -

that is, if the choice is between periodicals and staff, obviously the staff need to be preserved -

I’m beginning to wonder, are serials always the first to be cut from academic library budgets during difficult times?

The academic library where I work is cutting

-staff positions (currently and hopefully only through attrition)

-computer footprint (college-wide cut of 11% of machines)

-some electronic resources (based on usage statistics and cost)

-all print journals that can be subscribed to in online format

-some memberships through which we receive serial publications

-almost all journal and monograph binding

-and they’re investigating moving some of our online journal subscriptions to a pay-per-view model

A moderate reduction to the book acquisitions budget will also be made.

You’ll begin to notice that the sub-department of serials (2 FTE), while we’ll likely be keeping our jobs, will bear the brunt of the cut in materials budgets.

So, we’ll have our jobs (I hope), but what exactly will we be doing when our job responsibilities are so reduced?

Is this similar to what’s happening at other libraries?

bX Recommender – Scholarly article recommendations based on usage statistics

Ex Libris is in beta with a new e-serials service called bX:

“a first-of-its-kind service to provide library users with article-level recommendations based on collective usage data amassed from research communities around the world.”

The new application, which harvests usage data from Ex Libris’ link resolver SFX software, is in testing in sixteen institutions worldwide.

It’s very exciting that usage data will work directly to help researchers discover sources in addition to its use in collection development planning.

Follow the buzz at:  http://bxbeta.blogspot.com/

See the press release at:  http://www.exlibrisgroup.com/category/bXOverview

Decentralized Serials Administration

While I’ve already posted about journals check-in, I’m wondering how other library systems with multiple library sites manage serials in general.

I work in the ‘central’ branch at a college where there are two additional branch libraries.  A few years ago the decision was made to decentralize much of the serials administration, such that subscriptions, renewals, binding, and cataloging continued to be administered by the ‘central’ library staff, but check-in was managed by the branch libraries for titles which were shelved there.

This decentralized serials administration model poses problems for claiming missing issues, updating the cataloging for title changes and mergers (etc.), updating the frequency of the publication, and collecting journal issues for binding – all among the other exciting things that the world of serials throws our way.

These problems may all become non-issues as we move progressively towards an electronic-only serials collection, but in the meantime, it is a collection management mire.

Do you work with serials in a multi-site library system?  How does your library system handle serials administration?

Another Perspective on the Google Deal

David Carr’s New York Times article offers a reconsideration of the Google Deal.

With long-standing print publications like the Christian Science Monitor announcing they will cease print operations, and other major publishing companies like Time Inc. cutting payroll, Carr asserts that

“the sky is falling. The question now is how many people will be left to cover it.”

Because readers are accustomed to accessing electronic news content for free, whether directly through the established news publication channels or through the vast network of hyperlinks that is the blogosphere, the transition from paid print subscriptions to paid online subscriptions will be a difficult and heavily contested one.  Furthermore, online ads do not drive the same revenues as print ads, and advertisement funds have experienced a dramatic contraction as the three major reliable advertising sectors,

“car industry, retail business and financial services”,

are reaping the rotten fruits of their risky financial labors.

But the crucial question that Carr poses is,

What will happen to the content and quality of online journalism and commentary if the vetted print publications, and their electronic versions, were to disappear?

Google to Offer Institutional Subscriptions to ‘Millions of Books Online’

In its settlement with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers (AAP), Google agreed to terms for

“Institutional Subscriptions to Millions of Books Online — Offering a means for U.S. colleges, universities and other organizations to obtain subscriptions for online access to collections from some of the world’s most renowned libraries”.

While acknowledging and protecting the rights of copyright holders, this agreement significantly expands Google’s digitization and electronic distribution projects in a way that is hailed as a ‘win-win’ scenario for authors, publishers, and readers alike.

In addition to offering institutional subscriptions for institutions of higher education and other organizations, U.S. public libraries will have free access for viewing out-of-print books from designated on-site computers.

Furthermore, the $125 million that Google agreed to pay in the settlement will be used to create the Books Rights Registry.  The Registry will enable U.S. copyright holders from all over the globe to register their works in order to

“receive compensation from institutional subscriptions, book sales, ad revenues and other possible revenue models, as well as a cash payment if their works have already been digitized”.

Read more about the agreement, which still needs approval from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, at PRNewswire and Wired.