UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES SERIALS REVIEW 2011-2012

- Update of Review Outcomes -

Introduction

Departmental faculty members are asked to assist the University Libraries' faculty in the first of what we hope will become an annual review of our serial subscriptions. Serial subscriptions consume the majority of the Libraries' materials budget and we want to ensure that the resources we acquire are supporting the learning and research of the university community.

We anticipate that an annual review of serial subscriptions will result in:

• Elimination of journal subscriptions for which need has ceased or diminished over the years
• Addition of new subscriptions for which need has developed or increased in recent years
• Reduction of the anguish that normally accompanies a less frequent review

Procedure

Between March and April 2012, Library Liaisons will work with Departmental Library Representatives to review subscriptions attributed to each department or program. Recommendations for elimination and addition of titles will be forwarded to the libraries' Collection Management Department and the Dean. In April 2012, the library faculty will determine which changes will best support the libraries' mission and be accommodated within the libraries' budget.

To view current subscriptions, click on the link (serial_review_all_subs_2012.xlsx) to download an Excel spreadsheet. Use the drop-down menu under "Fund" to choose the department name. The list of titles attributed to the chosen department will display. 

Please review the list of titles attributed to your department and give us feedback on the continued value of those titles. We are hoping for an honest evaluation of each title, regardless of its cost. Please prepare a recommendation that identifies:

• Title(s) no longer of much use to the students and faculty in your department
• Title(s) needed by students and faculty, to which the library does not currently subscribe

Once your recommendation is prepared, please submit it to your Library Liaison. If you need the name of your liaison check the list at (http://www.memphis.edu/collectionmgmt/liaisons.php). Library faculty will review all of the feedback and make decisions about changes.

Changes to subscriptions will occur at the beginning of 2013.

Important Notes

Subscription decisions are the responsibility of the University Libraries, although we strongly encourage and give great weight to the recommendations of departmental faculty.

Some serial titles have been "attributed" to a department.   That means that, when the subscription was initiated, it was at the recommendation of faculty members in that department. It does not mean that a "subscription budget" exists for that department.   All subscriptions are paid from the libraries' centralized subscription budget.

Because of continually rising subscription costs (usually about 10% per year), we cannot add new titles without cancelling titles of a greater value.   In spite of that, we will try to provide the most useful and relevant titles for our students and faculty.

You will note that some titles are not being reviewed this year.   Those titles are included in an agreement between the publisher Elsevier and Tennessee Board of Regents institutions, which enables us to enjoy access to ANY title subscribed by any TBR library.   Our obligation, under that agreement, is to maintain through 2014 our subscription to all our current Elsevier titles.   In essence, we are getting 1,776 titles for the price of 291.  Due to that TBR-wide agreement, those titles may not be cancelled this year. (On the spreadsheet, please see the tab "Additional titles from Elsevier" for a list of those titles we are receiving as part of that agreement.)