Serials Review 2015

University of Memphis Libraries

Serials Review 2015

The libraries’ materials budget remains flat – as it has for the last 15 years – and we must cut a large number of serials subscriptions.

The basic problem is that our serials prices grow at a rate of around 6% every year.  Unless our budget grows at the same rate, we cannot sustain all our current subscriptions.

This year, we aim to cut at least $600,000 from our serials expenditures.  Our plan is to use a bibliometric assessment called the “Weighted Value Algorithm” (WVA) to identify those titles of least value to UofM readers.   WVA was developed at the University of California and includes six variables that indicate the value of a journal to the readers at a given library.  Those variables are usage, citations, Impact Factor, Source-Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP), cost-per-use, and cost-per-SNIP.  To learn more about WVA, please read this white paper from its creators.

WVA assigns a score from 0 to 7 for each journal, within the department to which the journals are attributed.  That is, all the “Biology” journals will be scored separately from the “Architecture” journals.

On the spreadsheet linked below, we have highlighted the journal titles we are recommending to cancel.   These recommendations are based on the WVA scores.

However, we recognize that WVA scores do not tell the whole story.  There may be journals that are only used by a few scholars, but are essential to their work.  

That is why we are asking you to look over our recommendations.  If we are planning to cut something vital, please contact your library liaison and let him or her know that we are making a mistake.

We will extend the review period until April 24, 2015.