In addition to the constraints put on the DePaul University Library budget due to the projected budget shortfall, publishers and library vendors have raised prices for journals, databases and other e-resources at unsustainable rates for many years.
In order to efficiently manage our budget to best serve students and faculty, we annually evaluate all subscriptions to journals and databases.
Librarians collect and analyze data about pricing and usage of all resources. In addition to this quantitative data, liaison librarians also evaluate each journal based on other criteria, such its relative importance to an academic discipline, its usability, whether its content is available from another database, and if the library can obtain the title through interlibrary loan.
If you have further questions, please contact one of the library's
subject liaisons, or the Collection Development Department at
adeemer@depaul.edu.
Our frequently asked questions are addressed below.
Possibly. While the library evaluates resources for possible cancellation on a yearly basis, each year it also adds new resources to its collections. Please use the Suggest a Purchase form and we will consider the resource again. However, we cannot make any promises. Our budget is finite and some decisions are not about the quality of the individual resource in question, but its cost and how to best serve the needs of all departments and colleges.
Cancellation decisions are mostly made in the Spring and cancellation decisions will be communicated to faculty in a timely manner so any adjustments to course reserves can be made. Library subscriptions to databases, journals and other resources renew at various times of the year, and frequently straddle DePaul’s existing and forthcoming fiscal years. Most databases are subscribed to on a fiscal year basis and cancellations will be effective July 1st. Journal and periodical subscriptions often operate on a calendar year basis, in which case cancellations become effective January 1st.
Typically, after canceling a current journal subscription the library will maintain electronic access to previous years if the right to do so was part of the subscription license. Otherwise, we will no longer have access to the archive.
Yes. Funds allocated for book purchases have also been reduced in order to meet budget reduction goals.
We understand how central the library collection is to teaching and learning at the University. We are doing everything we can to continue meeting the needs of students and faculty within our budget. Faculty can help by:
- Continuing to use the library and encouraging students to use it too!
- Supporting efforts by professional associations and other groups to identify sustainable and affordable ways to distribute scholarly information.
- Considering a publisher’s pricing model and copyright policy before either submitting for publication or agreeing to serve on an editorial board.
- Being sure to read a publisher’s copyright release before you sign it (you may find that you cannot offer online or print access to your own articles without prior permission.) Most publishers will allow you to place a pre-published article in your institutional repository—DePaul’s is Digital Commons@DePaul—and it is readily discoverable by researchers using Google Scholar and other popular search engines.