Two important collections updates from the Libraries
SEE BELOW FOR TOWN HALL REGISTRATION
Collections Cuts
In July, Dean Kendrick shared the news that the University Libraries, like the rest of campus, is receiving a significant base budget cut in FY20-21. Overall, the cut to the Libraries’ budget exceeded $1.4M. Our Collection Development Budget took a large hit, a considerable amount of which was absorbed by our cancellation of Science Direct and other measures. Nevertheless, we need to cut approximately $280,000 in existing journal and database subscriptions.
Cutting collections is never easy, particularly when budget cuts hit in rapid succession as they did with the cut in 2018 and now another. We will have to make deep cuts to meet our goal. We also have less time to decide what to cancel due to time constraints. Our Subject Librarians in coordination with Libraries Administration determined the resources to be cancelled.[1]
In order to meet our targeted cut, we are cutting the following resources:
- Access World News
- APA Video Intro to Psychotherapy
- ArtBibliographies Modern
- Checkpoint: WGL Full
- Center for Research Libraries (membership)
- INSPEC
- Gale Literary Criticism
- Global Financial Data
- Grove Art
- Periodicals Index Online
- Policy Map
- Reaxys
- Statistical Insights
Coming up with this list was difficult. We had to cut valued resources. The cancellations will be made over the fiscal year as renewal dates arrive: some have already happened and others will occur in late spring. As a result, some resources will be accessible for several months.
Journal weeding in preparation for move to high-density storage
As mentioned in our renovation updates, the University is building the Libraries a new climate-controlled, high-density storage facility to provide for the long-term storage of our valuable collections. In preparation for the future transfer of materials into high-density storage, we have to re-catalog items, transfer them to storage trays and move them to the new facility. This process is time-consuming and labor-intensive, but is necessary to ensure the items are in a stable environment and can be easily retrieved. We do not want to spend resources processing or consume valuable space storing items we do not need. In the months ahead, we will weed print journals that we also permanently own in digital format and for which there are provisions in place such as JSTOR and PORTICO to ensure digital access in perpetuity. This will not be a mechanistic process, we will investigate titles to ensure we are not discarding unique, rare or otherwise valuable print journals. Weeding projects will include completing the JSTOR weeding we began in 2017 and deaccessioning print SAGE journal titles we purchased digitally in 2019. In the future, we will continue to weed print copies of journals that meet these criteria.
The Libraries will host zoom meetings on the following dates where we will be happy to answer questions about the budget cuts and weeding:
- 1-2 p.m., Monday, September 21
Registration link: https://binghamton.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAqd-qurTguHtFcwz8RUFey9rBhyA2MQ2A1
- 10-11 a.m., Thursday, September 24
Registration link: https://binghamton.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJApdeiorT8pHdz4To0oxgcaE54Sx3IA9lFL
Thank you for your assistance, understanding and your continued support of the University Libraries.
If you have any questions, contact Jim Galbraith, Head of Collection Development at jgalbrai@binghamton.edu.