MU library stacks soon to be lighter
Published Jan. 25, 2000
Due to price inflation, MU Libraries will soon make cuts to the subscriptions of a number of magazine serials.
Serials include journals, newspapers and magazines. The serials that will be cut are mainly science, technology and medicine related, said Robert Almony Jr., assistant director of libraries.
MU Libraries is planning up to $600,000 of cuts in 2001. The increase in inflation will force roughly 1,000 cuts, which is less than 10 percent of the 14,000 serials to which MU currently subscribes.
"Since 1986, the price of serials have increased by 175 percent," Almony said. "We just don't have the money to pay the bill."
Last fall, MU cut $145,335 from its $4,435,751 library budget. With this budget cut, MU Libraries plans to cut 852 serials this year. Almony said the cost of scholarly journals increased by 148 percent compared to an 84 percent increase in the cost of health care from 1986 and 1996.
Almony also said the cuts would affect all MU libraries and not just Ellis.
"Each department has a target amount of what to cut," said Mary Ryan, head of reference for the MU Libraries.
Serials must be put in a certain criteria in order for them to be cut, she said.
"We look at how much have they been inflating in price," Ryan said. "We look at the average price of inflation over the past six years."
The serials prone to increase their prices are the 40 percent that publish overseas, Almony said.
Some of the science, technology and medical journals are published overseas. The Association of Research Libraries is working with the publishers of these serials to cut prices, Almony said.
Despite cutbacks, MU Libraries is planning to offer other alternatives, Ryan said. The libraries continue to offer interlibrary loans, which allow students to check out books from the other UM system campuses.
Ryan said students can also use some of the libraries' electronic databases for research.
"We are subscribing to more and more electronic databases, which give students more access to full-text articles," Ryan said.
The libraries are also considering using online journals, which can sometimes cost as much as foreign serials, Ryan said.
"Eventually, the library may have to initiate a printing fee," Ryan said.