As you may be aware, the Rod Library recurring materials budget has been protected, and will not be reduced as part of the University's budget reduction measures being implemented in FY 09-10. This is good news for the entire University community. However, the materials budget has been static for the last seven years. This situation already has led us to substantially reduce periodical and other serial subscriptions as well as one-time expenditures for monographs and other resources, such as cds and DVDs.
In preparation for the coming year, bibliographers in the Library’s Collection Management and Special Services Department have begun to consider how they will balance ongoing commitments with one-time purchases. We have been able to stretch the budget to some degree through the use of Student Computer Fee allocations, Fines money, and gift and grant funds administered through Foundation accounts. However, given ongoing inflation, a static budget means that we will continue to be short of funds. Thus, we are reviewing existing periodical, serial, and electronic resource commitments to identify cancellations to implement in FY 09-10. In this process, we will do our best to minimize the impact on study, teaching, and research across the disciplines.
Later this semester, we will share with University administrators and faculty a list of anticipated cancellations, at least for electronic resources. We hope that doing so will better prepare the campus for the impact of these cuts. In some instances, given subscription periods, we will not lose access to canceled titles until the late winter or spring of academic year 2009-2010.
If you have questions about this process, please contact Katherine Martin, Head of Collection Management and Special Services in Rod Library via e-mail at Katherine.Martin@uni.edu. Or, you may contact the appropriate subject bibliographer. A list of bibliographers' assignments is available at http://www.library.uni.edu/collection-management/subject-bibliographers
