May 9, 2017
In face of collections cuts, K-State Libraries ask for feedback from faculty and campus community
Submitted by Sarah McGreer Hoyt
K-State Libraries are preparing to make cuts to the collections budget. These reductions are in response to the inflation in subscription costs that the Libraries face on an annual basis.
"Even though we negotiate for the best rates possible, increases in the cost of our subscription materials accumulate year after year," Dean Lori Goetsch said. "For example, from 2010 to 2016, package prices from just five major publishers increased by nearly a half million dollars, or close to 25%."
A list of items under consideration for non-renewal will be available on the Libraries website by mid-June. At that time, the Libraries will seek input from the K-State community, and a feedback form will be available online.
"We recognize that summer is not an ideal time to ask faculty for feedback," Mira Greene, head of content development and acquisitions, said. "But our subscription cycles do not align with the academic year. We have to make our difficult decisions during the summer months."
Looking forward, K-State faculty members can help preserve items they value by following a few steps to ensure that librarians have accurate usage data.
For example, instead of uploading a PDF file of a journal article to K-State Online, instructors can share a permalink — an unchanging, stable hyperlink — with their students. Then, when students use the link to access the material online at the source — e.g., in a database or other subscription-based service — librarians will see the true demand for that content.
In other words, instead of the course generating a single instance of access that would be recorded when the instructor downloaded the PDF, dozens or even hundreds of instances of access are created when the students click the permalink.
Directions for creating a permalink are available online through a Research Guide. If you need additional assistance, contact a librarian via our Ask a Librarian service.
Finally, K-State Libraries encourage the K-State community to support open access initiatives, including publishing in open access journals that make vital research available with no subscription cost to the public.
If you have questions about collections cuts, please contact Dean Goetsch at 785-532-7400 or lgoetsch@k-state.edu.