Budgeting Decisions:
Electronic vs. Monographs in Academic Libraries
By D. Mick
Budget shortfalls are nothing new for libraries. In this post we will specifically consider academic libraries making decisions on what electronic databases and journals to subscribe to and which, if any, books and journals to purchase in monograph format. With more colleges offering online instruction and many journals available both in print and in electronic journals online, the purchasing decisions of library material are being changed and a new balance being sought. Kusik and Vargas state in a paper published in the Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, "The primary goal of the academic library budget should be to obtain information resources that support the university's instruction and research. Curricular priorities should drive collection development and these priorities in turn should determine the collection development budget" (2009). Sounds simple enough, right? It is not. Consider that there are thousands of journals to choose from. When Judith Nixon evaluated journals for the Management and Economics Library at Purdue University, she reviewed approximately 900 journals. As Head of Purdue's Humanities, Social Science and Education Library, Nixon's staff of seven librarians reviewed nearly 3,000 journals in fifteen departments. The process Nixon used involved a seven step process:
- Assess the situation.
- Establish rapport with the faculty and give them full information.
- Explain the factors contributing to the crisis.
- Explore solutions.
- Implement a plan of action.
- Involve the faculty in decision making by setting up meetings with librarians to review titles department by department.
- Generate final list of titles to be cancelled; allow faculty to review these lists.
Besides the current economy affecting most state institutions, the price of periodicals has risen at a much greater rate than inflation. William H. Walters reports that "Among American research libraries, serials expenditures increased by 302 percent from 1986 to 2005. In contrast, monograph expenditures increased by only 59 percent during that time. . . " (2008). Walters conclusion is that undergraduate libraries would be better off buying more books which increase in price at a rate of about 1.4 percent per year, than buying periodical subscriptions that increase in cost on average 8.5 percent per year. His argument is that undergraduate colleges require less research and "faculty at even the best undergraduate colleges publish far fewer papers than those at research universities" (2008). Furthermore, undergraduates use books more frequently because they are more readable, they are authoritative and more comprehensive, and place facts and theories in a more contextual format than journals. Walters is furthered concerned about what will happen to library collections when a database subscription loses content or budget cuts require cancellation of a database.
While Walters' conclusions make sense for traditional universities serving only on-campus students, it fails as a solution for colleges and universities with a large on-line student body. Fort Hays State University is a small university in rural Kansas with a total student enrollment of 11, 883 for the Fall 2010 semester. With 4,415 students attending on-campus classes. the remaining 7,468 are online students. Resources available in book form in the campus library are not a convenient resource for the majority of students.
Kusik and Vargas suggest a holistic approach to budgeting for an academic library. Resource material should be acquired not through a division of funds allocated specifically for certain media formats, but through a holistic approach that considers the needs of the curricula, the faculty, and the students. If the majority of students attend via distance education, then certainly electronically accessible databases, journals, books, etc. will make the experience much more convenient. It is evident that there is no one approach that will suit every library. It is the responsibility of academic librarians to find a method of evaluation, take into consideration the patrons and accessibility, and work to provide the best resources for their library.
References
Fort Hays State University. (2010). University Overview. Retrieved from: http://www.fhsu.edu/about/university-overview
Kusik, J. P. and Vargas, M. A. (2009). Improving electronic resources through holistic budgeting. Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship. 21:3, pp. 200-205. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19411260903446105
Nixon, J. P. (2010). A reprise, or round three: Using a database management program as a decision-support system for the cancellation of serials. The Serial Librarian. pp.302-312. Retrieved from: http://dx.dot.org/10.1080.03615261003619806
Walters, W. H. (2008). Journal prices, book acquisitions, and sustainable college library collections. College and Research Libraries, 69:6, pp. 576-586.
I often consulted journal articles while writing papers in my ungrad courses, but most of the time I was able to find the article in an online database. I rarely had to consult journals in print, even though printed journals took up a large chunk of the library's physical space (and budget, I'd imagine, given the statistics you cited). Finding a book which was fully online was rare, so I was more likely to consult printed books in the library. I think the "digital vs. print" debate is very interesting so I enjoyed reading your post.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joshua. I too, often used online database articles while working on my undergraduate degree in English. Much of our research was finding criticisms of classic literature. Reading the book that you chose to analyze was most generally a print resource, but to find current material, one would choose online journals. The same with my work in Psychology. Only the most up-to-date information was desired for current scholarship.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult sometimes to see the library we love change from a storehouse of books to a bank of computers, but it is the trend. Our work in librarianship will include digital format, probably more often than monographs, especially in the academic library.