Surviving Budget Reductions and Solving Space Problem by Using Electronic Access Strategies
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The document outlines strategies at UNC Greensboro for managing budget cuts and space issues in libraries through electronic access initiatives, including journal de-duplication, weeding, and cancellation projects. These projects resulted in significant cost savings, increased space for student use, and maintained access to electronic resources, aligning with user preferences. The outcomes show a transition from print to electronic formats, enhancing both financial resources and the learning environment within the library.
Surviving Budget Reductions and Solving Space Problem by Using Electronic Access Strategies
- 1. Surviving Budget Reductions and Solving Space Problems by Using Electronic-Access Strategies The Case at UNC Greensboro Stephen Dew Collections & Scholarly Resources Coordinator UNCG Libraries
- 2. Three Money-Saving & Space-Saving Projects Based on Electronic Access of Resources Journal De-Duplication, 2007 Weeding & Space Re-Purposing, 2008 to date Journal Cancellation/Budget Reduction, 2009
- 3. Reasons to De-Duplicate Journal Subscriptions Annual price increases for journals have significantly exceeded inflation Need to keep journal budget under control and not take from other resources The vast majority of users want and expect electronic copies— why pay for a duplicate print copy that nobody uses With e-only, there is no longer a need for processing, claiming, binding, etc., so there will be additional monetary savings and staff time will be freed for other tasks With e-only, shelving space is freed for other use
- 4. Other Institutions Going to Electronic Journal Subscriptions in 2007 University of South Carolina Appalachian State University East Carolina University Drexel UC Davis UNC Charlotte American University Binghamton University University of Maryland Central Michigan (moving 70% to online by 2008) Kansas State University College of Charleston
- 5. Logistics of the De-Duplication Project Coordinated by Collection Management Committee-- AD for Collections, librarians who are department liaisons, and the heads of cataloging, acquisitions, and access services. Developed a spreadsheet of 850 journals for which the Libraries subscribed to both the print & electronic versions and the journals offered an e-only subscription option At UNCG, most journal subscriptions are assigned to a particular academic department, and the spreadsheet was sorted by department (3 letter code)
- 6. Logistics of the De-Duplication Project A template letter that explained why print subscriptions should be dropped in favor of e-only subscriptions was prepared and shared with liaisons Some liaisons revised the template for their own style, but everyone provided essentially the same message During first week of March 2007, liaisons sent letters and spreadsheets to department chairs and representatives for their review and comment
- 11. Results from De-duplication Project For 813 journals, print subscriptions were cancelled and an e-only subscriptions maintained Savings on subscription cost Shelf space freed in Current Periodicals area Shelf space freed in Stacks No Processing Costs No Claiming Costs No Binding Costs We lose no content, remove duplication, & still provide what our users want most: Electronic access to the information
- 12. Weeding & Space Repurposing Project 2008 to Date
- 13. Aged Space is Unappealing Basement Stacks Government Documents
- 14. Creating Appealing Space for Learning & Collaboration
- 15. Space Based on Print Collections All materials warehoused in building (shelves/cabinets) Significant financial investment made to process, deliver, & maintain collection Library prestige & ranking dependent upon physical size, total volumes, etc. Print collection takes more & more space, taking away from student study, collaborative space, and other uses
- 16. Print Replaced by Electronic Frees space to support a more conducive learning environment--more individual study space, more group study space, more computers, etc. Frees financial resources for other needs Library prestige more dependent on electronic resources provided and the building’s learning environment
- 18. Coordination of the Weeding & Space Re-Purposing Project Space Planning Committee (July 2008) --the oversight group responsible for planning renovation of space, setting priorities, and scheduling when certain call-number ranges of the collection would be reviewed for weeding Collection Management Committee – responsible for reviewing the journals, making recommendations, communicating with departments and faculty, and coordinating the actual weeding and transfer
- 37. Results from Weeding & Space Re-Purposing About a Third of the Way Through the Project 3,000 linear feet of bound volumes weeded from Jackson Library 650 linear feet of bound volumes weeded from Storage 1,000 linear feet removed from Jackson to Storage We lose no content, remove duplication, & still provide what our users want most: Electronic access to the information
- 38. Journal Cancellation & Budget Reduction Project 2009
- 39. North Carolina State Budget Crisis 2010 Due to a significant shortfall in tax revenues, on April 6, 2009, the state ordered all agencies to freeze purchasing As of that date, the Libraries lost whatever collection funds it had remaining for the fiscal year and could not make anymore purchases or pay any incoming invoices The Libraries had to prepare for a possible 15-to-20 percent budget cut for fiscal 2009-10
- 40. Logistics of the Journal Cancellation & Budget Reduction Project Coordinated by Collection Management Committee Developed a spreadsheet of 1,750 journals Libraries had a direct subscription (not a package deal) The current issues of the journal were available in PDF in a protected aggregator database The spreadsheet was sorted by department and reviewed by liaisons, who made recommendations on cancelling/keeping Departments & faculty were notified about recommendations
- 49. Results from the Journal Cancellation and Budget Reduction Project 700 journal subscriptions cancelled $175,000 reduced from the serials budget of $1.52 million We lose no content, remove duplication, & still provide what our users want most: Electronic access to the information (do lose ownership)
- 50. Natural Progression In the first project, the Libraries removed duplication and provided e-only access for current journal subscriptions In the second project, the Libraries removed duplication and provided e-only access for older issues of journals In the third project, the Libraries removed duplication and provided e-only access to current issues of some journals through protected aggregator databases.
- 51. The vast majority of users want and expect Electronic Access Rely on that truth Remove unnecessary duplication Save money Free space for other uses Free staff time for other uses It has been a successful strategy in helping UNCG solve some difficult problems