The SU Libraries need your help! We have to cut $150,000-$175,000 in spending on journals and databases. We need your feedback to make sure that we keep journals and databases that are most useful for you and your students and, to the extent possible, only eliminate materials that are less important. This site provides information about why we need to do this, what the process is, and similar information.
To access the spreadsheets with detailed information on the proposed cuts and a link to the survey form where you can provide feedback, please go to your MyClasses (Blackboard version) login and look for "Journal/Database Review Project" in the course listing.
The deadline for comments is April 24, 2015.
Thanks for your help!
January/February: Behind the Scenes
Library staff created spreadsheets with information on all of our journals and databases, including usage and costs for each, sortable by discipline.
Early March: Liaison Review
Liaisons were given the spreadsheets and asked to identify for each department cuts worth about 25% of the overall cost of the journals/databases assigned to the department. In identifying these cuts, in addition to usage and cost, they considered:
Mid-March: Preparation for Faculty Feedback
We loaded spreadsheets with the proposed cuts into MyClasses and created this webpage with information about the review project.
March 24-April 24: Gather Faculty Feedback
The liaisons are sending department chairs the spreadsheets for their departments and asking them to have their department tell us their priorities as a department. It is up to the chairs to decide how they want to gather this feedback from their departments.
The liaisons also are contacting individual faculty to invite them to provide feedback through MyClasses (Blackboard version). Look for "Journal/Database Review Project" in your course listing. Faculty will be able to view spreadsheets listing the proposed cuts for their own department as well as other departments. Faculty should review the spreadsheets BEFORE going to the online survey form linked from MyClasses, as the survey form simply lists titles but doesn't have the other information on cost and alternative access. available in the spreadsheets. They will be able to comment on the journals from their own departments as well as any other journals they use, rating them as essential, useful, or less useful. For journals that they rate as essential, it is important that they explain why.
Late April: Final Decisions
Senior library staff will look at the feedback and make the final decisions as to what to cut. We will make this list available on our website and in MyClasses or both and will share it with the faculty.
Early May: Renewals and Cancellations
We will submit renewals and cancellations to the publishers in early May.