The University Library, in cooperation with the Academic Senate-COLASC and with the support of IRAPS, requests your input for the Library Journal Utilization and Cancellation Survey. The survey will be open from October 11, 2018 through January 23, 2019. Please anticipate taking at least 15 minutes to complete your survey, as you cannot go back and edit your responses once you have closed your browser window or submitted your survey. Should you need to revise a previously submitted survey, you will need to start a new survey. The last version of the survey you completed by January 23, 2019 will be the data we use in our analysis of staff feedback. Please note that if you may fill out the survey for more than one discipline and we will use the latest version completed for each discipline.
Faculty Survey Login: https://relay.ucsc.edu/r/006a3
Staff Survey Login: https://relay.ucsc.edu/r/a594c
You will need to use your CruzID Gold to login to the survey.
Why do we need to cancel journal subscriptions?
- The cost of journal subscriptions has significantly outpaced inflation
- Inflationary and budgetary pressures forced a UC-wide revision to the historical cost sharing model used to license and pay for UC systemwide journal packages and databases (Wiley, Springer, Project Muse, etc.)
Why don’t I see certain journal titles on this survey?
- The Library has two basic types of journal subscriptions: our own local subscriptions and the large set of packages negotiated by the California Digital Library. This survey focuses on local journal subscriptions.
- While the costs of both types of subscriptions are going up, we have full decision-making authority over our local journal subscriptions. Reviewing local subscriptions will allow us to make decisions that will help relieve the budgetary pressure.
Why should I participate in the survey?
- The University Library wants to spend its collection funds on the resources most in need for your research and teaching. Your feedback about the journals we subscribe to is critical in ensuring that we understand the research and teaching needs of the campus community.
- We specifically need your input about what journals you need immediate access to and what journals alternative methods for access like Interlibrary Loan will suffice. Interlibrary Loan article delivery averages 2-3 days.
How will final decisions be made and communicated?
- We designed the survey to include the standard metrics used by academic libraries to assess the degree to which a title is consistently relied upon for research and teaching: usage data, cost per use, potential Interlibrary Loan costs (ILL), post-cancellation access rights, availability in an open access format, etc. These metrics, in conjunction with your assessment of the criticality of need and on-site/online availability for journal titles, will be the data we use to make recommendations for which journals to keep active or cancel.
- We will share and discuss the results of the survey with COLASC and we will work closely with COLASC to make final keep/cancel recommendations.
- Recommendations will be communicated to the Senate and campus community in March; feedback about those recommendations will be solicited through April.
- The University Library will work with COLASC to produce the final decisions for cancellation and we will communicate those decisions to the Senate and campus in early May.
Thank you for your input into this important and challenging process,
Elizabeth Cowell
University Librarian
