Help UST Libraries develop journal collections
From UST Libraries
The process of selecting information resources (electronic resources, books and journal subscriptions) for the scholarly needs of the UST community is based on collaboration between library staff, faculty and university administration.
A number of factors are considered as we make decisions on purchases: available budget, costs of resources, economic trends in the publishing industry, the balance between print and electronic resources, use of materials and the allocation of resources to specific academic areas.
We do not simply add content year after year, but continually assess the subscriptions that we have to both print and electronic content to insure that we are providing access to the best and most useful materials.
The libraries continue to be grateful for the support of the university as we develop collections for the community. As we consider the many possibilities that exist in information resources, staff keep in mind several principles: our role as a library primarily serving the curricular needs of a comprehensive institution; an increase in the use of sophisticated information resources needed by faculty for their own research; and a dramatic and continuing shift in user demand from printed materials to electronic.
There is no question that library resources still are being used, but increasingly those materials that are available electronically are the most popular.
We take our role as stewards of the university's resources very seriously. In making collection development decisions for the coming year, we have:
- Evaluated the use of all journals
- Consulted with faculty in each discipline regarding their need for and use of journals
- Determined the full-text availability of journals, especially those to which we subscribe in print
- Minimized duplication between print and electronic resources
- Minimized duplication among the UST libraries
- Identified new resources that are appropriate and valuable for our community
For the record, the UST libraries currently own 43,354 electronic journals and have 1,349 active print journal subscriptions. In addition, we provide access to 248 electronic databases, which have seen a 31 percent increase in use in the last year.
We invite the campus community to review and comment on the recommendations we have for cancellations. Although we are adding 13 new subscriptions for 2009, we propose canceling 34 titles for which there will be no exact counterpart available on campus. Please take a moment to examine the list to ensure that we have precisely identified the least used resources for the campus.
Contact Dani Roach, (651) 962-5408, by Thursday, Sept. 18, with comments about titles on these lists or with suggestions for resources that the libraries should consider for purchase.
