This guide is a living document that will be updated as needed. It provides information on:
- The systemwide Electronic Core Collection available to CSUDH
- Collections budget pressures
- FY 2024-2025 cancellations and alternative sources
- FY 2025-2026 cancellation review processes
- Cancellation review criteria, and
- Opportunities to share your input - faculty needs assessment survey
Message from the Dean
Although academic libraries have faced challenges related to annual inflationary pricing pressures ranging from 2% to 6%, the University Library considers the provision of access to scholarly resources through database and journal subscriptions as a core library academic support mandate.
In the last eight years, the library faculty and dean have worked assiduously to build a complement of scholarly resources to support research and curricular endeavors for the campus community. This inflationary pricing, coupled with CSUDH campus budget reductions due to declining student enrollment, the Governor's Compact changes, and a funding shortfall in the compensation packages, now requires a more proactive cancellation review process.
We are exploring every option possible to meet this budget reduction while maintaining a collection that is responsive to curricular and research needs. However, we cannot reconcile this new budget without canceling access to some electronic resources. Due to time constraints, the library has thus far made some cancellation decisions internally. Moving forward, we would like to make these decisions in dialogue with the campus community. This collection review will be an iterative process as additional budget reductions are announced.
Warmest regards,
Stephanie Sterling Brasley
Cancellation Review Criteria
When reviewing materials for cancellation, library faculty use the following criteria to determine what to retain:
- Curricular coverage – In addition to quantitative metrics, the library strives to maintain balance across academic programs, providing equitable coverage rather than targeting specific programs.
- Unique content vs. duplicate content – Often, electronic journals are available in more than one database or journal package. When deciding which subscriptions to renew or cancel, the library performs overlap analyses to prioritize the retention of unique content that cannot be accessed elsewhere in the collection.
- Cost and usage data - The library calculates the cost-per-use of each online resource by dividing the total price by the number of times a resource is used. For example, a $15,000 database that is used 13,500 times has a cost per use of $1.11. Cost-per-use indicates the return on investment for library expenditures. Subscriptions with a high cost per use are often canceled to save subscriptions with a low cost per use.
- Faculty input – Finally, as we prepare to make additional cuts, the library values any input provided by faculty. We seek to make decisions that are collaborative and transparent. We invite faculty to complete a faculty needs assessment survey. Faculty can also reach out directly to their subject librarian to discuss specific resources relevant to research and instruction.
- Interlibrary loan statistics – Subject areas with higher interlibrary loan metrics may not have adequate content coverage to meet the information needs of library users. When potential collection gaps are discovered, library faculty prioritize preserving content relevant to that subject area.
- Contractual limitations - As a cost-saving measure, the library subscribes to several “Big Deal” journal bundles purchased through a consortium in multi-year contracts. These bundles provide access to most, if not all, of a publisher’s journal content for a significantly reduced price. While participation in these “Big Deals” is ultimately beneficial, the multi-year commitments restrict our flexibility when making last-minute decisions in response to budget cuts. We are locked into several of our most expensive subscriptions for at least one to two more fiscal years.
