Q: Whom should I contact with concerns about cancellations?
A: If you believe a specific title is vital for your research and instruction, please send comments to your subject librarian or complete the faculty needs assessment survey. While we cannot guarantee that a specific resource will be retained, we will consider faculty feedback when making difficult decisions.
Q: Can the library work with other CSUs to lower or share subscription costs?
A: The library already participates in two consortia: the California State University Systemwide Digital Library Content (SDLC) consortium and the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC). These consortia leverage joint purchasing power to negotiate on behalf of their members to lower prices on subscriptions and shared technology infrastructure. The consortia also negotiate transformative agreements to provide funding for open access article processing charges.
Q: What actions should I take in response to these cuts?
A: If your Canvas course materials link directly to Ovid, SAGE, University of Chicago, or American Physical Society journals, you will need to search the library catalog to find alternate access through another database or update required readings to reflect current library subscriptions. Your subject librarian can help you with this search.
Q: Is the library making budget reductions elsewhere to save the collections?
A: Like much of the campus, the library is letting vacant positions go unfilled, freezing supply purchases, limiting hours of operation, and hiring student assistants through the Federal Work-Study program. However, other than salaries, annual subscriptions to electronic resources are the library’s largest expenditure. Unfortunately, we cannot meet the new budget target without canceling subscriptions.
Q: Does the library receive any external funding for collections?
A: The Electronic Core Collection is composed of databases acquired with funds from the Office of the Chancellor on behalf of all CSU campuses. These databases are not candidates for cancellations, as the library does not contribute any funds for their purchase.
Q: Can I upload an article to Canvas if it was acquired through interlibrary loan?
A: Uploading PDFs to Canvas may violate vendor licensing agreements. When using materials acquired through interlibrary loan, limit Canvas uploads to one article per journal issue or 10 percent of a book. Consider altering your curriculum to use library-owned content, which can be connected to Canvas via permalink. To learn more about the fair use provision of US copyright law, visit the LibGuide or the Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians.
Q: How can I best help students find, evaluate, and use the materials we have?
A: In an information constrained environment - it's even more important to understand the information ecosystem. Consider scheduling a customized information literacy session with a faculty librarian or using our online instructional materials:
Q: What can I do to help?
A: Alterations to the library’s operating budget have a campus-wide impact, as we can only meet this challenge by canceling journal and database subscriptions. You can support library collections by advocating for an expanded budget in relevant meetings. We also welcome you to include library resources in grant applications; please contact your subject librarian or Nicole Wood (Collections and Acquisitions Librarian) to discuss pricing options. To support the cost-free availability of scholarly information, please consider publishing open access through the library’s transformative agreements. This webpage intends to serve as the start of a fruitful, ongoing conversation with you. We ask that you be kind to us while we make these decisions.