Library Message February 17, 2009

Colleagues,

The last several days have been filled with messages from faculty regarding the Library's funding and the anticipated cut in journal and database subscriptions.  In addition to these messages, I have also had in depth discussions with the Deans Working Group and the Faculty Advisory Council.  It is clear that the magnitude of this cut will have immediate and serious ramifications for your research and your teaching.  

Contrary to some of the emails and letters circulating, the proposed serials cuts are not the result of budget cuts or lack of fundraising.  Between forgiven cuts, budget augmentations and staff raises, the library budget has actually increased over $200,000 this year over last.  And in Campaign Oregon, the Library raised nearly $20,000,000 against an initial goal of only half that.

At the same time, I believe that most of us recognize that the current system of disseminating scholarly content is not sustainable.  While publishers and societies provide a valuable service associated with the peer review process, we cannot continue to purchase content that inflates between 7 and 10% every year.   Facing that exponential growth in costs, even a million dollar increase would simply delay the issue a brief time.

The campus faces a short-term crisis - but also an opportunity to provide leadership in supporting alternative methods of disseminating and preserving research content.  To mitigate the short-term problem, I will be allocating $300,000 to reduce the magnitude of the journal cut for FY10.  A third of that is provided generously by the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics from their fall TV revenues.   Although these are difficult financial times, this step is needed to address your immediate concerns.  At the same time, I will be encouraging broader conversations on campus to help shape and inform alternative approaches to scholarly communication and the current publishing model.  A few eminent research institutions, including UC-Berkeley, UNC-Chapel Hill, and UW-Madison are beginning to move in this same direction.

More specific information will be coming to you from Dean Carver and your library subject specialists.  Thank you for your feedback on this issue, and I look forward to working with you as we articulate longer-term solutions and new roles for the research library.

Regards, Jim