Research Libraries' Cost Of Doing Business

While the consumer price index rose 57% between 1986 and 2002, the price of scholarly journals grew 257%. With today's relatively flat budgets, research libraries are finding it harder and harder to acquire the quantity and quality of materials their patrons need. Adding even more pressure is the penetration of the Internet into all aspects of everyday life, which shapes users' expectations for online information services. The instant gratification provided by services like Google and Amazon.com is not cheap to develop nor maintain, and implementing similar services within a research library can easily stretch the budget beyond capacity. Long-term solutions are hard to come by, but technology innovation, coupled with organizational restructuring, is enabling many libraries to achieve unparalleled efficiencies in the way they do business -- thereby freeing up dollars that can be spent on higher journal fees. Strategies include canceling redundant print subscriptions among related libraries when an online version is available; and printing as needed instead of shelving hard copies of many journals. However, there is a limit to how long those strategies can work. There's only so much fat to be squeezed out of any budget.

Educause Review (Sep/Oct 2004) (Via RLG Shelflife)

Posted by Tom on September 23, 2004