From: "Bosch, Stephen J - (boschs)" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2019 23:35:37 +0000
One source of data for question 1 could be ARL. In 1995 the median number
of current serials provided by ARL libraries was a bit over 21,000 while in
2011, the last year ARL gathered the number of serials, the median had
increased to slightly more than 90,000.
Stephen Bosch
Materials Budget, Procurement, and Licensing Librarian
University of Arizona Library
1510 East University PO Box 210055
Tucson, AZ 85721-0055
520-621-6452
520-621-8276 fax
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From: Brian Simboli <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2019 19:15:51 -0500
A few points.
1. Jim O'Donnell asks: "How large was the universe of academic journals
held in American universities in 1995? How many titles? Now, how many do
we have now? I pick 1995 as the year in which big deal pricing began more
or less and the big publishers started offering e-access."
*That is a great question. Is there any reliable source for this data,
broken out by subject area? I can think of one or two possible sources for
this data but it is presented annually.*
2. Danny Kingsley mentions that "..we often frame these discussions [about
download use, citations and so on] around the academic use of research
papers, and it is true they are the ones creating citations. But in a
university there is a huge cohort of use by students which is important to
consider. In terms of cancellations, particularly on a large scale, it is
likely in the first year the student use won’t be greatly affected - the
percentage of papers that were published within the last 12 months put on
reading lists for students would be small. But as years progress and access
remains cut off this might start to impact on the student experience."
*This is a nice point about the need to take student use into
consideration. This does drop out of view in many conversations.*
I'd take it however in a perhaps different (?) direction and suggest that a
contracted journal space is consistent with this point, from the standpoint
that journals should assume much more of an integrative and review role
than they do now. That can be accomplished with significantly fewer of
them. In instruction sessions for undergraduates, I routinely talk about
the great value of review articles in the context of their value
for developing background knowledge. They play a key educational role. But
the same point extends to graduate students and researchers new to a field.
--
Brian Simboli
Science, Mathematics, and Psychology Librarian
Library and Technology Services
E.W. Fairchild Martindale
Lehigh University
8A East Packer Avenue
Bethlehem, PA 18015-3170
(610) 758-5003; [log in to unmask]
Profile & Research guides
<http://libraryguides.lehigh.edu/prf.php?account_id=13461>
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