This summer, the Dal Libraries conducted an institution-wide survey and a consultation process to help us determine if we should renew the Taylor & Francis package or subscribe to only a select group of titles.

Thank to you all the faculty and students who responded to the survey and attended the public consultation sessions. The survey ran from July 25 to September 30, and we received 221 completed responses. Four public consultation sessions were held on the Carleton, Sexton, Studley, and Truro campuses.

In addition to the valuable information we received through consultation, a working group of librarians reviewed the relevant collection assessment literature, and consulted Canadian librarians and scholars who have recently assessed large packages. Following these consultations and internal discussions, the working group based the assessment on whether to renew Taylor & Francis or discontinue the subscription on four key factors:

1. Usage data: how often is Taylor & Francis content used?
2. Publication data: how often do Dalhousie-affiliated researchers publish in Taylor & Francisjournals?
3. Alternate sources: how much Taylor & Francis content is available in other databases or packages to which Dalhousie subscribes?
4. Community input: which journals does the Dalhousie community value most highly?

Given the high value the Dalhousie community places on the availability of some Taylor & Francis titles, and the dollar amount saved by breaking the package, we will be delaying breaking the package for this year. Although we will be renewing the Taylor & Francis package this year, the model of “big deal” journal packages is ultimately unsustainable. The difference between the cost of renewing the entire package of more than 2,000 titles versus breaking the package and subscribing to fewer than 100 titles is roughly $50,000.  The data shows that not all 2000 titles are well-used, and it is clear that retaining subscriptions to some journals is more important than retaining subscriptions to other titles in the package.

We will use data from the working group’s efforts to make decisions on Taylor & Francis and other “big deal” journal packages next year.  As budgets continue to be compressed, a savings of $50,000 will become a necessity, and moving from a large bundle to title-based subscriptions will inject flexibility into acquisitions decision-making.  We are now in a position to ensure access continues for the most valuable titles from the Taylor & Francis package, when we reconsider this package next year. We will be obtaining similar data for other packages, as soon as possible.

Related to the work above, but on a much larger scale, in January faculty will be invited to participate in the national Journal Usage Project: http://www.crkn-rcdr.ca/en/journal-usage-project. We urge faculty to participate in this effort to identify Dalhousie’s most highly valued journals. Survey, usage, and citation data from this national Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) project will be used in our ongoing efforts to assess our collections and to make purchasing and cancellation decisions that respect our communities’ research and learning needs, and balance our budget.

Please contact us at Library.Collections@dal.ca if you have questions about the Taylor & Francis decision, Dalhousie Libraries’ collections budget, or about Dalhousie’s journal subscriptions.