This year, the Dal Libraries is examining six journal packages to determine whether we should renew these subscriptions. The packages we are examining this year are Cambridge, Oxford, Sage, Springer, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley.

Since the summer, subject-based teams of librarians have been analyzing the data from the faculty and student consultations we held in the spring, journal usage statistics, citations, and other metrics to determine the value of each package. As a result of these efforts, we can now report on the results of the analysis on one of the six packages —  we will be renewing the full subscription for Cambridge.

We expect to decide on the renewal status of the Oxford package in January. Analysis of the remaining four packages will continue into the new year and updates will follow as that work is completed.

This is complex and time-consuming work. Thank you to the librarians for carefully analyzing all the factors leading to the decision to maintain the Cambridge package. For more information, visit our collections management page or contact Library.Collections@dal.ca