Along with the other libraries in the Dalhousie University Libraries system, the W.K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library will have a significant collections budget shortfall for 2016-17. Reducing book purchases and spending endowment funds will help reduce the shortfall, but additional cancellations will be required.
We are in the process of cancelling ClinicalKey as our first step toward balancing the 2016-17 budget.
ClinicalKey, an Elsevier product, has two main components: journals and ebooks. This subscription cost more than $100,000 CAD in 2015/16 and was the second most expensive item on our budget.
The majority of journals included in ClinicalKey are duplicates of titles the University Libraries already subscribe to in another Elsevier package.
The ebooks portion of ClinicalKey is required to support the Health professions and Medical curricula is well used, and provides unlimited access to students. To date, the vendor has not been able to provide a model that would allow us to subscribe to just the ebook portion.
In order to support the curricula, a portion of the funds saved by cancelling the ClinicalKey subscription will be repurposed to purchase ebooks. Replacement of the required ebooks will be phased in over two budget years.
Over the next six weeks liaison librarians will review titles identified as most relevant to the curricula in consultation with faculty. The Resources team will then purchase replacement ebooks and, in a few cases, print books.
Although ClinicalKey is a large, well-known education resource for Medicine and the Health Professions, we must be good stewards of the Dalhousie Collections funds while also meeting our user needs. Due to the increased annual renewal cost, the duplication of journal content, and the unfavorable currency exchange rate, we are making this difficult choice. The contingency plan outlined here will fill in the collection gaps left by the absence of this product.
Deadline for comments regarding this decision: 5 pm Friday, May 13, 2016. Please send your comments to: Patrick Ellis or Ann Barrett at Kellogg.Library@Dal.Ca