Editor’s note: Part of an ongoing series about Iowa State’s response to state budget problems.

High inflation rates and budget cuts have prompted the University Library Committee to recommend reducing the number of journals the library receives in the next few years.

“There is no plan right now to cut the number of journals,” said David Hopper, chairman of the University Library Committee and professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine.

The amount of cuts, if any, the journal collection receives is dependent on the state’s budget decision and inflation rates within the next few years, said Kristin Gerhard, associate dean for collections and technical services.

This cut would not happen immediately, Hopper said.

“Somewhere in 2004-05, we are probably going to have another journal reduction,” he said.

This cut would be different than the past four reductions, Gerhard said.

In the past, every department has had to cut the same percentage of its journals budget. The plan recommended by the Library Committee is not entirely based on inflation, but it is not purely straight across the board, Gerhard said.

Gerhard explained in an example. If the library had to take a 10-percent cut in what it spends on journals, the library might mandate a 5-percent cut across the board, and the other 5 percent would be in proportion to how each journal price is inflating. The department the journal is under would be responsible for more cuts because their journal has a high inflation rate, she said.

Reducing the number of journals is a worry because it makes it difficult for faculty and staff to access publications they might have an interest in publishing in, Hopper said.

David Gregory, associate dean for research and access, said the library has been treated well by the university community.

“[The library] is grateful for the increases [it has received],” he said.

The university has agreed to increase the materials budget for the library, allowing it to continue giving access to some journals, Gregory said. However, this has not been enough to keep the library out of a difficult financial situation.

“The fact of the matter is the increases have not kept pace with inflation,” Gregory said.

He said the library has tried to keep access to as many journal titles as it can.

If a particular journal is currently available in both an electronic and print version, the library may look into discontinuing the print version, so there are no duplicate subscriptions, Gregory said.

“[We want to] preserve access to unique titles,” Gregory said.

Hopper said this is an example of the library’s excellent job of reducing the impact of reductions on the university community.

“In 1999, we had approximately 150 e-library [items], we now have well over 5,000 e-journals,” Hopper said.

“Many of those have replaced some print journal packages,” he said.

The library is also looking at several other ways to deal with possible budget cuts.

“We are looking at efficiencies such as we are soon moving from printed to e-mail correspondence,” Hopper said.

Interlibrary loan items may also be sent using PDF files instead of obtaining hard copy versions, Gregory said.

He said efficiencies such as these are usually often more convenient for users of the library.

“We think the efficiencies we’ve found so far are a win-win situation,” Gregory said.