Iowa State’s Parks Library canceled 14 percent of its academic journal subscriptions, an estimated $550,000 worth of journals, in June due to an imbalance between the budget and the cost of the journals.

“The library regrets that we have to do this,” said Cynthia Dobson, interim collections officer. “It’s not anything we look forward to.”

The project will consist of two phases, according to an April memo from Olivia Madison, dean of library services.

First, the academic departments will be given a list of journals thought to be used primarily by that department and asked to identify journals for possible cancellations.

Next, the entire campus will be asked for comments on the departments’ initial recommendations through the library’s Web site, www.library.iastate.edu. A list of the targeted journals will also be on reserve at the library.

Each department has named a library liaison for the project, and a bibliographer has been assigned to each subject area. The bibliographers will supervise the departments and be a source of information for them throughout the cancellation process, Dobson said.

The current project is the fourth general cancellation project the library has conducted. The last cancellation project took place during the 1991-92 academic year.

“[The cancellations] will obviously have an impact on research, whether it is general research or for term papers and such,” Dobson said. “People will have to rely more on interlibrary loan.”

Richard Zbaracki, professor of curriculum and instruction and English, is the liaison for the curriculum and instruction department. He said he thinks the library does a good job of prioritizing the journals and keeping as many of the essential ones as possible.

“Usually they recognize the fact that it is a research library,” Zbaracki said. “They do their best.”

Some members of the ISU community are concerned, however.

“They’re going to have to cancel around $500,000 worth of journals,” said John Corbett, distinguished professor of chemistry and the liaison for the department. “That cannot be innocent for everyone.”

Robert Wallace, associate professor of botany, agreed.

“I’m concerned about subtle changes that may take place when we’re not looking … until one day when you go to the library to find something and it’s not there,” Wallace said. “Down the road, it will have a significant impact.”

Wallace said about one-third of almost 50 references he used for a recent manuscript came from Parks Library.

“Parks Library is an incredible resource that maintains the vast majority of research on campus,” Wallace said. “I am in the library a minimum of twice a month.”

Wallace said the library should seek feedback about the project and prioritize the journals.

Dobson said the library tries to involve faculty and students across campus.

She also said a committee has been formed to investigate alternative methods of accessing the information, such as document delivery services.

Wallace said he thinks the library should make arrangements so that faculty members could seek other funding if there are particular journals they want to maintain.

“The library has certainly always accepted gifts, and a few journals are paid for by special funding of some sort,” Dobson said. “The problem is that it’s very difficult for that kind of gift to be maintained.”