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Reconciling Rising Serials Costs, theSerials Budget, and Reference Needs ina Medical Library Serials RetrenchmentProgramLothar Spang MLS aa Reference Librarian, Shiffman Medical Library, Wayne StateUniversity, Detroit, MI, 48202Published online: 26 Oct 2008.

To cite this article: Lothar Spang MLS (1995) Reconciling Rising Serials Costs, the Serials Budget,and Reference Needs in a Medical Library Serials Retrenchment Program, Medical Reference ServicesQuarterly, 14:1, 33-44, DOI: 10.1300/J115V14N01_04

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Reconciling Rising Serials Costs, the Serials Budget, and Reference Needs

in a Medical Library Serials Retrenchment Program:

A Methodology Lothar Spang

ABSTRACT. Devising a coherent serials retrenchmen1 plan while maintaining auality reference service is a dilemma faced by increas- ing numbek of mdical librarians. In 1991, the staff of the-Shiffmq Medical Library, Wayne State University, began lo address increas- ing serials budget reductions that by 1994 amounted to a projected 20% maximum cut The resulting retrenchment plan combined an oneoine serials use study, faculty and librarian reviews of cancella- tion lists, and syslematic&fmements in interlibrary cooperation and document delivery service. The Shifhnan vlan urovides a consauc- tive framework hat can be adapted to othir medical libraries facing immediate, major serials remnchment.

Serials prices have increased dramatically since the late 1980s due to a combination of economic factors: rising inflation costs, falling exchange rases for U.S. currency on foreign markets, higher postal rates, and upward adjustments in publisher prices to accom- modate new copyright laws enabling publishers to charge for copy-

Lotha Spang is Reference Librexian, Shiffman Medical Library, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202. He received his MLS from the University of Michigan.

The author graefully acknowledges the efforts of -Laura Robbi , Reference Librarian, now at Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, who began the Shiffman Medical Lihary sserials use study in 1991.

Medical Refkence Services Quarterly, Vol. 14(1), Spring 1995 O 1995 by The Hawolth Ress, Inc. All rights reserved. 33

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34 MEDICAL REFERENCE SERVICES QUARTERLY

ing. As a result, medical librarians must formulate ever more inno- vative means of balancing increased serials costs, static serials budgets, and burgeoning reference needs in order to preserve serials collections as a premier source of reference service.

Four recent surveys, of varying emphasis and sample size, isolate many aspects of the present diffkulties in serials cancellation man- agement. Hawthorn, in a 1991 survey of serials cancellation pro- grams in 223 Nonh American academic libraries, reported four significant findings: (1) a majority of respondents had no formal cancellation policy; (2) two-thirds had no budgets for new titles; (3) one-quarter ordered new titles at the expense of monograph budgets; and (4) few respondents regarded accessibility to nearby libraries as imponant."' Richards and Prelec, in a 1992 study of cancellation programs in ninety-four U.S. and Canadian academic health sciences libraries, found that the principal factors in cancella- tion decisions were use and cost, but only slightly moE than half of their respondents used a systematic review of serials use for can- cellation purposes."2 Martin, in a 1992 survey of budget effects on cancellations in public and private university libraries unaffdiated with the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), noted that resource sharing was minimal even though forty-five of the seventy- two responding libraries had to cancel serials titles to meet bud- g e t ~ . ~ The most ominous warning on the extent of the present seri- als crisis was sounded by Chrzastowski and Schmidt in their 1993 comparative study of cancelled titles in five Midwestern ARL member libraries from 1987 through 1990. They concluded that these libraries had cancelled unique titles in favor of retaining high- use core titles, but had now progressed to cancelling unique titles and some core titles, indicating that difficulties found in one library were spreading to other l ibrarie~.~

Three major problems in current serials cancellation manage- ment in academic libraries emerge from the combined findings of these four studies: the lack of formal cancellation policies, the absence of concrete use statistics upon which to base decisions, and the reluctance to promote interlibrary cooperation. Taken together, these three problems bode ill for the continued provision of viable serials collection service in medical libraries. Accordingly, these are the major challenges that serials librarians must address if serials

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collections are to remain useful research resources into the twenty- fust century. The experience at the Shiffman Medical Library, Wayne State University (WSU), illustrates the steps that are neces- sary to make a constructive response.

BACKGROUND: THE SERIALS DILEMMA AT THE SHIFFMAN MEDICAL LIBRARY

The challenge presented by escalating Serials costs'has been espe- ciallv daunting at the Shiffman Medical Librarv because of its varied clieiele. ~ocated in the busy Detroit ~ e d i c a i ~ e n t e r , the Shiffman Library is a major medical Library resource that serves twelve area hospitals, various regional health agencies, and the surrounding com- munity, in addition to the University's medical school and research facilities. A new Veterans Administration Hospital, soon to be opened across the street from the library, promises to add a new group of users. Yet within the last four years, rising serials costs, combined with the lack of corresponding serials budget adjustments, have required the Shiffman staff to devise a stringent and immediate method of conserving serials costs while maintaining quality refer- ence service for an everexpanding base of users.

By early 1992, 223 of the 2,000 titles in the Shiffman serials collection were cancelled according to the initial plan, saving $36,000 in annual serials costs. B y 1993, a projected combined book and serials inflation rate of 10% for 1994 threatened to reduce the serials budget for all WSU libraries by 13.94% ($433,200). WSU bibliographers advised that this reduction would be necessary to mahain a minimum level of book purchases ($1,388,482) through- out the library system. Even though serials, because of their tirneli- ness and concentrated focus on specialties, represent a mainstay of medical library service, the Shiffman Medical Library was expected to meet its equitable share of this reduction. Such a decrease meant that Shiffman serials expenses must be lowered by 16% to 20%. In a worst case scenario of a 20% cut, the Shiffman staff had to be prepared to accommodate a possible loss of $109,000 from an annual serials budget of $548,993.

Although the University president ultimately provided enough year-end emergency funds to cover the shortfall for 1994, a library

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system-wide policy devised to cover subsequent cutbacks in serials subscriptions was adopted by the central library administration. In essence, one serial title was to be cancelled for each projected new serial title ordered. But because medical library serials, with their emphasis on current research, represent a crucial element of refer- ence service, the Shiffman staff, through continued surveys of seri- als use, devised a cancellation system more attuned to medical library needs. By refming the original Shiffman cancellation plan, the staff was able to meet the extreme requirements of the new mandate. For example, the cancellation, amounting to $20,000, of ten expensive seldom-used journals and selected abstracts and indexes released previously encumbered monies to accommodate needed new serials orders in 1994 and beyond. Thus, subscriptions to the most-used titles were maintained, while subscriptions to new journals were possible. At the same time, the University's require- ments for reducing Shiffman's serials budget were met in a realistic way. In spite of serials cancellations totalling over $56,000 in the past three years, user accessibility to needed serials resources has remained constant at Shiffman, as assessed by ongoing use tallies and periodic user surveys. Requests for interlibrary loan borrowing and lending also remained steady for the same period, indicating that appropriate titles have been kept in the collection.

FORMULATION OF THE SHIFFMAN PLAN

The Shiffman cancellation plan, refmed over a four-year period, melded serials use statistics, faculty and librarian evaluations, and interlibrary cooperation and document delivery service into a frame- work for serials management that enabled Shiffman librarians to provide optimum serials accessibility to users by costeffective means. The criteria for cancellation were developed in two separate phases. At the beginning, the base-line use study results were used to dis- cem only those titles that were never used or were duplicated locally. When additional cancellations became necessary, the fmd- ings of the initial six-month study, and the results of subsequent monitoring undenaken during the tenth week of each semester, were reexamined to reveal more detailed use profiles by which additional cancellation criteria could be formulated. All prospective

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cancellation lists were reviewed by both faculty and collection development librarians.

A crucial element in the ultimate success of the plan was the emphasis placed on promoting convenient and economical com- puter online catalogue access and interlibrary loan and document delivery service. Central to the provision of all of these services, both for faculty and other users, was cooperation among library units on campus. Cost sharing among units, especially in expanding the online catalogue to include a number of networked indexes, allowed each library unit to provide ready access to local, state, and regional holdings for users. This cooperation was the key factor in the success of the wliole serials cancellation program in the Shiff- man Medical Library.

THE METHOD

Contemporary rese,arch on serials cancellations in the 1990s reveals the absence of systematic cancellation methods in most academic libraries. To date, the thirteen-step process detailed by Metz remains the most able how-to description of a current serials cancellation plan.5 But academic libraries have been slow to adopt any such systematic approach to addressing serials cancellation mandates. As Hawthom reported, "A majority . . . have no formal policies on serials selection or cancellation"' at all. For'medical libraries, in which serials represent a major research resource, con- tinuation of such oblivion may well prove catastrophic, given cur- rent trends in serials prices. The Shiffman plan, therefore, attempts to provide an approach to serials cancellation management that costs little in time and effort to implement but enables the serials collection to remain a viable research resource in spite of severe budget constraints. As such, the Shiffman plan consists of four basic elements: an ongoing serials-use study, a set cancellation criteria policy, a cooperative decision-making method, and a refined interlibrary loan and document delivery service.

Serials Use Study

The systematic studying of serials use has remained a trouble- some endeavor for most librarians. Hawthom found that only a

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third of her respondents conducted a use study of some sort.' Rich- ards and Prelec discovered no one common type of use study in the fifty-three of ninety-four libraries reporting a systematic m e t h ~ d . ~ Even Metz admitted that he conducted such a study reluctantly. He also noted that the data proved to be invaluable, even though the nine-week data gathering procedure (undescribed) crippled reshelv- ing efforts and ultimately had to be ~topped.~

Unlike the short-term use studies reported in other programs, the serials use tabulation in the Shiffman plan is continual. It is initiated in a six-month investigation and then maintained by surveys under- taken during the tenth week of each succeeding semester. Such constant monitoring gives the library staff continuously updated information that is vital for making informed serials management decisions.

The initial six-month tabulation, and all ongoing tenth-week sur- veys, require the attention of one librarian, assisted by one student assistant who is regularly assigned to journal reshelving. The time involved is minimal. For a 2,000-title serials collection, the stu- dent's tally efforts take one day a week during survey periods. A Saturday is recommended because it is generally the lowest serials use day, and many other library operations are not scheduled. The librarian oversees the final count of the tallies for both the six- month and tenth-week tabulations; which requires approximately one hour a week during the survey times.

The tabulation process requires a supply of press-on dots of assorted colors and a copy of A List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus, which is a comprehensive, ready-made record for tally purposes. Each time a journal is replaced on the shelf by the student assistant assigned to shelving, he or she affixes a color-coded dot, indicating use, to the spine of the bound journals or on the cover of unbound-ksues. At theend of each week in the base-he study and in all subsequent tenth-week counts, these dots (rotated in color each week to avoid confusion) are counted and then removed by the student assistant who goes through the stacks and current reading room and records the dot tallies in the List margins. At the conclu- sion of six months or the tenth week, numbers in the List are tabulated by the librarian according to two categories: priority titles, and duplicated local or regional titles. No-use and locally-held titles

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are scheduled for cancellation first. Remaining tities are judged by a use profile based on three measures: ownership by a regional library, usage of at least eight times in six months, and acost of over $300. The resulting tabulations become the basis for the preparation of cancellation lists.

Once initiated, this method of continually monitoring serials use becomes a routine pan of the serials management program. It is an easy, accurate, timely means of ever-changing research n M s and provides a perpetual record that is invaluable for efficient budget planning and serials purchase and cancellation decisions. And, importantly, library patrons and other library staff are in no way inconvenienced by the tabulation process.

Cancellalion Criteria

Use and cost are the two factors cited most consistently in 1990s surveys as criteria for serials cancellation decisions. Hawthorn found cost to be the premier factor,' while Chrzastowski and Schmidt4 and Richards and Prelec2 reported use to be the most important. Metz cited a combination of both.5 But whether cost or use are employed separately or together in making cancellation choices, the one factor that should be vital in the ultimate cancella- tion decision of a given title is its accessibility. Those titles included in various indexing and abstracting sources usually are readily available through interlibrary loan and on-demand copying ser- vices. Thus, they are leading candidates for cancellation consider- ation.

Availability of titles is central to the implementation of the plan. Initially, those titles found in the use study to have had no use or which are duplicated in another unit of the university library system are immediately scheduled for cancellation, along with duplicate titles held in local medical libraries. When succeeding rounds of cancellations become necessary, three additional criteria are applied. First is regional source availability, which ensures prompt accessi- bility, especially for those users willing to travel to the source. Second is an eight uses in six months measure. This eight-use standard, based on a statistical analysis of use ratio to cost, allows for the most-used items to be retained in the collection. Third is a subscription cost of over $300 a year. Approximately 90% of the

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titles on the Faxon serials price list cost under $300. In an average medical library, which has 2,000 serials titles and a serials budget of $600,000~ a year, the savings generated from eliminating the 10% of titles" costing over $300 ensures that a maximum number of under-$300 titles will be retained.

Last-resort cancellation rounds are made on the basis of two difficult considerations. F i t is the category of titles in which the library itself is the only local and regional source. Second are titles that collection development librarians have determined to be essen- tial for current curricula support. Given that a research library has a responsibility in interlibrary loan cooperation, a last option is the cancellation of titles for which the library remains the sole nearby holder. Similarly, cancellation of items needed for curricula use is a last alternative. Given the possibility of suitable interlibrary loan and document delivery service, however, an issue that Richards and Prelec t e rn "programmatic re~evance"~ is the lesser of the two problems. Even in these last-resort considerations, accessibility is the key focus.

Once the library staff has compiled a list of potential cancella- tions based upon these required criteria, it is then distributed to faculty, usually through departments, for consideration. This list contains a maximum number of titles for cancellation consideration to allow wide leeway for faculty decisions. Two types of informa- tion are included for each title on the List: the cost of the title and the number of uses as tabulated from the use study. All departments on campus that might make use of medical library resources receive this list, including Liberal Arts depamnents such as psychology and anthropology. Responses become the basis for all further cancella- tion decisions.

Cooperative Cancellation Decisions

The role of the library staff at the cooperative phase of the can- cellation endeavor is that of what Metz calls the "Good Cop" or "the protector of the interest of u ~ e r s . " ~ Enlisting the input of faculty is a goodwill gesture that is vital in providing a perspective on research emphasis. Richards and Prelec noted that 41% of their respondents solicited such aid.2 Hawthorn also reported the impor- tance of faculty input in cancellation decisions,' as did Metz, who

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Lorhor S p a ~ ~ g 41

emphasized the goodwill generated by such involvement5 Although the recommendations of faculty and other library professionals are integral to wise cancellation decisions, it is, ultimately, the Library staff in charge of serials that must retain the final authority as "the library's conscien~e."~

With today's pressure to curtail serials costs, this role often involves weighing the fine balance between serials and other formats in library collection development. A recurrent theme in 1990s reports of serials cancellations projects is the importance that faculty and librarians place on serials, often at the expense of monographs. Haw- thom noted that one-fourth of her respondents ordered serials from the monograph budget.[ Metz concluded that "It is too easy for faculty . . . to suggest that monographic acquisitions should suffer in the maintenance of . . . current journal sub~cri~tions."~ But Ruffner, in a 1991 survey of monograph use in a medium-sized Library, deter- mined that, in certain scientific areas, irregular series and research publications were as relevant and cost-effective as journals. He con- cluded that "the days of feeding the serials l i e of the budget first may be nearly over."6 Balancing the pressures of faculty preferences and format competition, therefore, means that the library staff must play an ever more diplomatic role in the serials cancellation process. Being the Good Cop is not easy. But every effort must be made to retain titles deemed necessary by faculty. Once their responses have been returned, the final serials cancellation List is prepared with full consideration of their recommendations.

Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Services

The success of the Shiffman plan is predicated on concentrated efforts to refurbish and expand existing interlibrary loan and docu- ment delivery capabilities. This endeavor requires cooperation by other library units on campus and by local and regional libraries as well. Indeed, such efforts presuppose expeditious interlibrary loan cooperation, a topic which remains under debate in the professional 'literature. The reluctance of librarians to promote interlibrary coop- eration 'as a necessary response to massive se.rials canceUations has been well-documented. Hawthorn found that accessibility to serials sources in nearby libraries was "less valued than might have been anticipated-seeming testimony to how little headway cooperative

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schemes are making."' Martin concludes that the very concept of resource sharing may be in trouble and notes that the slowness with which serials cancellations enter the public record is particularly trouble~ome.~ Chrzastowski and Schmidt emphasize that serials cancellation effects spread from one library to an~ the r .~ Metz, in his comprehensive plan for serials cancellations, makes no mention of formal interlibrary cooperation as a means of response to the prob- lem. Richard and Prelec, however, remain optimistic about the "grow- ing spirit of cooperation among librariesm2 as a means of addressing serials cancellation dilemmas.

If service to users is a major goal of the medical library in imple- menting a successful serials cancellation program, interlibrary coop- eration becomes vital. Joint efforts are especially necessary at the local and regional levels, where such cooperation can expedite timely response to user requests. The medical library administration, there- fore, is responsible for promoting such cooperation. Prompt provi- sion of cancellation lists to local and regional libraries and the immediate updating of OCLC holdings information is imperative. Reciprocal arrangements for sharing information and borrowing are encouraged.

For Library users, improvements in online access and service delivery help to compensate for serials cancellations. Providing faculty with in-office access to MEDLINE and to an online cata- logue which includes local and regional library holdings allows them to do their own searches conveniently. For non-faculty, access to an online catalogue of local and regional library holdings is invaluable.

Optimum service improvements to benefit faculty include pro- viding phone-in interlibrary loan service; twenty-four to forty-eight hour tumaround time for interlibrary loan requests; document deliv- ery response to requests by e-mail, enabling articles to be delivered through the campus mail; and ondemand copy service in coopera- tion with local libraries. For non-faculty patrons, programs to allow non-faculty use of collections in other area Libraries are crucial.

If these. service arrangements to compensate for serials cancella- tions are made, library users are amenable to reduced serials collec- tions. Cooperation with other library units on campus and with local

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and regional facilities lessens the impact of even the most massive serials retrenchment program. .

CONCLUSION

One outcome of the current serials cancellation crisis will be positive-the increasing growth of serials cancellation programs in academic libraries will ultimately require libraries to cooperate in a manner not previously seen. Sharing of resources will be the result of careful long-range planning rather than simply a forced reaction to ari immediate problem. Close monitoring of serials use within libraries, therefore, will be a prime factor in'the formulation of improved interlibrary loan cooperation.

Tabulation of serials use, when done in conjunction with reshelv- ing, takes little extra time and few staff, but the data gleaned are vital in addressing three crucial elements of a viable serials manage- ment program. First, systematic tabulations at regular intekals indi- cate changing research focus, which, in turn, dictates new purchase emphasis in serials budget planning. Second, budget allocations for serials are justified by a rationale based on an unarguable authority: concrete statistics. Such numbers are invaluable to faculty, adminis- trators, and coyection development librarians in making coopera- tive decisions about subscri~tions. And third. facultv and librarians. in collection development decisions, are continuall; well-informed on costs and use on a systematic basis. Such attention allows profes- sionals to redefine the serials collection to meet changing focuses in research, a major goal in a medical library that is responsive to the needs of its users.

Providing reliable alternative access to cancelled serials through online computer services, interlibrary loan, and document delivery services alleviates concerns that researchers will no longer find sources readily available. Most importantly, by inventively and cooperatively refurbishing and expanding existing services, the pro- vision of such access need not be prohibitively expensive.

In summary, a survey procedure that systematically monitors serials use activity provides a fm basis for the medical librarian to develop a coherent serials management progrh. Constant and con- sistent familiarity with the serials collection allows informed deci-

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sions on cancellation criteria, cancellation methods, and interlibrary cooperation. Such close management ensures sensitive, timely, and cooperative response to changing research needs while allowing for the judicious handling of an increasingly limited serials budget.

ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION: JULY 1994

REFERENCES

1. Hawthorn, Margaret. "Serials Selection and Deselection: A Survey of North American Libraries." Serials Librarian 21(1,1991): 29-41.

2. Richards, Daniel T., and Relec, Antonija. "Serial Cancellation Rojects: Necessary Evil or Collection Assessment Opportunity?" Journal of Library Administration 17(2, 1992): 3 145.

3. Martin, Murray S. "Cost Containment and Serial Cancellations." Serials Review 18(3, 1992): 64-5.

4. Chnastowski, Tina E., and Schmidt, Karen A. "Surveying the Damage: Academic Library Serial Cancellations 1987-88 Through 1989-90." College and Research Libraries 54(March 1993): 93-102.

5. Metz, Paul. "Thirteen Steps to Avoiding Bad Luck in a Serials Cancellation Project" Journal of Academic Librarionship 18(May 1992): 76-82.

6. R u f b , James. "A Cost Per Us6 Study of Two Categories of Scflech Materials and a Brief Look at the Acquisition verms Access Debate." In Proceed- ings Acquisitions '91: Conference on Acquisitions. Budgets, and Collections, April 1991, Minneapolis, 2nd ed, compiled and edited by David C. Genaway, 259-70. Canfield, OH: David C. Cenaway and Associates. 1991.

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