October 2003

 

Future of UC’s Scholarly Publications

 

Digital publication and networked information are fundamentally changing the way the university’s researchers develop and disseminate their work. Because faculty are both the developers and consumers of research literature, theirs will be a key role in planning for the future of scholarly publication at UC. Defining that role and lending it impetus is an underlying purpose of a pair of upcoming regional seminars titled “The Emerging Influence of Technology on Scholarly Communication and Publishing: Planning for a Decade of Change,” sponsored by UCOP’s Office of Systemwide Library Planning and the California Digital Library (CDL) in consultation with the Academic Council. Selected participants from each campus will convene with University Librarians and officers of the CDL and Systemwide Library Planning to discuss how best to engage publication technologies to preserve standards for assessment, answer the varying publication/dissemination needs of faculty, and take advantage of these changes to create a more sustainable financial model for library collections and acquisitions.

 

The cost factor is particularly acute in light of the severe budget cuts UC’s libraries are now facing and the cost of publisher journal packages, which include print and/or electronic editions. UC libraries devote about a third-- $20.5 million -- of their materials expenditures to these packages, much of which goes to the top four science, technology, and medical journal publishers. Price increases of from 5% to 8% a year are standard. If journal prices cannot be stabilized, there will be major reductions in UC’s shared digital collection for 2004 and beyond. The CDL is currently in intense licensing agreement negotiations with Elsevier and Wiley. In a letter to UC faculty, which will be distributed in mid October, the University Librarians and the Systemwide Senate Chair will outline strategies that may prevent these reductions, and suggest ways that faculty can help. A special website has also been created specifically to keep faculty informed on this issue.