In response to a growing and heavy use of online journals and in order to make the most effective use of its collection budget, the Library has decided to favor the online format, where a choice exists between print and online.

This also requires that a reliable and stable online version is available. Identifying those titles that are represented in both print and electronic format in our collection, discontinuing the print subscription, and moving to an online access model whenever prudent, must be an ongoing process.

The mission of the UC Library has always been to provide the best service and resources available to support our faculty and students. In keeping with that mission the library has built a significant collection of print materials, and has acquired electronic resources in all disciplines to support our faculty's and students' research and curriculum. We are particularly keen to support our users' electronic research activity and new models of digital dissemination of scholarship. The Library has provided increased access to online journals during the past 4 years, and users have benefited from the convenience of the access as additional journals not previously available in print at UC have become available.

The ARL (Association of Research Libraries) illustrated the comparative growth of monograph and serials costs and expenditures during 1986-2005 in ARL Statistics 2004-05 (see page 17 for graph illustrating the growth rates). The trend is clear and presents a significant challenge to libraries, especially with respect to print monographic purchases. One strategy which addresses the economic challenge posed by serials subscriptions is to reduce the duplication between print and electronic journals. Accordingly, the Library has decided to continue a project which had its initial phase two years ago: reviewing our print journals with electronic versions and migrating wherever possible to an electronic only subscription.

The purpose of this process is to encourage the transition from print to online as an important element of the Library's collection development strategy. Reducing the number of print journals for which duplication exists electronically, will provide greater flexibility in terms of space utilization and planning and will address budgetary pressures associated with the hidden costs of maintaining print subscriptions, such as processing, claiming, shelving and binding.

Funds saved from canceling duplicate print subscriptions will be reallocated to the general library budget which will mean more funds for monographs, additional journals, and other needed materials. Not only will this significant initiative constitute good fiscal management, it will also help alleviate the severe space constraints faced by the UC Library. 

That being said, it is clearly recognized that faculty have specific research needs, and that this may require the retaining of the print subscription. The Library is committed to the electronic format for provision of journal literature but remains sensitive to the need for maintaining the print subscription where appropriate.

The newly formed Librarian Liaison process will ensure collaboration, consultation and communication with faculty for making collection development decisions.

• For electronic journal titles or collections accessed via publishers' agreements (either in consortia or separately), the Library will generally retain the online format only. However there will be consultation with faculty as appropriate to decide whether the print subscription should be retained. As part of this consultation, faculty will have the opportunity to present justification for retaining print subscriptions as a preferred format based on their teaching and research needs.
• Any request to keep or re-instate the print subscription or to keep a print subscription that is included in a publisher's online package will be assessed against faculty needs, actual usage, and Library budgetary constraints, and will require the approval of the library director.
• Online journals that are 'Free with print' are to be considered as a valid exception and don't require approval from the library director. However, when the online is no longer free and both formats are available, the online will be selected unless there is faculty support for maintaining the print subscription.
• When publishers change their pricing model and require us to make format decisions on a title-by-title basis (i.e. not as part of an agreement), there will be consultations with faculty as appropriate to determine which format should be retained.

In reviewing print journals for migration to e-only, we consider:

• Print journals that are also available to UC online where we have a guarantee of archival access to the online and/or print copy in the future.
• Results of 3 years of in-house studies of print journal use. Once a journal is available online, we find that usage of the print version drops off significantly, sometimes to zero.
• The amount of savings the Library would realize on subscriptions, as well as processing and human resources costs, by converting to online only subscriptions.

In addition to the financial considerations mentioned above, Utica College Library is responding to the rapidly changing publishing and dissemination of scholarship environment as well as meeting the dynamic research needs of our users.

Indeed, UC faculty and students are relying increasingly on electronic journals for research and are demanding access to journals twenty-four hours a day:

• Users are demanding more journals and they prefer to have them delivered electronically.
• Electronic format also greatly broadens access. Multiple users can access an online journal at the same time.
• Distance learners can now access information that may previously have been inaccessible to them.

The move to e-only, in short, is user-centered, the goal being the supply of more and better resources to our faculty and students as well as the creation of improved services.

No, it isn’t. In carrying out this review, the Library is reflecting the great changes taking place in the publishing and library worlds.

Numerous academic libraries have already taken the step of implementing an e-only journal policy over the past 5 years.

Additionally, according to data gleaned from Ulrich's Periodical Directory, 67% of all refereed journals are currently available in electronic format, and the conversion process from print to electronic is growing at a rapid pace.

Download the list of transitioning journal titles:

•   Journals Transitioning to E-Only Format