Cash-strapped libraries threaten to end journal subscription deals over rising costs

"From 2005-2009 Elsevier’s profits increased from around £1 billion to £1.6 billion. Libraries have been locked into so-called “big deals” with these publishers. Their 3-year subscription deals offer their researchers instant access to thousands of journals but have tied libraries into 6% price increases year-on-year. The pressure for libraries to reduce costs has become irresistible....[Deborah Shorley, Director of the Imperial College London Library] is leading Research Libraries UK (RLUK), which represents the libraries of Russell Group universities, in a public campaign to pressure big publishers to end up-front payments, to allow them to pay in sterling and to reduce their subscription fees by 15%. The stakes are high, library staff and services are at risk and if an agreement or an alternative delivery plan is not in place by January 2nd next year, researchers at Imperial and elsewhere will lose access to thousands of journals. But Deborah Shorley is determined to take it to the edge if necessary: “I will not blink.” ... RLUK is searching for an alternative to the current arrangement with big publishers. They are developing a contingency plan which will allow them to walk away from the publishers while reassuring academics that their research won’t suffer. A “world expert in document supply”, as Deborah Shorley refers to him, is developing the contingency plan at Imperial. The plan will involve purchasing the must-have, high-use journals individually (research has shown that 5% of journals account for 40% of journal subscription use) and supplying other papers through document supply, which means that researchers are able to read an abstract and request delivery of the paper, commonly from the British Library. Delivery times for document supply can be less than two hours electronically. Additionally, 10% of the material that libraries receive through paid subscriptions is already available through open-access...."