U of A avoids cutting journal subscriptions despite rising costs - The Gateway

"While University of Alberta students may be able to download scholarly articles seemingly for free, the costs of providing these articles are not only substantial — they’re rising.

Journal subscription prices rise with an inflation rate of about 6 per cent every year, forcing many universities, including the University of Alberta, to make decisions between keeping and cutting subscriptions. This year, the University of Calgary cut 1,600 academic journal subscriptions, collectively worth about $1.5 million. Meanwhile, the number of subscriptions at the U of A has actually increased by 19,243 from 2015 to 2016.

The U of A is in a different situation from the U of C, according to Gerald Beasley, Vice-Provost and Chief Librarian at the U of A. This is because the university monitors journal use with surveys and student advisory committees to determine which journals to keep and which to cut. The U of A’s numerical increase in subscriptions was in part due to library revitalizing part of their online journal hosting service and increasing the number of available titles counted."