Brock Library forced to shed journal subscription costs | The Brock News

"Brock is becoming the latest university to cancel some of its academic journal subscriptions because their spiralling costs have become too expensive to sustain. Effective Dec 31, Brock will cancel a major package of electronic subscriptions to 1,363 journals distributed by US-based Wiley-Blackwell, which is one of about a half-dozen major companies who control most of the world’s academic publishing industry. The decision means Brock faculty and students will need to request specific journal articles published after 2014 through interlibrary loans. Brock joins a growing trend of universities reducing academic journals whose subscription costs have far outstripped the rate of inflation. The University of Montreal ended its Wiley-Blackwell package subscription this year. Even Harvard, renowned as one of the world’s wealthiest libraries, indicated it can no longer afford the price hikes. A Harvard memo said that, over a six-year period, costs went up by 145 per cent for access to articles from two major publishers. Brock’s move was forced by several factors, said Interim University Librarian Barbara McDonald. Enrolment growth had already pushed the University into a higher price category, but the slide of the loonie has also had a deep impact on budgets. More than 80 per cent of Library acquisitions are in US dollars, so even small movements in the exchange rate is a significant hit ..."