CU-Boulder libraries 'treading water' in face of annual subscription price increases - Boulder Daily Camera

"Every spring, Dean Jim Williams holds his breath and hopes that the University of Colorado will provide the Boulder campus libraries with an 'inflation fighter,' or a budget increase to offset the dramatic cost increases for academic journals and other subscription-based publications. This year is no different. As the Boulder campus prepares to make its budget recommendation to the Board of Regents this week, Williams and other library administrators will be waiting to see how many journal subscriptions they'll need to cut next year—even with a funding increase. Costs for subscriptions to academic journals, books, databases, directories, indexes, magazines, newspapers and other forms of content can increase 6 to 8 percent annually, according to Williams and other pricewatchers. That means that even with a 4 percent funding increase, like the one CU-Boulder's libraries got last year, library administrators still need to cut costs ..."