Memorial U cancelling 2,500 journal subscriptions

Memorial University in Newfoundland plans to cancel subscriptions to 2,500 academic journals in order to stay within its budget, according to a story posted by the CBC. Academic journals are the main resource for most faculty and student research. However, a weak Canadian dollar and rising subscription costs means the library can no longer afford to stay within its $5 million journal budget. 

The cancelled journals will no longer be available on the shelves or on the library's online database. Last week, the MUN library released a list of the journals it was cancelling, after soliciting feedback from faculty and students. Some 1,500 subscriptions would remain after the purge.

Head librarian Lorraine Busby said she doesn't want to cancel journal subscriptions, but MUN's libraries have few options. 

"We really don't want to be doing this," said Busby. "When there isn't the ability to add to your budget, tough choices have to be made."

While Busby said the library is trying to mainly discontinue journals that aren't heavily used, political science professor Scott Matthews said several of the journals on the list are hugely important to him and his colleagues.

"These aren't obscure journals, these are the Time Magazines and Maclean's of our fields," he said."So having no access or substandard access to these is devastating."

Related story:

• Academic publishers reap huge profits as libraries go broke (CBC)