ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 9 4 / C&RL News Research Forum Periodicals in college libraries: Are the challenges of rising subscription costs being met? Edited by Bonnie Gratch By Thomas G. Kirk College Librarian Berea College T h e survey results r e p o rte d h ere w ere p art o f a p resentation at a conference on “Seri­ als: Problem s and Prospects” sponsored by th e College o f Library and Inform ation Science at th e University o f Kentucky held in F eb ru ary 1990. The au th o r’s experience w ith periodicals in college li­ braries suggested th a t th e problem s which sm aller predom inantly underg rad u ate institutions face are different th an those o f larger universities which serve graduate students and a large com m unity o f research faculty.1 Specifically, th e a u th o r believed th at th e escalating costs o f serials which confront … the author believed that the escalating costs o f serials which confront the research libraries have not been as significant an issue fo r college libraries. th e research libraries2 have not b een as significant an issue for college libraries. To get som e sense o f th e place o f periodicals in college library budgets a n d collections, the author collected d ata from existing sources an d through a survey designed to collect supplem ental data. Initially a search o f th e literature was p erform ed to seek inform ation on th e status o f periodicals in college libraries. T he results o f th e search w ere a lim ited n u m b e r o f articles th at dealt w ith such issues as th e history o f the Associated Colleges o f th e M idw est’s periodical bank,3 th e selection o f titles as p a rt o f collection developm ent,4 m easure­ m en t o f periodicals use,5 and th e substitution of online services a n d do cu m en t delivery/interlibrary loan for ow nership o f periodicals an d periodical indexes.6 H owever, no literatu re was found on the changing status o f periodicals in college libraries. Given th e dearth o f literatu re and th e author’s desire to have som e sense o f w h eth er his assum p­ tions w ere correct, plans w ere developed for a survey. Annual data from about 30 college libraries had b e en g ath ered over at least th e last 15 years and ab out te n years ago th e sam e data gathering was expanded to include about 20 additional college libraries. Since this well-established body o f u n p u b ­ lished data already exists, th e d ata elem ents o f that survey w ere used as th e basis for constructing the survey questionnaire used in this study. T he survey was s en t in January 1990 to libraries in th e base group o f 53 colleges to obtain data not in th e original annual survey results. In som e cases th e data, especially th a t from earlier years, could not be provided. T hese 53 colleges re p re sen t all sections o f th e U nited States but, because the institutions are highly selective in th e ir stu d en t admissions, it was not expected th at this group w ould re p re sen t college libraries generally. In o r­ d e r to b ro aden th e scope o f th e survey group, the survey was sen t in F eb ru ary 1990 to 21 private colleges in a southeastern state. F o u rtee n institu­ tions o r 67% o f th e institutions responded. This g roup included tw o-year as w ell as four-year insti­ tutions. T able 1 reports inform ation on th e sizes o f th e stu d en t body a n d faculty. A sum m ary o f th e questionnaire d ata is p re ­ sen ted h e re in tables 2 and 3. In o rd e r to simplify the data, only a single fiscal year o f data a t five-year intervals was collected and presen ted . T h e years w ere selected by starting with th e m ost re c en t year for which data was available, 1988/89, and counting back five years (1983/84), te n years (1978/79), and 15 years (1973/74). T h e absence o f data in the earlier years is d u e largely to th e fact th a t institu­ tions d id n o t keep such information. F o r each o f th e fo u r years th e d ata includes th e lowest an d highest rep o rte d levels (e.g., th e range or spread o f th e data), and th e m ean and m edian for th e reporting group o f institutions. F o r categories which February 1 992 / 95 P E R IO D IC A L S IN C O L L E G E LIBR A R IES Table 1: SA M PLE C H A R A C TE R ISTIC S Table 2: IN TER LIB R A RY LO A N DATA U ndergrad. N u m b e r o f IL L s ILLs IL L req. IL L req. Years enrollm ent faculty borrow ed lent p e r fac. p e r stud. 1973-1974 Low est level re p o rte d 130 12 0 0 0 0 H ighest level r e p o rte d 3,030 280 3,869 2,998 47 4 M ean 1,358 109 1,006 810 9 1 M edian 1,227 97 824 517 6 0 1978-1979 Low est level re p o rte d 214 16 0 0 0 0 H ighest level r e p o rte d 3,093 278 5,313 4,932 46 4 M ean 1,471 116 1,250 1,051 11 1 M edian 1,473 108 857 661 8 1 1983-1984 Low est level re p o rte d 268 20 31 7 0 0 H ighest level rep o rte d 3,263 297 5,996 8,760 46 4 M ean 1,459 131 1,899 1,574 14 1 M edian 1,396 123 1,411 1,192 10 1 1988-1989 Low est level re p o rte d 189 18 0 0 0 0 H ighest level re p o rte d 3,443 341 8,977 6,738 69 6 M ean 1,509 134 2,514 2,228 18 2 M edian 1,496 118 2,198 1,952 16 2 Change b etw een 1973-1974 and 1988-1989 Low est level re p o rte d 59 6 0 0 0 0 H ighest level rep o rte d 413 61 5,108 3,740 22 2 M ean 151 25 1,508 1,418 9 1 M edian 269 22 1,574 1,435 10 1 are calculations (e.g., % m aterials is o f total budget), th e values are based on th e values for th e individual institutions rath er than th e values re p o rte d on the sam e row o fth e table. F o r example, th evalue 13.01% rep resents th e “% m aterials is o f total budget,” is the lowest rep o rte d by an individual institution rath er th an th e result o fth e calculation $1,422 $9,275. This approach was used because on any o f th e lines reporting th e lowest o r highest level th e figures are n o t necessarily from th e sam e institution. T h e same p ro cedure was used for the lines reporting m ean and m edian in o rd e r to m aintain consistency. At th e b o tto m o f th e tables th e level o f change is re p o rte d b e tw ee n 1973/74 an d 1988/89. T he survey data illustrate several im portant trends in periodicals in this sam ple o f college libraries. F irst, th e m aterials b u d g e t as a p e rcen tag e o f the total library b u d g e t has n o t changed significantly b e tw ee n 1973/74 an d 1988/89. This suggests th at p re ssu re on budgets from rising periodical costs did n o t force libraries to re d u ce th e grow th rate o f th e ir salary an d op eratin g budgets. Second, th e p e rcen tag e o f th e m aterials b u d g et s p en t o n periodicals has in creased from a m ean o f 31% in 1973/74 to 42% in 1988/89. H ow ever, m ost o f th e shift, 31% to 38%, occu rred in th e five-year p e rio d 1973/74 to 1978/79. Since 1978/79 th e shift has b e en only 4% from 38% to 42%. T h erefore, d u rin g th e last te n years, w hile periodical prices have b e e n growing m ost rapidly, college libraries have m ade som e shifts in th e allocation o f m aterials budgets, b u t th e shifts have n o t b e en substantial. A th ird conclusion th a t can be re a ch e d from this sum m ary d a ta is th a t college libraries have in ­ creased th e n u m b e r o f subscriptions over th e last 15 years. T h e average n u m b e r o f titles has gone from T a b le 3: P E R IO D IC A L S IN C O L L E G E LIBR A R IES: F IN A N C IA L DATA % materials % period, is N um ber Periodical Periodical Total library Total materials is o f total Periodicals o f materials periodical Avg price expenditures expenditures expenditures expenditures budget expenditures expenditure titles received p e r title p e r faculty p e r student 1973 -1 9 7 4 Lowest level reported $9,275 $1,422 13.01% $3,890 15.30% 233 $9.40 $63.25 $8.44 H ighest level reported $918,471 $310,000 77.27% $103,622 48.06% 2,800 $53.43 $683.56 $48.22 Mean $306,504 $110,640 36.80% $32,268 31.13% 1,224 $26.77 $294.10 $23.12 Median $290,041 $104,900 36.15% $29,011 30.30% 1,149 $26.62 $271.59 $20.32 1 978-1979 Lowest level reported $22,156 $3,510 12.10% $3,254 19.46% 227 ' $13.89 $98.85 $7.37 Highest level reported $1,438,538 $496,397 52.24% $309,000 99.31% 5,490 $126.12 $1,707.18 $249.60 Mean $464,726 $172,840 35.70% $63,410 37.93% 1,364 $45.17 $526.13 $43.12 Median $422,688 $163,682 36.99% S48,029 36.47% 1,217 $42.91 $457.20 $35.57 198 3 -1 9 8 4 Lowest level reported $29,440 $4,952 16.82% $2,542 19.25% 128 $17.69 $110.52 $5.88 H ighest level reported $2,230,660 $802,844 52.15% $392,615 54.39% 3,941 $130.84 $7,158.56 $172.20 Mean $771,524 $288,737 35.35% $112,944 38.17% 1,406 $72.83 $858.14 $71.48 Median $721,382 $267,020 35.51% $90,470 37.69% 1,228 $73.39 $765.77 $67.88 1 988-1989 Lowest level reported $40,253 $5,043 12.53% $1,405 18.26% 41 $10.56 $78.06 $7.43 Highest level reported $3,330,771 $1,046,385 49.79% $579,215 74.44% 4,449 $214.21 $2,726.74 $254.48 Mean $1,131,837 $415,278 35.78% $186,538 42.12% 1,535 $105.72 $1,232.26 $111.10 Median $1,018,510 $354,015 35.76% $155,476 41.20% 1,350 $109.87 $1,112.88 $97.65 C h a n g e b e tw e e n 197 3 -7 4 a n d 1988-89 Lowest level reported $30,978 $3,621 -0.48% ($2,485) 2.97% -192 $1.16 $14.80 ($1.01) H ighest level reported $2,412,300 $736,385 -27.47% $475,593 26.38% 1,649 $160.78 $2,043.18 $206.26 Mean $825,333 $304,638 -1.01% $154,269 10.99% 311 $78.94 $938.17 $87.98 Median $728,469 $249,115 -0.38% $126,465 10.90% 202 $83.25 $841.28 $77.33 February 1992 / 97 a m ean o f 1,224 to 1,535 which is a 25% increase. At th e same tim e th e average annual subscription rate for titles h eld in th e libraries increased from approxim ately $26.77 to $105.72, a 295% increase. This is an annual ra te o f increase o f 19.7% o ver the 15-year p eriod from 1973/74 to 1988/89. H owever, this should n o t b e con stru ed as an inflation rate for periodicals in college libraries since th e list o f titles was not constant over th e 15 years. A nother set o f conclusions centers around the relationship betw een interlibrary loan activity and nu m b er o f subscriptions. D espite the increased n um ­ b e r o f periodical titles to which th e libraries sub­ scribe, th e volum e o f interlibrary loan activity grew dramatically. In 1973/74the mean total o f interlibrary loan transactions, b oth borrow ed an d lent items, was 1,816. In 1988/89 th e m ean n u m b er was 4,748, an increase o f 161%. It should b e n o ted th at th e ratio o f m ean num bers o f borrow ed item s to loaned items changed very little in th e 15-year period. Therefore, th ese college libraries continue to contribute to national resource sharing in the sam e proportion to th eir borrowing as they did 15 years ago. This d ata suggests th a t th e au th o r’s initial ju d g ­ m e n t based on personal experience was correct. A m ong this sam ple th e college libraries w ere not effected in th e sam e way by th e escalating costs o f periodicals as w ere large research libraries. H ow ­ ever, th e survey results can n o t be said to be re p re ­ sentative o f college libraries generally because o f th e n atu re o f th e sam ple group .The d ata suggest, however, th a t fu rth er research should b e p u rsu ed to explore w h e th er th e findings o f this study are tru e o f a b ro a d e r range o f college libraries. E xpanded findings w hich are broadly representative will con­ firm o r re fu te th e idea th a t college libraries have b e en able to adjust to increased costs o f periodicals w ithout cuts in th e n u m b e r o f titles. A dditional data m ight explore in m ore detail th e issues to u c h e d on here. Two such issues are: W h at is th e role o f interlibrary loan in relation to periodical subscrip­ tions an d e xpenditures? H ow do increases in p e ri­ odical budgets com pare with o th e r portions o f college library benefits? Still o th e r re la te d q u es­ tions w ere n o t even ad dressed h ere such as w h e th er th e re w ere shifts in th e titles subscribed to in response to financial pressures? Given th e lack o f literatu re in this field th e re is considerable room for exploration o f th e topic o f periodicals in college libraries. N O TES 1The non-financial issues which co n front college libraries w ith regard to periodicals w hich th e au th o r has identified a re review ed in “Periodicals C ollec­ tions in College Libraries: Im proving Relevancy, Access, Availability,” Journal o f Academ ic Librari- anship 17 (N ovem ber 1991): 298-301. 2C harles Hamaker, “Library Serials Budget: Publish­ ers and the Twenty Percent Effect,” Library Acquisi­ tions: Practice and Theory 12 (1988): 211-19. 3Jack A. C larke, “T h e ACM Periodical Bank: A R etrospective View,” College ò- Research Libraries 41 (1980): 503-09; Blair Stewart, “Periodicals and th e Liberal Arts College Library,” College ò- Re­ search Libraries 36 (1975): 371-78. 4Larry H ard esty an d Jam ie H astreiter, “M ath­ em atics Periodicals in Selected Liberal Arts Col­ leges,” Collection Building 9 (1988): 3 -1 1 ; Jamie W eb ste r H astreiter, Larry H ardesty, and David H enderson, Periodicals in College Libraries (C LIP N ote #8) (Chicago: Association o f College and R esearch Libraries, a division o f th e Am erican Library Association, 1987); T ony Stankus an d W il­ liam C. Littlefield, “M eeting th e Journal N eeds o f Small College C hem istry D ep artm en ts,” Science a n d Technology Libraries 8 (Spring 1988): 35-51; T heresaT aborsky an d Patricia Lenkopwski, Collec­ tion D evelopm ent Policies f o r College Libraries (C L IP N ote #11) (Chicago: Association o f College an d R esearch Libraries, a division o f th e Am erican Libraiy Association, 1989). 5R o b ert N. B roadus, “T he M easu rem en t o f P eri­ odicals U se,” Serials Review 11 (1985): 57-61; M artin G ordon, “Periodicals U se a t a Small College Library,” Serials Librarian 6 (S um m er 1982): 6 3 - 73; K. Kanapasek an d N ancy P. O ’Brien, “U n d e r­ graduate Periodicals Usage: A M odel o f M easure­ m en t,” Serials Librarian 9 (1982): 65-74; Rosalee M cReynolds, “Lim iting a Periodicals Collection in a College Library,” Serials Librarian 9 (W inter 1984): 75-81; Blair Stewart, “Periodicals an d th e Liberal Arts C ollege Library,” College ‹b Research Libraries 36 (1975): 371-78. 6M ark Y. H erring, “King College Library: O nline D atabases vs. H a rd Copy Subscriptions,” Library H i Tech 1 (1983): 63-68; Blair Stewart, “Periodi­ cals a n d th e L iberal Arts C ollege Library,” College b Research Libraries 36 (1975): 371-78. ■ ■ Share your opinion with C&RL News readers D o you feel strongly about a particular issue and want to share your thoughts with a wider audience than just your colleagues down the hall? Now you have the opportunity to share your thoughts with a national audience. 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