Validating Journal Cancellation Decisions in the Sciences: A Report Card

Abstract

Few libraries have remained unaffected by the serials pricing crisis of the past several years. The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Library has conducted five serials cancellations projects since 1987 -- 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, and 1996. Each round of cancellations cut closer to the core journals in all of the disciplines. This paper uses almost ten years of interlibrary loan data for statistical and comparative analyses documenting the impact of these cuts. Scholars in the sciences depend on current information. In an effort to fulfill the need for science journal literature in an environment of serials cancellations, several science and engineering libraries in the University of California system began an experimental pilot project dubbed the "Fax Project."