Finding savings in your collections budget during tough times

1. Finding savings in your collections budget during tough times Presented by: Jane Schmidt, Head, Collection Services Ryerson University Library jschmidt@ryerson.ca

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3. Session outline • Finding savings where you least expect it • Methods for reviewing resources • Involving faculty/users (and when not to) • Defending your decisions • Strategies for recovering lost funding in the future • Going back to the trough (or, how to do this on a cyclical basis)

4. Don’t panic! • Start early – take control of the situation and ensure there is leadership • TRANSPARENCY!!! • Gather facts • Stick to it • Beware “robbing Peter to pay Paul” • Anticipate backlash, be prepared to respond to it

5. Think big - reviewing databases • Who is involved? • Liaison/collections librarians • ER and Serials Review Committee (or other acquisition decision making body) • Faculty • Use judgment when involving faculty. Don’t be alarmist – especially during initial evaluation stage.

6. Reviewing databases (cont.) • Review and rank all electronic resources: • marginal • important • essential • Over-compensate – identify more savings than you need • Create tiers • Understand and explain potential impact

7. Reviewing databases (cont.) • What is involved? • Ranking relevance to reference staff and subject liaisons • Reviewing usage data where available • Evaluate cost per download • Determine overlap • Evaluate availability of same/similar information in other products

8. Reviewing databases • Other cost savings (that don’t involve cancellation): • seat reduction • replace TOC services with RSS feeds • internal-use resource reduction • discovery layer services can replace abstract and index only products

9. Next up … mid-impact • Serials • major source of savings – approx $266K over four years! • print serials require significant staff time • review recent consortia package deals – are you still paying for this content individually? • don’t fear repercussions – monitor them and act accordingly

10. Mid-impact (cont.) • Standing orders • warning: time consuming to review • hidden bonus = weeding! • weeding = savings. See: http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub147abst.html • Memberships • what exactly is the privilege that comes with membership?

11. Little things add up • Approval plan tweaks • Across-the-board monograph purchasing reduction • Wish lists

12. Little things add up (cont.) • binding • book jackets • streamline vendors (i.e. Amazon shipping)

13. Save what you can – while you can • What about inflation? • When robbing Peter to pay Paul is a good thing • What defines a base budget v. a one time only purchase?

14. Breaking the news • General announcements • Newsletters • Website • Blog • Group communication to whole faculty • One-to-one liaison to liaison

15. Breaking the news • Be honest, but firm • Provide facts • Provide alternatives

16. Advocacy • Faculty associations • Demonstrate efficiency (i.e. willing to make cuts when it makes sense) • Illustrate impact • Demonstrate value • Open Access

17. Déjà vu … all over again • Another 3%? Again? • Start from square one, and see what you missed the first time • Be determined – not half hearted

18. Remember … • Ensure you got what you asked for • Keep track of what you gave up – there will be brighter days ahead! • Desperate times call for desperate measures – nothing can’t be “undone”

19. Thank you! Questions?