Abstract
ABSTRACT In response to rising subscription costs, academic libraries and library consortia continue to adjust journal subscriptions to limit spending and maximize value from journal packages. Facing increasing costs for their Elsevier ScienceDirect bundled subscription, the 60 libraries of the State University of New York (SUNY) System restructured their large package in favor of a smaller curated list of titles and adopted a data informed approach to assess the new package. SUNY used Unsub and other data analysis tools to drive a data-informed journal package restructuring and reduction. This article presents a three-year review of the work of this unbundling and assessment project. Based on the experience of other consortia, the authors expected an increase in usage of subscription alternatives such as open access content, interlibrary loan, post-termination access requests, and individual article purchases. Preliminary review showed usage of Elsevier content initially dropped 50% after unbundling and then increased annually at a marginal rate. While consortia staff attempted to use a data-informed approach to evaluate titles for yearly subscription reviews and yearly package adjustments, this approach was not sustainable post-unbundling. After allaying initial concerns regarding a reduction in subscribed journal titles, continual yearly review of usage data became less important than the stability of the curated package.
Published Version
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