In 2005–06, the reporting law libraries held a median of 322,284 volumes, spent a total of $206,514,082, and employed 2,238 FTE staff. Expenditures for materials and staff accounted for the bulk of total expenditures, at 47% and 45% respectively. Respondents reported spending a total of $14,893,320 for electronic materials; this includes a total of $13,167,729 for electronic serials.
In 2005–06, the reporting health sciences libraries held a median of 245,212 volumes, spent a total of $239,944,918, and employed 2,524 FTE staff. Expenditures for materials and staff accounted for the bulk of total expenditures, at 46% and 41% respectively. Respondents reported spending a total of $51,689,469 for electronic materials, or a median of 54% of their total materials budgets; this includes a total of $47,179,215 for electronic serials.
Faced with ever-increasing journal subscription costs and declining library collections budgets, libraries are expanding their collections by making open access (OA) research literature available through their catalogs, Web sites, open URL resolvers, and other resources. While not free to produce, as defined by the Budapest Open Access Initiative, OA research literature is made freely accessible to users by removing price and permission barriers.
A special double issue of the ARL Bimonthly Report, no. 252/253, focuses on the state of university publishing and the evolving role for research libraries in the delivery of publishing services.
The Ithaka report “University Publishing in a Digital Age,” is the focus of three articles in this special issue: a summary of the Ithaka report by its original authors, an assessment by NASULGC's David Shulenburger of the report’s recommendation that research institutions should have “publishing strategies,” and a description of the University of Michigan Library's hosting of social commentary on the Ithaka report using CommentPress.
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