Cornell University Library's budget is being 'stretched thin' due to the "dramatically increasing" prices of scientific journals, according to Prof. Nerissa Russell, anthropology, chair of the University Faculty Library Board.
According to Russell, there's been tremendous consolidation in the publishers, and things that used to be published on their own by learned societies are now being contracted out to the commercial publishers. There are about five commercial publishers, and they are jacking up the prices to make money because they can.
Russell said there is currently an ongoing campaign at Cornell to develop a $15 million endowment for collections. She added, however, that this would only cover part of the increased need for funds.
According to Russell, Cornell has been losing ground in terms of library spending in relation to other universities. She said that in fiscal year 2005, Cornell was ranked 11th in the nation for library materials expenditures. The University's position dropped to 19th in 2008 and 24th in 2012.
Russell said one possible solution to the problem would be to share the costs with other universities through programs like Borrow Direct and 2Cul, programs which allow students to access the library catalogues of other universities.
Russell said another possible solution would be to encourage a move to free open-access journals, which are journals freely available to anyone. However, Russell said that using open-access journals may not necessarily solve the library's funding issues.
