UC Library struggles to fund access

Sad News out of CA where The UC library system is negotiating its contracts with publishers in an effort to maintain access to research materials for students, faculty and staff.

Escalating commercial journal prices, compounded by the state’s budget crisis, threaten to undermine the UC’s ability to maintain its extensive, up-to-date collection of scientific journals.

“The state and university budget crunch has directly hit the libraries, as it has almost every other entity in the university,” said John Ober, director of education and strategic innovation at the California Digital Library. “But the real problem is the unsustainable nature of the commercial journal prices,” Ober said.