The Arts & Sciences Library of Tufts University will be cutting $250,000
worth of subscriptions by the end of the fiscal year (we only subscribe to
about 3200 titles).  A couple of letters went out to all department heads
about a month ago asking that faculty members review all titles of interest
to them on a Faxon-generated printout listing titles in ascending price order.
For every title they want to retain, they are asked to fill out a Title
Retention Form.  Information requested on this form includes the following
(besides
name, department, date, title of journal):

How often do you read/cite this journal?

What contributions to your teaching does this journal make?

What level of student (underclass, upperclass, graduate) reads this journal?

Are reading assignments made or is the title used primarily for student papers?

If this title is used for your research, what is its primary contribution?

The Assistant Director for Collection Management and Technical Services, Bonnie
Hill, originally wanted the faculty to review all titles over a particular
price ($100, $150, maybe $250, I don't quite remember which) but the Faculty
Library Committee decided that all faculty members should see (if not review)
all titles, so that's what they got.  The Faxon list includes the costs of all
journals over the last three years.  Forms are due back to the library by
May 15th and since this is the first time the faculty has been asked to do
such a review, it's sent some shock waves through campus, both in terms of the
cost of science vs. humanities/social science titles and the individual vs.
institutional rate structure of some publishers.  Still it may be a positive
experience, educational, if not also stressful at times.

Karen Nadeski
Serials Cataloger
Arts & Sciences Library
Tufts University
Medford, MA