1. Finding savings in your collections budget during tough times Presented by: Jane Schmidt, Head, Collection Services Ryerson University Library jschmidt@ryerson.ca

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3. Session outline Finding savings where you least expect it Methods for reviewing resources Involving faculty/users (and when not to) Defending your decisions Strategies for recovering lost funding in the future Going back to the trough (or, how to do this on a cyclical basis)

4. Dont panic! Start early – take control of the situation and ensure there is leadership TRANSPARENCY!!! Gather facts Stick to it Beware robbing Peter to pay Paul Anticipate backlash, be prepared to respond to it

5. Think big - reviewing databases Who is involved? 1.Liaison/collections librarians 2.ER and Serials Review Committee (or other acquisition decision making body) 3.Faculty Use judgment when involving faculty. Dont be alarmist – especially during initial evaluation stage.

6. Reviewing databases (cont.) Review and rank all electronic resources: marginal important essential Over-compensate – identify more savings than you need Create tiers Understand and explain potential impact

7. Reviewing databases (cont.) What is involved? Ranking relevance to reference staff and subject liaisons Reviewing usage data where available Evaluate cost per download Determine overlap Evaluate availability of same/similar information in other products

8. Reviewing databases Other cost savings (that dont involve cancellation): seat reduction replace TOC services with RSS feeds internal-use resource reduction discovery layer services can replace abstract and index only products

9. Next up … mid-impact Serials major source of savings – approx $266K over four years! print serials require significant staff time review recent consortia package deals – are you still paying for this content individually? dont fear repercussions – monitor them and act accordingly

10. Mid-impact (cont.) Standing orders warning: time consuming to review hidden bonus = weeding! weeding = savings. See: http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub147abst. html Memberships what exactly is the privilege that comes with membership?

11. Little things add up Approval plan tweaks Across-the-board monograph purchasing reduction Wish lists

12. Little things add up (cont.) binding book jackets streamline vendors (i.e. Amazon shipping)

13. Save what you can – while you can What about inflation? When robbing Peter to pay Paul is a good thing What defines a base budget v. a one time only purchase?

14. Breaking the news General announcements Newsletters Website Blog Group communication to whole faculty One-to-one liaison to liaison

15. Breaking the news Be honest, but firm Provide facts Provide alternatives

16. Advocacy Faculty associations Demonstrate efficiency (i.e. willing to make cuts when it makes sense) Illustrate impact Demonstrate value Open Access

17. Déjà vu … all over again Another 3%? Again? Start from square one, and see what you missed the first time Be determined – not half hearted

18. Remember … Ensure you got what you asked for Keep track of what you gave up – there will be brighter days ahead! Desperate times call for desperate measures – nothing cant be undone

19. Thank you! Questions?