I was shocked and dismayed to hear of the struggles of three local libraries in the face of exorbitant and abusive journal subscription prices. Representatives from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, The University of Pittsburgh/UPMC Health Systems Library and the Carnegie Mellon Library explained that the rapid rise of scholarly journal publications has resulted in a reduced offering of titles for libraries. It seems that libraries are at the mercy of despotic journals which insist on demanding obscene prices for yearly subscriptions. Since annual budgets are never enough, most libraries must reduce the journal subscriptions.
It made me so mad to think about the abusive treatment the libraries are enduring -- and even madder that it seems impossible to combat. Yet the ladies who spoke with us remained steadfastly commmitted to their jobs, and committed to finding alternative sources of funding.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment