Collection Development Policies for the USA University Libraries: Cancellation Policies & Processes

The University Libraries, ideally, would be able to meet all the collection needs of our faculty and students. Unfortunately, subscription costs increase every year, and they far outpace any increase in the Libraries' budget. Scholarly publishers routinely increase costs every year by anywhere between 3% to 8%. When the Library budget does not increase along with subscription costs, cancellations are necessary.

Criteria for Cancellation

The University Libraries use the following criteria when selecting journals or databases for cancellation:

1. The cost of the resource
2. The use of the resource in classes, research, and clinical care
3. The cost per use for the resource
4. Whether or not the information in a particular resource can be obtained quickly through Interlibrary Loan
5. Feedback from users

Other information about the resource can also factor into the decision whether to cancel a resource, but these are the most important criteria.