Declining student enrollments continue to impact the acquisitions budget for the IUP Libraries. Changes to our information resources, including cancellations or reduced access, will affect listings on our IUP Libraries Databases web page. This includes resources such as Cabell's Directories, Mergent Online, and the Oxford Journals Humanities Collection. Other resources will have more modest offerings of full text available.
Whenever possible, the latter approach has been used so that these resources can continue to be used as search platforms for information discovery. This includes SAGE Premier, Accessible NewspaperARCHIVE, and JSTOR. All changes are charted on a Realignment in Collections web page, which recommends alternative research resources. Only a defined set of current resources are affected, and many library users will notice limited impact on their search strategies.
The changes put into place were carefully determined by faculty and administration in the Libraries with multiple stakeholders' interests being honored; the experience of researchers and library users foremost, also the overall collection's balance and diversity, consortial partners and vendor contractual obligations, as well as internal processes for requisition and payment. Data-driven processes have been used to evaluate all electronic resources, and this information has been applied to IUP's unique information needs to determine the appropriate selections.
To meet fiscal responsibilities, years of decision-making had to happen in only a few months. Although the work for the 2021 subscriptions has been completed, assessment and evaluation of the IUP community's research needs is ongoing. Today, the offerings have been designed to fairly balance the needs of the current academic programs and are poised to support IUP NextGen in the future.
Feedback is helpful and welcome. Erik Nordberg, dean of Libraries, and Emily Szitas, the Collection Development librarian, can be reached at erik.nordberg@iup.edu and eszitas@iup.edu.
About the IUP Libraries
The IUP Libraries advance Indiana University of Pennsylvania's education and research mission by providing resources for its communities of successful scholars to explore, collaborate, and create knowledge in an inclusive and safe learning environment..
IUP Libraries consists of the Stapleton/Stabley building and the Orendorff Music Library. IUP Libraries currently holds nearly 400,000 print books, 500,000 electronic books, a dedicated Children's Collection, and thousands of print and electronic journals, newspapers, and magazines.
The Stapleton/Stabley building, which serves as the central university library, houses the main book and periodical collections, technical and public services, special collections and archives, as well as media resources and services. Library collections, resources, and services are integrated across our multiple locations.
IUP Libraries is part of the Keystone Library Network and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.