Making Collection Management Manageable: A Three-Phase Approach to an Annual Subscription Review

Abstract

Annual subscription reviews are a normal part of many libraries’ operations, but this process is time consuming and can be particularly challenging for institutions with small e-resources staffs. The approach pursued by the Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University includes strategies other libraries may find helpful in moving beyond cost per use in their reviews. In early fiscal year 2019, the Michael Schwartz Library identified a need to systematically review all subscriptions annually. The library operates with a flat budget and cancellations are often required to manage inflation. Previously, subscription reviews were in response to immediate needs (e.g. budget cuts, changes in consortium offerings, etc.). Largely due to staffing and time constraints, examining the entire corpus of subscriptions was outside of the scope of past reviews. A new subscription review process was developed to prepare the library to make data-driven decisions regarding cancellations for the next fiscal year. The methodology developed for the new subscription review consisted of three phases with each phase narrowing the number of resources considered for cancellation. The first phase was an evaluation of resource performance from an acquisitions perspective and incorporated cost per use and annual price increases. In the next phase, subject librarians evaluated resources in their respective disciplines based on several criteria and were required to rank resources in order of retention priority. In the final phase, faculty were surveyed on content quality, frequency of use in instruction, and other criteria for those resources deemed “cancellation eligible.”