The Library has not conducted a serials cancellation project that resulted in a large decrease in serial titles since the 1980's. Without a substantial increase to the library acquisitions budget the entire materials budget would eventually be consumed by the rapidly inflating cost of serials subscriptions, and finally there would be a massive cancellation project anyway. Given that the Mansfield Library received the same budget amount for acquisitions this year as it did last year and given that there is no expected increase for next year the only prudent course of action is to reduce the impact of serials subscriptions now. My research depends upon journal access. In order for a library to serve the needs of all its primary users it must provide the necessary materials, in a variety of appropriate formats, for the wide variety of research and teaching at the University of Montana.
Some disciplines depend heavily on books and media for their research and teaching.
No single library, however large, can own every title that a researcher and instructor needs. Interlibrary Loan Service and Document Delivery Services provide access to these other materials in a more cost-effective way. Traditional Interlibrary Loan service is still available. Here is a link to sample document delivery articles . The library has added a number of full text databases that include articles from many journals owned by the Library.