Many librarians lauded the development of Open Access (OA) publishing models, which offered, at least initially, to help solve the problem of an unsustainable and inequitable scholarly communications ecosystem while simultaneously addressing a growing interest in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In the past year, the idea that, with appropriate guardrails, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can also play a role in changing scholarly communications has risen to the fore. But can OA, DEI, and AI ever live up to their promise of an affordable, equitable and sustainable publishing ecosystem?

Can libraries afford open access? LJ’s latest Periodicals Price Survey examines the state of the market.

Two years into the pandemic, only flat budgets and price increases seem predictable.

Having spent over a decade adjusting to a “new normal” of serials inflation, harsh budget cuts, and a redirection of spending from collections to services, arguably few if any libraries were prepared for the turmoil wrought by a pandemic. We have shifted to a new abnormal. How will libraries survive and thrive after the pandemic subsides? What might our new abnormal look like?

Budgets, modestly up, reflect pre-COVID planning, but how they’re spent has changed drastically: Circ, hours, and staffing see major pandemic drops while tech, e-content, and safety spending rise.

This year's selections of notable state and local government documents, from Colorado wildlife to Oregon sea urchins, North Dakota blizzards to North Carolina DWI offenders.

When the research team at Ithaka S+R closed their survey of academic library directors at the end of last year and began to examine the responses, they had no idea that within three months the academic library landscape would look entirely different.

Higher education continues to grapple with an uncertain future of flat or declining student enrollment and mounting financial pressures. Library budgets are for the most part flat or diminishing, leaving libraries to yet again battle the terrible twins of cost inflation and revenue stagnation. Many libraries are cutting continuing expenditures by cancelling or breaking up journal packages and buying only those titles for which use or demand justifies the price. Others are aggressively renegotiating contracts with publishers to reduce ongoing costs.

In the wake of state funding cuts, the University of Iowa (UI) Libraries has identified more than 800 journal, database, and ebook subscriptions that it will cancel over the upcoming academic year. Library administration and liaisons worked with faculty to select subscriptions to be eliminated, targeting—and achieving—approximately $600,000 in savings. Faculty, staff, and students ultimately commended UI Libraries for its transparency and adherence to best practices throughout the process.

For the past decade, libraries have battled declining university budgets and increasing serials expenditures. With each Big Deal package renewal or cancellation, librarians and publishers have asked themselves: Did I make the best deal? Did I make the right deal? Recent developments in open access promise to bring major reform to academic publishing and, with that, new challenges and opportunities to the way that librarians and publishers choose to deal.