Wednesday, March 8, 2017
In 2014, the Library began a comprehensive review to ensure the continued relevance of the Library’s collections within a sustainable budget model. The first phase involved assessing subscriptions to online research databases - renewing subscriptions to content vital to the community and canceling resources that no longer met the research and teaching needs of the university.
We are now focusing on print materials in the Dana Porter and Davis Centre Libraries, including periodicals, government publications, and superseded and duplicate books. We are systematically identifying and removing items that:
- have perpetual and appropriate electronic access
- are Open Access
- have not circulated in a long time and can be obtained through interlibrary loan
- no longer meet the teaching and research needs or interests of the UW community
This stems from our desire to:
- strike the right balance between print and electronic format
- provide just-in-time and remote access
- create flexible and responsive library spaces
Curating print collections allows us to support our users’ preference for digital scholarship, while freeing up space where that scholarship happens. We will create welcoming, fresh and multi-purpose spaces that support students, faculty and staff in their endeavours and satisfy intellectual curiosity. Our vision is that Library spaces are used to meet with peers, collaborate, and contribute to scholarship and research excellence. This revitalization will increase and restructure space to meet a need for more quiet, bookable, small group work and individual study spaces, while supporting the creation of new co-curricular and research spaces.
Learn more about the results of our subscription review, including information on the current print review.
