I wanted to give the Faculty Senate Library Committee a heads up on the outcome of negotiations between the CSU and one of our largest vendors, Wiley. As some of you know, the last 15 years or so have seen the entrenchment of what is often referred to as “The Big Deal,” where large publishers (such as Wiley, Elsevier, and Springer) negotiate huge package deals with libraries or (more often) library consortia. These package deals often contain the full text of hundreds or sometimes even thousands of journal titles, so even though the cost for the package is high, the cost per journal per campus is relatively low. However, in recent years many libraries and consortia have recognized that the value for the “big deal” packages is not what we originally thought it was. Based on usage statistics, libraries can now see that roughly 80% of the usage from these journal bundles comes from 20% of the journals. Publishers prefer “the big deal” model and want to keep it, but libraries are skeptical that we are getting our money’s worth. Nevertheless, the big deals have continued with only rare exceptions.

As your new Dean of the Library, I have an interesting crisis to herald my arrival.

I understand that preliminary details of the Wiley subscription cancellation decision have been shared on the Senate list. As you may know, the Library subscribes to over 1,300 academic journals published by John Wiley through a “big deal” package agreement negotiated by the Chancellor’s Office, a package subscribed to by nearly all CSU campuses. After extensive negotiations over several months, in mid-December the CSU reluctantly decided against renewing the contract with Wiley due to the unmanageable proposed cost increase of 10-12% (depending on the campus). SSU’s access to the Wiley package will end on January 31, 2015.

Academic Affairs colleagues,

After multiple attempts to negotiate an acceptable package and pricing with Wiley for the journals it publishes, the CSU Chancellor’s Office was unable to secure a systemwide deal that was acceptable and affordable. Like other CSU libraries, San Francisco State has participated in the package negotiated by the Chancellor’s Office at a significant discount and with access to many more titles than we could afford through individual or package subscriptions as an individual campus.