Policies

Careful judgment is required in establishing new journal subscriptions, since journals represent an ongoing commitment of fiscal resources. Journal prices increase much more rapidly than the library's budget, resulting in less money for book purchases. New subscription requests will be reviewed to assess potential use, availability of indexing, and alternate means of access through the Internet or document delivery.

Requests for new subscriptions must be submitted through the department's library representative to the Electronic Resources/Serials Librarian. Requests for new subscriptions must be approved by the department's library representative before they will be considered. The Electronic Resources/Serials Librarian submits the request to the Furman University Libraries Serials Review Committee and then to the Director of Libraries for final approval.

Review of the journal in Magazines for Libraries
(or other sources, when applicable)
Magazines for Libraries is an authoritative source for review and description of journal titles, including relative usefulness for an undergraduate collection. Coverage of titles in Magazines for Libraries is selective. We take reviews under consideration and find them helpful when one is available, but we do not require a review to make a decision.

Indexing of the Title
Journals must be indexed in at least one subscription database to which Furman has access. This may include either a general database or a subject specific database.

Full text availability in Furman's resources
If a requested title is available in current full text databases, the scope of the coverage of the full text is assessed.

Cost
The cost of the journal is compared to other journals in the field. The cost of the journal must be able to be supported by the library allocation for materials in that subject.

Departmental Justification
Departmental justifications vary, and depend upon the information submitted. In some cases a department can cite specific information that has a special impact on the potential use of the journal by students.

The Serials Review Committee takes these various pieces of information, weighs them against each other, and formulates its recommendation to the Director.

If you are interested in submitting a request for a journal, please contact your departmental representative. If you do not know who your department's library representative is, please check the complete list of Department Chairs, Representatives, and Liaisons.

If you have any questions about the library's Serials Review Policies and Criteria, please contact Cris Ferguson, Electronic Resources/Serials Librarian.

The telephone number for electronic resources acquisitions is 294-2713.