ARE LIBRARIES HOSTAGE TO RISING SERIALS COSTS?

The serials pricing crisis—and its underlying causes—is now being recognized. The alarm was sounded several years ago when librarians discovered that some British publishers were adding hefty differential subscription charges to their North American customers. Almost immediately serials librarians at a few libraries began to analyze the problem. The libraries at the Universities of Michigan and Louisiana State constructed databases from which valuable information could be gleaned. This information was used to explain the full dimensions and implications of a problem that was already well on the way to becoming a full‐blown crisis.