Primarily due to journal price increases, the University Libraries were once again facing a $1.3 million shortfall in the 2018 collections budget.
Thanks to our University Administration, we will be able to avoid a major cut to our journal subscriptions this year.
With annual price increases far exceeding inflation, increasing funds are needed each year just to maintain our existing subscriptions.
Scholarly publishing is big business. Some of these companies are as large as Delta Airlines, and more profitable than Apple. Publisher profits in excess of 30% a year are not uncommon.
Read more about how some researchers are making strides to create a fair and sustainable way to publish their work, and how several of our own University of Missouri faculty are publishing in open access journals, allowing their research to be accessed freely.
Cycle of Success is the idea that libraries, faculty, and students are linked; for one to truly succeed, we must all succeed. The path to success is formed by the connections between University of Missouri Libraries and faculty members, between faculty members and students, and between students and the libraries that serve them. More than just success, this is also a connection of mutual respect, support, and commitment to forward-thinking research.
Dr. Noah D. Manring is the Glen A. Barton Professor of fluid power in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Missouri. He previously served as chairman of the college’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and twice has served as associate dean of research. One of the courses he teaches is Engineering 2500: A History of Modern Engineering. It is through teaching this class that Dr. Manring came to know Tim Perry, one of our Special Collections Librarians. Tim arranged a lecture and demonstration on the printing press to teach the students about the history of the book, and the progression of book making since Gutenberg’s printing press in the 1450s.
Tim Perry, Special Collections
“Tim arranged an entire demonstration and working lecture for our students. He answered questions, translated texts, and explained the significance of each item that was shown. There were three tables full of items to show and discuss. It was a very rich experience for my class – something I could not have provided for our students on my own.The library has a tremendous collection of printed material since Gutenberg’s day, including an original page from a Gutenberg Bible!”
We asked Dr. Manring what advice he had for those interested in using the library: “Make inquiries as to what resources are available, and use them! I was referred to the Special Collections section of the library by Prof. Mark Smith in History, and I have since used this resource for my class three times. Before Mark pointed me in this direction, I had no idea what was available and the wealth of information that could be drawn from our archives.”
If you would like tosubmityour own success story about how the libraries have helped your research and/or work, please use the Cycle of Success form.
We’re glad to see the campus sidewalks and libraries filling up with students again, now that the fall semester is underway. You’re always welcome in the libraries! At the Health Sciences Library, we’re celebrating the completion of the new PCCLC which has created a great learning environment for students in the School of Medicine. If you haven’t already, come try out one of our new benches in the library entrance. It’s a great place to stop for a moment and wait for a friend.
We’re welcoming three new staff members this fall, one full time and two part-time, as we lost two full-time evening and weekend staff back in June.Watch for their profiles in other communications.
We’re also glad to announce that we will not have to make the dreaded major journal cut to our online collection for January 2018. This cut would have been an enormous loss for all of us, and we’re thankful to our administration that we will only need to trim and swap journal titles, but not slash them.
We all were amazed by the solar eclipse and want to share the experience with others. The libraries have collected eclipse glasses to share with Astronomers without Borders to share with our neighbors in South America and Southeast Asia for their total eclipse in 2019. Thanks for your contributions! Currently, we are aiding the Columbia Public Schools in their partnering with Houston Public Schools by collecting children’s books to send to families who suffered extensive losses during Hurricane Harvey.
Although University Libraries had planned for a $1.3 million reduction in its collection expenditures for 2017-2018, these cuts will not go forward this year. Because of the huge impact this cut would have had on researchers at MU and the other campuses, the University administration has agreed to cover the Libraries’ collections fund deficit. The Libraries are thankful that this decision was made, and we will continue to make every effort to provide the resources that are most critical to the work of our faculty and students.
This year’s projected $1.3 million cut reflected a reduction in the campus budget and expected journal inflation costs. A cut this large in the Libraries budget would have left us unable to afford journal package deals from major academic publishers, and we would have had to start negotiating the purchase of individual journal titles with reduced collection funds. These actions would have affected all UM system libraries due to cooperative buying agreements between the campuses.
Budget shortfalls of this magnitude have been an ongoing problem for the Libraries. Last fiscal year, the Libraries had a $1.2 million collection cut. This led to a 20% cut to the collection funds of all subject specialists. We also negotiated all of our journal packages down, so that we are receiving fewer journals, primarily in the sciences. In addition, the number of journal titles we rent instead of own was increased. Consequently, we continue to work with faculty and students to maintain access to needed resources through Interlibrary Loan service and increased use of open access.
We are happy to report that our collections will be minimally affected by this year’s budget. Some packages will be re-negotiated, and to balance journal cuts to the sciences made last year, the book funds for the humanities and social sciences are being reduced 20%. However, because the increasing cost of journals is an ongoing issue for the Libraries, the subject specialist librarians will continue to communicate with and ask for input from the faculty and students in their areas. Thank you to everyone who has already provided input on collection decisions and please contact your subject librarian with any questions or concerns.
The annual MU HSRD provides an intellectual forum for original research and educational innovations by undergraduate, medical, nursing, and health professions students, as well as pre/post-doctoral trainees and residents working with faculty in the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Health Professions. The event will take place in the Acuff Atrium and the gallery of the new Medical Education Building on November 9, 2017 9-11 AM and/or 1-3 PM. We are anticipating a record number of poster presentations this year and the School of Medicine Research Council encourages YOU to participate as a poster judge to provide a positive learning experience for our trainees. Your participation in HSRD is an excellent opportunity to explore the breadth of research being conducted in Health Sciences at Mizzou AND to network with faculty across the Health Sciences. New and Junior faculty are strongly encouraged to participate.
We are implementing a host of new initiatives to HSRD 2017—including short oral presentations by our Deans’ Award Winners, expansion into our brand new PCCLC gallery, and some surprises that you don’t want to miss! Our goal is to recruit 100 faculty to serve as poster judges. Each poster will be visited by two faculty judges. Please consider volunteering to judge one or both of the poster sessions described below.
Category I (9-11AM) – Undergraduate and Medical Students (including summer research fellows)
Section A: Clinical Science (involving human participants)
Section B: Basic Science
Category II (1-3PM) – Graduate Students/Postdoctoral Research Fellows, Medical Fellows and Residents
Section A: Clinical Science (involving human participants)
Section B: Basic Science
If you have not already signed up, please inform Debbie Taylor taylord@health.missouri.edu of your willingness to serve as a judge and include: the time of day (Category) for which you are available, and the Section (Clinical or Basic) that is most in line with your expertise. We thank you in advance. For those faculty unable to commit to judging posters, please attend the sessions to view the extraordinary work being conducted in the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Health Professions at MU.
Special Competition
The School and the Department with the highest ratio of judges to eligible faculty will earn “bragging rights” for HSRD 2017.
Each month we provide an overview of University of Missouri authored articles in medicine and related fields, and a featured article from a School of Medicine author with the highest journal impact factor.
This month’s featured article, Role of Inactivity in Chronic Diseases: Evolutionary Insight and Pathophysiological Mechanisms, was co-authored by Dr. Frank W. Booth, Dr. Christian K. Roberts, Dr. John P. Thyfault, Dr. Gregory N. Ruegsegger and Dr. Ryan G. Toedebusch of the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Department of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology, Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, Dalton Cardiovascular Research, and Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine. The article was published in Physiological Reviews (impact factor 27.312 in 2016).
The latest article in our open access article series features several University of Missouri faculty and staff:
Robert Bell is a Physician Assistant in neurological surgery and serves as a clinical instructor at the School of Medicine.
Melody Burks is a service line specialist nurse in the neuroscience intensive care unit.
Dr. Premkumar Nattanmai is an assistant professor for clinical neurology, and co-director of the neuroscience intensive care unit.
This research team’s article, A new strategy in noncritical nurse care stroke education: a hybrid simulation pilot study, was published in Electronic Physician in May 2017. Electronic Physician is an open access journal, peer-reviewed journal, that publishes articles in all areas of medical and health sciences. This completely open access journal immediately makes their articles available upon publication, which allows for maximum sharing ability on the new strategy for stroke education this article discusses.
This article discusses a new hybrid simulation approach for education of neurosciences nurses involved in the car of neurocritical care patients. “Simulation creates a learning environment that allows for improving technical and non-technical skills, improving efficiency, practicing rare life-threatening emergencies, and fostering improved attitudes toward teamwork.” This combination of lecture and high-fidelity manikin simulation significantly improved nurses’ understanding and managing of patients in the neuroscience intensive care unit.
Please note: A dosage error for hydromorphone HCL (in Child and Adolescent ≥50 kg) has been found and corrected in The Harriet Lane Handbook, 21st edition. The original text indicated that the dose was weight-based, and it is not. The correct text is as follows:
Child and adolescent (≥50 kg; NOTE: doses are NOT weight-based):
IV: 0.2–0.6 mg/dose Q2–4 hr PRN
Should you own a print version of the book and wish to receive a sticker with the correction to print page 915, please request the sticker here:
Last week, we were honored to celebrate Michael Spears and his 20 years of service at the University of Missouri. During the celebration, Michael was presented his 20 years of service certificate to commemorate his time and hard work at Mizzou. Anyone who uses our health sciences library website has benefited from Mike’s skills where his programming helps get our web visitors to the information they need smoothly and quickly.
All of our staff rely on Mike for his patient and effective approach to troubleshooting. He has a special gift for working with people at all levels of computer expertise, and never talks down to someone who knows less than he does.
We want to congratulate Mike on his 20 years and thank him for making a difference in quality of their computing experience for both library staff and library users.
Are you wondering what you should do with your eclipse glasses now that Eclipse 2017 is over? You can donate them! Astronomers Without Borders will soon announce a program dedicated to redistributing your donated glasses to schools in Asia and South Africa for the eclipses in 2019.
“This is an opportunity for schools to have a first-hand science experience that they might not otherwise have” Astronomers Without Borders President Mike Simmons told Gizmodo. “Many schools in developing countries don’t have resources for science education and this is a rare opportunity that inspires students and teachers and shows them that science is something they can do. It can be a ray of hope for young people who don’t otherwise see a path to a career like this.”
You can donate your glasses by dropping them off at any service desk at any of the following University Libraries:
Ellis Library
Engineering Library
Geology Library
Health Sciences Library
Journalism Library
Math Library
Zalk Veterinary Medical Library
We will make sure they will make it to the Eclipse Glasses Redistribution Program. Click here for more information.
