Carleton’s library may be making significant cuts to its academic journal subscriptions. Cutting valuable resources is a bad move for a university that claims to value academic research.
On Feb. 22, the Graduate Students’ Association published an open letter after learning from Carleton’s librarian that at least $250,000 will be cut from the library’s collections budget unless there is an increase in funding.
Carleton should at least maintain funding to the collections budget because in the long run, paying for journal subscriptions that support academic research will benefit the university in its ratings, moral, and fiscal standing.
Academic journals are an important resource for all university students, but for students who conduct research, access to these journals is essential.
According to Statistics Canada, the five Canadian universities that received the most external funding for academic research in 2014 also ranked highest in that year’s Center for World University Rankings (CWUR). In other words, more academic research leads to higher academic rankings. This research also translates into more revenue for the school.
Carleton ranked 24th in terms of funding for research and 22nd in the CWUR report.
Regardless of what you think about academic rankings, prospective students look to them when selecting schools. Carleton will be unable to shore up external funding and remain competitive in these rankings if academic research is not supported.
Libraries—and the research opportunities they provide—form the backbone and are in many ways the function of any university. Access to a wide array of journal subscriptions is essential to supporting that research.
