Due to a $750,000 budget reduction, NCSU Libraries will be forced to discontinue hundreds of academic journals, some of which are viewed 200-300 times annually, according to Greg Raschke, associate director for Collections and Scholarly Communication. 

So far, the department has compiled a list of 709 journal subscriptions that could be cancelled after receiving input from students, faculty members and staff. The cuts will go into effect January 2015, according to Raschke.

“The biggest impact is on research and learning,” Raschke said. “Faculty and students can’t access the journals they’re used to using. We have a high usage and demand, and we’re not going to be able to fulfill all that. It’s really going to slow down research and learning. Once they’re gone, they’re going to be hard to get back.”

The journals included in NCSU Libraries list have been used 40-50 times during the past year, while others have an annual usage of about 200-300 times.

The cuts are similar in scope to those made in 2008-2009, when NCSU Libraries did a large-scale journal review, Raschke said.

The system also considered overall usage to determine the list of proposed titles that could be cut. 

Projected budget reductions from the University are combined with expected inflation for journals and databases of $550,000 and necessitate preparations for steep reductions to the collection, according to the NCSU Libraries webpage. 

NCSU Libraries was forced to reduce its budget this year by almost 5 percent, or $1.3 million, due to state-appropriated cuts handed down by the state legislature.