"Big Deal" Deconstruction

Abstract

Faced with a $500,000 budget shortfall in 2012, Mississippi State University library undertook a review of two of the largest of their "Big Deal" subscription packages. Jones and Marshall describe how they reviewed usage statistics collected over the previous four years and evaluated cost-per-download. The Administration's decision to cancel the two packages and subscribe individually to approximately two hundred of the cancelled titles is detailed, as well as the impact on the faculty, students, and library services. Additionally, they caution other libraries in similar situations to take other metrics and user needs into account and to include others outside the library in the decision-making process. © 2013 Copyright The North American Serials Interest Group, Inc.