Library Communication 1/2021

12. August 2021

As of this year, the University Library has significantly less funding available for the acquisition of digital and printed materials than in previous years. Therefore, we must cancel a considerable number of subscriptions to scientific journals and, in two cases, access to subject databases.

The criterion for selecting the information sources and services to be discontinued was how frequently they are used. Printed and electronic journals as well as specialized databases are cancelled for which the relation between price and use is relatively unfavourable.

The list of discontinued journals and online accesses is available on the Intranet at
https://intranet.tu-ilmenau.de/site/ub/Freigegebene%20Dokumente/2021-08-09_UB-Ilmenau_Abbestellungen-2021.pdf
The list also indicates in each case when the subscription ends.

Should you need articles from the journals concerned after the subscriptions have expired, the University Library's delivery service is available for procurement:
https://www.tu-ilmenau.de/universitaet/quicklinks/universitaetsbibliothek/finden-nutzen/lieferdienst.

a) New contact person

Dr Katrin Günther is the new Open Access Officer at the University Library. She is in charge of the Open Access Publication Fund of the TU Ilmenau and will be pleased to answer financial, legal, and organizational questions concerning Open Access publishing (phone: 4534, e-mail: openaccess.ub@tu-ilmenau.de).

b) Current financial situation

The University Library has been managing the central publication fund of the TU Ilmenau since 2015, providing financial support for publications in OA journals. Since the DFG funding has expired and its basic funding is affected by the budget cut mentioned in point 1, it should be considered that financial support for OA publishing will have to be discontinued in the course of this year.

You can still submit applications to the fund. However, the following should be considered:

• A binding financing commitment can no longer be issued when an application is submitted.
• Applications are processed in the order in which they are received after the Acceptance Notification has been issued.
• By the end of the year, it is recommended to inquire before submitting an article to anOA journal whether the costs could also be covered by funds from the respective group in case the central publication fund is overdrawn.

The University Library has applied for OA funding to the new DFG program from 2022 to 2024, which is currently subject to review.

[PDF version]