The University administration and library staff managed to save 1,000 of the academic journals up for cancellation, however, 600 journals will still be cut this month.

In a Friday e-mail to all University staff, faculty and students, Associate Provost of libraries William Potter said the University was able to save many journals thanks to the President’s Venture Fund and a redistribution of the library budget.

“I think we can all take some consolation in the fact that the list has been significantly reduced,” Potter’s e-mail said.

The subscription cuts to journals like Advanced Critical Care and Africa Confidential will save the University $700,000 annually.

The final “cut list” was created based on faculty and student comments received September to December of last year.

“I really want to stress that we appreciate the faculty input,” Potter said in an interview Tuesday. “They are read by the University and its students. If there is damage done, it is to instruction and research.”

There were nearly 5,000 responses regarding the original “cut list,” 40 percent of which came from University students, Potter said.

“It’s a shame to cut any journals,” said Malcolm Adams, a professor of mathematics, in a phone interview Tuesday. “That’s how we live and it’s our main research tool. But I think it is something we need to do in general – see what we need and don’t need.”

However, not everyone is happy with the way the journals are being cut.

“You never know which journal you are going to need,” said Matthew Tanner, a computer science graduate student from

Good Hope, Ga. “The most important thing the University does is research, and there is a general pattern of the administration to move away from that and prioritize the expenditures in a way that doesn’t make sense.”

He said he feels research should be the top priority of the University budget and no journals should be cut.

“They should cancel everything else,” Tanner said. “Football and basketball is not going to benefit anybody. They should cut everything on campus before they cut research.”

Potter said he feels the journals that were cut were rarely used, and will affect very few people.

One of the main complications of journal cuts is that many of the journals are bundled. This means while the University pays for only one set of journals, it receives many more for free.

“Often the free journals are used more than the ones we pay for,” Potter said.

Furthermore, the cost of journals is rapidly rising – to the tune of 7 or 8 percent annually, Potter said.

The cut comes as a result of an overall budget deficit announced in the fall. Almost every department at the University is facing a 6 percent cut. The library has already cut $600,000 in personnel and new book costs, Potter said. He said he hopes to restore the journals, books and staff, but it may take some time.

“The more immediate program, as we look forward to next year, is the economy shows no sign of getting better, and they talk about cutting our budget next year,” Potter said. “How do we handle that if there is no money available? We will look at more cancellations.”

If that occurs, Potter assures he will seek faculty input. Until then, many journals are still accessible through GALILEO.