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The library’s collection budget is made up of two parts; a base budget, and a fiscal budget.
In general, the base budget increases by a small amount every year to keep up with inflation and other price increases on published material. The majority of the library’s base budget is spent on maintaining our existing electronic subscriptions year after year. These subscriptions include databases, individual journals, and streaming video files. The library’s base collection budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year is $7.9 million dollars.
The fiscal budget varies annually and supports the purchase of material that doesn’t require a financial commitment beyond the current year. This material includes print and ebooks, as well as digital journal backfiles. The library’s fiscal budget in 2023-24 is $755,000.
The library's Collection and Assessment team ensure suggested resources fit within the library's total collection budget as part of the collection development process.
How we maximize our spending power:
We collaborate with other libraries in Ontario and Canada to obtain discounts on many of our electronic subscriptions;
We negotiate with vendors to minimize price increases;
We limit duplication of content as much as possible;
We regularly assess subscription products to ensure they meet the objectives of our Collection Development Policy by continuing to support Carleton’s teaching and research needs;
We support Open Access publishing initiatives, which provide unrestricted access to journal articles and other scholarly information published via the web.
