PU’s libraries asked to cut short subscription of online journals
This was recommended by the varsity’s panel constituted for austerity measures to minimise the expenses in view of the revenue loss due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
With Panjab University grappling with financial crunch this year, its libraries may cut short the online journal subscriptions on the basis of their usage to curtail the spending.
This was recommended by the varsity’s panel constituted for austerity measures to minimise the expenses in view of the revenue loss due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The scrutiny of the list of online journal subscriptions is among the various other measures recommended by the panel. The recommendations have been approved by PU vice-chancellor Raj Kumar.
The committee has said that the list of online journal subscription by libraries may be scrutinised and pruned on the basis of their usage and the possibility of subscription of online journals through a consortium of Chandigarh-based institutions via Chandigarh Region Innovation and Knowledge Cluster (CRIKC) be explored.
Jivesh Bansal, librarian of PU’s AC Joshi library, said, “We will explore all possibilities for subscription of online journals via CRIKC also.”
PU is not expecting revenue from various resources this year which include hostels. The varsity has also given concession of 5% in semester fee as well to all students.
A staffer at the library said that the scrutiny of subscription of online journals was also done by a committee a few years ago. “The committee has suggested that there are journals whose usage is less and they should be removed from the list,” he said.
According to the estimated budget for 2020-21 of PU approved last year, the expenditure on books, journals, and publications was pegged at Rs 10 crore.
The panel for austerity measures in its meeting last month had also recommended that the work of manpower audit initiated by the establishment section may be expedited to ensure rationalisation of manpower at the university.
What is CRIKC
CRIKC was founded by Panjab University in 2013, where 29 academic institutions from the region collaborate. The consortium includes Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER); Punjab Engineering College (PEC), Chandigarh; Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar; Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) Sector 32, Chandigarh and other institutions.
It aims to foster and sustain close academic alliances between institutions of higher education and research in the Chandigarh region.