Inflation of Diversity Journals in an Academic Library Collection: Implications for Data Tracking in Diversity Collection Development and Maintenance
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Abstract
Academic libraries at institutions seeking to improve the recognition and acceptance of multicultural diversity on their campuses frequently subscribe to journals on topics such as women’s studies, U.S. racial and ethnic studies, queer studies and disability studies. In some cases, these topics relate to specific academic programs at the institutions, but just as frequently, they may not. Maintaining separate subject and budgeting lines for these areas is an important strategy that allows libraries to track their diversity holdings, assess costs, and ensure coverage. At Iowa State University Library, we have separate lines for these areas. One important outcome that has resulted from this practice is the ability to provide bibliographers with inflation data specifically for diversity serials, which tend otherwise to be overlooked and unreported in broad subject-focused serials pricing and inflation data. In this paper, we provide analysis of the inflation within each of the diversity areas we track, compare inflation across those areas, and relate our inflation data to the inflation of academic serials more broadly. We will discuss implications of these data for collection development and maintenance of diversity journal collections.