The decision-making process followed a set of systemwide cost-management principles adopted by the UC libraries to ensure fairness, transparency, and strategic impact. These principles reflect the shared belief that the UC Libraries are strongest when acting collectively to maintain access to core resources and minimize disruption across campuses.
Key guiding principles included:
- Coordinated action: UC libraries collaborated to protect the integrity of systemwide subscriptions to digital resources, avoiding uncoordinated withdrawals that could disadvantage individual campuses.
- Evidence-based evaluation: Decisions were informed by data, including cost-per-use, disciplinary relevance, and alignment with research and teaching priorities.
- Equity across campuses: Reductions were distributed to minimize disproportionate impacts on any single discipline or individual campus.
- Whole-contract approach: Preference was given to cancellations that allowed the entire UC system to withdraw from an agreement, rather than fragmenting participation.
- Sustainability and value: Each agreement was assessed for its overall systemwide benefit, ensuring shared licenses deliver meaningful value and cost savings compared to campus-by-campus subscriptions.
- Operational feasibility: Renewal timing, contract cycles, and administrative workload for CDL and campus staff were considered to minimize service disruptions to users.
These decisions were made collaboratively by the Shared Content Leadership Group (SCLG), which brings together library representatives from all UC campuses to guide systemwide decisions about shared collections and digital resources. The group worked in consultation with the Council of University Librarians (CoUL) and the California Digital Library (CDL) to ensure a coordinated and transparent process. The guiding principle behind these changes is to maintain the broadest and most equitable access possible to shared resources across the UC system, while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the UC Libraries’ digital collections in support of the University’s academic mission.