Upcoming Graduate Studio Re-location, Collections Moves, and Ensuring Digital Access to Journals & Periodicals

Next summer, Western Libraries will re-locate the Graduate Research & Writing Studio from the 5^th floor of Wilson to the 2^nd floor of Haggard. In its new location, the Graduate Studio will be better situated to provide Western’s graduate students with the academic support — and community — they need.

In order to accommodate this move, and to make best use of library spaces, the collections on the second floor of Haggard will be consolidated with those on the third floor. As part of this process, the Libraries will conduct a targeted review of print periodicals with the goal of withdrawing volumes duplicated in digital format on the JSTOR platform. 

JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization that hosts journal content and ensures long-term access and preservation. JSTOR content is complete, high quality, and guaranteed in perpetuity, allowing the university to reduce its periodicals footprint strategically without losing any content or sacrificing the researcher experience.

Reviewing the duplicate periodicals is part of an ongoing effort to meet the needs of library users more effectively. Digital periodicals—particularly those on stable platforms like JSTOR—provide a convenient and accessible researcher experience, and in the past two decades the format has rapidly overtaken print as the standard for scholarly journals.

The Libraries will be reviewing, moving, and staging duplicated periodicals for review throughout winter quarter. Librarians will manually check the highest-use titles to verify the completeness of JSTOR copies. In late February, university faculty will be invited to review the titles as well, and will have until the end of the quarter to suggest titles for further vetting. Librarians will review these requests and ensure that only titles and volumes with complete, high-quality online duplicates are withdrawn. The actual, physical withdrawal process will begin during spring break.

The review process will not result in any loss of content in the short- or long term. The Libraries is only considering withdrawing volumes that the university owns permanently. JSTOR guarantees its content in perpetuity, via either the platform itself or the trusted third-party repository, Portico. JSTOR content is high quality, downloading at 600 DPI, and the company will re-scan journals as needed to remedy any errors users do encounter.

The Libraries welcomes feedback about this project and will work as transparently as possible, sharing updates via the library website and Western Today, faculty governance channels, and department chairs. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please reach out to your Subject Team, the Collection Services division, or the Director of Collections.