NIU’s Founders Memorial Library might cut $240,000 from its fiscal 1989 budget, causing reductions to the amount of journals to which academic departments have access.

Gordon Rowley, associate director for research services, said it is not possible at this time to give a specific number of journals that might be discontinued or an amount the budget might be reduced.

Final figures for the budget will be known in the summer after the legislation completes its funding cuts, Rowley said. Subscription costs have increased 15 percent, he said.

Rowley said the library administration determined that the most the budget will be cut is $240,000. If a high budget cut is estimated the library will be covering itself, he said. The fiscal 1988 budget was about $1.2 million, he said.

Psychology Department Chairman Joseph Grush said the eliminaton of some journals would be “devastating.” Instructors would not be able to incorporate state of the art information into lectures, he said.

Not subscribing to certain journals would directly impact faculty and students in their research, Grush said. One requirement for graduate students is conducting dissertation research for which journals are needed, he said.

Faculty research is directly impacted by the journals’ cutback because they contain articles on the latest research in a particular field, Grush said.

Economics Department Chairman Prem Laumas said, “The most serious problem is faculty research, and Ph.D. students depend heavily on journals for research.”

Biology Department Assistant Chairman James Grosklags said each department has periodicals assigned to it and his department is prioritizing its journals. He said 20 percent of the department’s journals might be eliminated.

Rowley said, “We (library administration) are asking the departments to review the current journals and help us develop a sense of priorities. We will be affecting some cancellations.”

Rowley said, “It is conceivable to see a reduction in book purchasing as well.”

Grosklags said, “I would rather see less money cut from journals and more from books.”

Mathmatics Department Chairman John Selfridge said foreign journals will be affected because the worth of the American dollar decreased resulting in the price for foreign journals increasing.