The crisis in commercial scholarly publishing has resulted in the impoverishment of library serial collections across the county, the decrease in the number of books acquired by libraries, and the consequent decrease in the number of books published by university presses. The consequent recourse by scholars to publishing in expensive commercial publishing houses has in turn increased costs to libraries and again fed the problem of dwindling collections.

The community of research librarians and university faculties and administrators has been gathering information and planning strategy for several years, and concluded that these issues must be addressed at the point of the generation of scholarly research, not at the point of purchase by libraries. The latter focus has largely failed, and we cannot keep relying on it.

The University Library Committee has made a series of recommendations to the UO Senate and the UO community at large regarding first steps toward revising the scholarly publishing landscape in such a way as to reduce dependence on the most expensive and exploitative publishing houses and venues.

The University Senate makes the following recommendation: the UO should adopt the principles and procedures recommended by the University Library Committee's March 14, 2001 Report, modifying them as necessary and appropriate to campus-wide and departmental constraints.