Shelf Life: News From the Loyola University Libraries

A Closer Look: The Cost Behind "Free" Resources

The University Libraries is dedicated to helping members of the Loyola community with their research needs. The libraries have access to about 20,000 online journals and 200 research databases in addition to the more than 2,800 print journals. These journals and databases are free of charge to library patrons, yet the cost of subscribing to many of them increases regularly. In fact, journal subscriptions tend to rise 7 to 9 percent annually. Below are a few examples of subscription costs compared to consumer products.

If you had $300 to spend, you could buy....
a 14KT white gold diamond ring ($258.00).	Or a one year print subscription to the journal Parliamentary History ($288.99).
You could also spend $14,000 on....
One semester of undergraduate tuition at Loyola University Chicago, a value of $13,600.	Or a subscription to Ovid’s PsycINFO database for $12,000.

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