Pay-per-view article access: a viable replacement for subscriptions?

As journal prices continue to rise and library budgets barely keep pace with inflation, librarians must find creative ways to remain good stewards of their budgets while still providing their users with high- quality content. This case-study examines how one small university library took the step of cancelling their subscriptions to the journals they obtained from a single publisher, reallocating those monies to that publisher’s pay-per-view plan. It explores the rationale behind the project, the simple steps taken to implement it, and the initial reaction of the university faculty.Although it is too soon to declare the project an unqualified success and there are still some areas of concern, early trends are promising.