Inflation Indicators
It can be challenging to document overall price increases because the Law Library purchases different things in different years. For example, we've made strategic cancellations in the past few years. During that same time period, we've also added new subscriptions based on interest from the law school community. However, samples of related purchases over time illustrate the rising prices that law libraries must manage.
- 5.2% average annual increases for scholarly print monographs between July 2020 and June 2026. Based on actual spend on a sample comprising over 170 print books purchased by the Law Library from the academic presses of Chicago, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, NYU, Stanford, and Yale.
- 3.0% average annual increases for essential online resources between July 2020 and June 2025. Based on actual spend on a sample comprising 6 online resources paid for by the law library, including ones focused on basic US legal research, as well as more specialized ones.
- 3 - 5% average annual increases for updates to important basic legal materials in print between the years of 2019 and 2024. Based on multi-year contracts that the law library had with important legal publishers. This includes reporters, statutes, court rules, treatises, etc..
- Other increases based on publisher-led changes. The Law Library must adapt to occasional drastic increases as publishers update their pricing models, revamp products, consolidate, etc. Examples include:
- 400% increase over a 3-year period during the 2020s for an essential online legal research tool
- 20% increase over a 1-year period in the 2020s for a specialty online resource, where the vendor had been purchased by a larger company
- 75% increase over a 1-year period in the 2020s for a different specialty online resource, where the vendor streamlined their product offerings and removed a less-expensive option
Electronic Subscriptions
As in most academic law libraries in the United States, UC Irvine Law Library Collections funds pay for many important online resources that do not add any permanent resources to the Law Library's collection, including:
- Basic online legal research tools like Bloomberg Law, Lexis, and Westlaw
- Online study materials from Aspen, West Academic, and LexisNexis
- Online legal news sources that are crucial in doctrinal areas like Environmental Law, Immigration, Litigation, Tax, etc.
