Fowler, David C.Nabe, Jonathan A., 1966-2011-07-202013-02-232011-06https://hdl.handle.net/1794/11421Pre-print of conference proceeding paper that will appear in The Serials Librarian late 2011/early 2012Many libraries are facing difficult fiscal climates with serials inflation, budget cutbacks, and reductions in governmental allocations requiring difficult collection management decisions. Libraries may find their flexibility to plan and react unduly restricted due to being contracted to one or more Big Deals, in which they are obligated to buy large, inflexible title lists from big publishers for a set price. Many libraries may have considered exiting these Big Deals but have been reluctant to, due to fear of the unknown, fear of the difficulty of exiting these deals, and fear of the consequences in terms of lost access to journals, faculty and student reaction and financial and legal consequences. This presentation discusses the experience of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and the University of Oregon in leaving Big Deals, provides data on impacts on interlibrary loans, community response, and collection budgets , details the steps required before and after the decision, , and describes the benefits that other libraries could achieve by following the example of these two ARL libraries.en-USBig dealSerials inflationBudget cutbacksLicensingVendor negotiationsUsage statisticsPreprint