Presents a study of Georgia college libraries that used published library statistics to compare public historically black college libraries to traditionally white college libraries. Comparisons were made by: volumes and total library staff per student; salary expenditure per student and per professional librarian; and professional library staff…

Discussion of the need for research on the costs of library materials notes cost studies and price indexes now available, methodology used in preparing cost studies, and opportunities for research on trends of material costs. Twenty-two references are included. (EJS)

Compares current problems with optical disks to errors made with past technological innovations in libraries. Lack of hardware standardization, software incompatibility, and high prices are discussed. Widespread library commitment not to purchase optical disc systems until both technical standards and price guidelines are established is advocated.…

Examines trends in costs of conventional library operation and costs of electronic devices which may pervade libraries of future. Library costs in 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, library automation, total library operating expenditures for university and college libraries, and rate of adoption of electronic techniques are covered. Sixty-three references…

Presents a history of children's book publishing that focuses on past, current, and future trends and reviews how these trends affect library budgets and services. Highlights include an examination of elements that have affected children's book publishing and sales and a discussion of the creation of Children's Book Week, an effort to publish…

This review of the literature on undergraduate libraries, the historical context from which they arose, and their status at the end of the 1970's points out that a long tradition of lack of concern for undergraduate bibliographical needs was broken dramatically in 1949 by the construction of Lamont Library, the Harvard undergraduate facility.…

Discusses the changing perception of information from a public good to a private commodity and the implications of this change for information providers and users. The situation in Australia is described, including the government's emerging policy on information as a commodity and its effects on libraries and users. (25 notes with references) (CLB)

Examines the literature of administration of library technical services from both a library and a management approach, and describes some of the activities of management sections of various library organizations. There are 27 references. (RAA)

This review of recent and anticipated advances in library automation technology and methodology includes a review of the effects of OCLC, MARC formatting, AACR2, and increasing costs, as well as predictions of the impact on library technical processing of networking, expansion of automation, minicomputers, specialized reference services, and…

This study reviews trends in public library finance; examines recent political, economic, and technological changes; and assesses the impact of these changes on public library services. A history of the public library in America is presented, as well as an analysis of the principles of economics and public finance which reveals that current…

Argues that recent dramatic increases in the numbers and prices of scholarly journals are evidence of a distorted economic marketplace for scholarly information. The discussion covers the strategies needed to reshape the current system of scholarly communication and the need for leadership within the research library community. (34 references)…

Reviews literature from 1992 that focused on issues concerning acquisitions. Highlights include acquisitions organization; conference reports; pricing issues and budgetary concerns; vendor performance; electronic publishing; automation; and acquisitions abroad. Issues of access versus ownership, copyright, and storage of electronic media are…

This fact book, compiled to fill the need of practicing librarians and researchers for recent data on public libraries, contains statistics concerning or relevant to the U.S. public library system. Data on all aspects of American public libraries are summarized from such sources as annual reports, journal articles, surveys, books, doctoral theses,…

A review of the library literature on personnel turnover and the costs involved in replacing personnel provides background information for a model designed to determine the costs involved in hiring an academic librarian. This model is based on the experiences of a specific library. (CLB)

Discusses the meaning of stimulation and substitution in the context of federal aid to libraries and suggests how these uses are likely to affect library funding in the immediate future. (Author/JVP)