The "Comprehensive Allocation Process" (CAP) is a reproducible decision-making structure for the allocation of new collections funds, for the reallocation of funds within stagnant budgets, and for budget cuts in the face of reduced funding levels. This system was designed to overcome common shortcomings of current methods. Its philosophical…

Scenario planning as a strategic tool for future planning was explored. The case study showed how the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Library applied the process to draw up its preferred future, and illustrated the importance of involving all stakeholders in every stage for the shared future to be acceptable to all.

Many libraries have a disaster plan for collections and facilities, but few libraries have a plan to address the strategic or practical implications of multiple vacancies. Much has been written about the search process, but little about the considerations involved in multiple search situations.

Organizations with increasingly diverse workforces and customer populations face challenges in reaping diversity's benefits while managing its potentially disruptive effects. This article defines workplace diversity and identifies best practices supporting planned and positive diversity management. It explores how academic libraries can apply…

Self-service is the trend of today's libraries. The Run Run Shaw Library at the City University of Hong Kong therefore is transforming itself in the same direction and offers to its users what it calls the Easy-service. However, the need to handle cash-based micropayments at the service counter is a stumbling block. There is an urgent need for the…

As a direct consequence of the digital revolution, academic libraries today face competition as information providers. Using Richard N. Foster's technology S curves as the analytical model, this article shows that academic libraries are in the midst of discontinuous change by questioning a number of assumptions that support the current practice of…

Academic libraries in Japan are well resourced by international standards, and support Japan's internationally recognized research capability well, but there are also ways in which they reflect Japan's strong bureaucratic culture. Recent changes to the status of national university libraries have seen a new interest in customer service, and…

This paper analyzes librarians' reactions to the Open OCLC WorldCat. A detailed survey was sent to ARL libraries to explore what, if anything, the libraries are currently doing to prepare for these changes and how they plan to cope with the probability of having all their records open to the whole world. Survey findings indicate that most of the…

New product development is an omnipresent challenge to modern libraries in the information age. Therefore, we present the design and selected results of a comprehensive research project aiming at the systematic and user-oriented planning of academic library services by means of conjoint analysis. The applicability of the analytical framework used…

Mass digitization of the bound volumes that we generally call "books" has begun, and, thanks to the interest in Google and all that it does, it is getting widespread media attention. The Open Content Alliance (OCA), a library initiative formed after Google announced its library book digitization project, has brought library digitization projects…

Describes informative measures used by a library advisory committee to advise university administrators of the adverse impact of budgetary constraints on the operation of the academic library. (RAA)

In September 1981, Carnegie-Mellon University Libraries inaugurated a Question/Comment Board, soliciting from users their suggestions, opinions, and complaints, and prominently displaying the libraries' responses to these queries. This technique has proved to be an effective method for identifying users' perceptions of libraries (i.e., physical…

This article draws on parallels between outsourcing in business and in libraries to examine the difficulties and implications of outsourcing the catalog department. Topics include outsourcing at Wright State University (Ohio), management concerns, vendor objectives, cataloging as a noncore activity; and selective versus total outsourcing. Contains…

Explains activity-based costing (ABC), discusses the benefits of ABC to library managers, and describes the steps involved in implementing ABC in an Australian academic library. Discusses the budgeting process in universities, and considers benefits to the library. (Author/LRW)

Strategic planning provides a useful structure for creating and implementing library web sites. The planned integration of a library's web site into its mission and objectives ensures that the library's community of users will consider the web site one of the most important information tools the library offers.