Allocative formulas are preferred alternatives for distributing the book budget among departmental funds. Economic efficiency via cost-effectiveness analysis is suggested as potentially useful for within fund acquisition of library-resource units. (Author)

A model is presented in which the division of library resources among competing interests is based upon considerations of economic efficiency. It is argued that allocation decisions should depend upon the prospective usage rate of materials, explicit value judgments about how much such use contributes to the university's goals, and costs. (Author)

With the increasing cost of periodicals claiming an ever greater proportion of university library acquisitions budgets, a Wayne State University Education Library committee investigated the nature and value of newsletters. They considered two groups: commercial and noncommercial. The former are those which are published for profit and are intended…

Discussion of the development of a budget formula allocation system for library acquisitions is followed by a literature survey on the choice of variables to be included. The steps in the development of the allocation formula and the solutions to a number of practical problems are presented. (Author/RAA)

Describes a study at Pennsylvania State University Harrisburg in which cost-benefit analysis (CBA) was used to examine the cost effectiveness of an electronic database. Concludes that librarians can use the results of CBA studies to justify budgets and acquisitions and to provide insight into the true costs of providing library services. (PEN)

Twenty descriptive case studies of computer applications in a variety of libraries are presented in this book. Computerized circulation, serial and acquisition systems in public, high school, college, university and business libraries are included. Each of the studies discusses: 1) the environment in which the system operates, 2) the objectives of…

Discusses the financial pressures libraries face as the number and cost of serials escalate while funding is reduced. Presents a case study of a small library that eliminated physical subscriptions to journals and enhanced its service to include CD-ROM technology after ranking journals according to a cost benefit analysis. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the practice of purchasing paperback books for small college libraries. Price, availability, and shelf life are considered, and it is concluded that budget-conscious collection development librarians should adopt the practice if they have not already. (Author/LRW)

This evaluation of the Leddy Library's experiment with separate approval plans and different vendors for political science, psychology, and economics discusses and compares their performance in profiling, discounts, delivery, response to changing needs, stock/warehousing to support shipping, communications, returns, notification slip service, and…

Urges library administrators to reject the findings of the Kent Study concerning the curtailment of library acquisitions and the sharing of library materials. The Pittsburgh Senate Library Committee raises serious questions of flawed methodology in the conduct of the study. Seven references are listed. (RAA)

Discusses the life cycle costs of acquiring and maintaining an academic research library and develops a methodology to determine the life cycle costs of collections based on statistical data collected by the Association of Research Libraries. Results indicate the cost structure of a research library is largely driven by its monograph collection.…

Conducted to determine optimal system designs for cooperative use of an OCLC installation by small libraries, this study developed a comprehensive planning model by formulating the OCLC system, identifying variables that might affect online cooperative cataloging ventures, and developing techniques to measure them. These activities were integrated…

Includes three articles that debate whether interlibrary loan (ILL) is the best way to get public library patrons what they need. Highlights include return on investment; funding; alternatives to ILL, including purchase on demand and online full-text databases; cost effectiveness; and the advantages of patron-initiated ILL through interconnected…

Discusses library cooperation and academic library consortia and presents a case study of a Canadian consortia that conducted a cost-benefit analysis for purchasing an electronic resource. Reports on member library subscription costs, external economic factors, value of patron time saved, costs and benefits for patrons, and net savings. (LRW)