Science libraries buy many unneeded books in the effort to provide all needed books. Since books are the least-used source of information for physicists and other scientists, highly selective, objective criteria need to be developed and applied to book selection so as to limit acquisitions to items really needed. (Author)

Current disenchantment with the undergraduate library concept is attributed to (1) changes in curriculum and teaching methods, (2) tighter library budgets, and (3) the realization that a separate facility works to deprive the undergraduate of a learning experience that only a large research library can offer. (Author/AWP)

The Intellectual Freedom Committee of the Philadelphia SRRT has surveyed the handling of controversial materials in twelve libraries. Public, university, and college libraries, are discussed in terms of which controversial titles they have and what is allowed to circulate. (Author/DH)

Guideposts for the librarian are established on how to guard against buying information which is duplicated too heavily to do the collection any good. (MF)

Reviews the problem of rising periodical subscriptions costs for libraries, and argues that subscribers must take a stand by refusing to subsidize greedy publishers. Guidelines for increasing the effectiveness of serials budgets by decreasing the number of subscriptions are suggested. (CLB)

Addresses issues that concern the relationship between publishers and librarians, including differences between libraries and bookstores; necessary information for advertisements; out-of-stock designations and their effect on budgets; the role of distributors and vendors; direct mail for book promotions; unsolicited review copies; communications…

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)

In the light of current budgetary restrictions, it is important that librarians deliberate wisely when considering the acquisition of expensive microform collections; some of the issues that must be considered are identified and prioritized. (Author/CMV)

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)

Overview of the problems faced the acquisition librarian in 1969. (MF)

Discusses the Hawaii State Public Library system decision to outsource library book selection to a vendor. Highlights include problems with the current contract, including lack of input from local librarians; and possible benefits of outsourcing, including the chance of having an outsourced baseline collection with discretionary funds for local…

Library governing boards are faced with many administrative questions affecting services offered. This paper describes the operational research approach to the problem of allocation of funds to different departments of a university for purchase of materials. A linear programing model is suggested for solving the allocation problem. (5 references)…

Presents a decision theoretic model that minimizes the costs of the material selection decision process by using formal methods to rank materials. Illustrations of the process are provided, and an implementation method using MARC records is described. (Author/CLB)