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)

Discussion of access versus ownership for libraries facing rising serials cost. Focuses on a study at Pennsylvania State University that tested the feasibility of using commercial document delivery (CDD) as compensation for discontinued ownership, as a complement to ownership, and as a supplement to ownership. Positive results for CDD were found.…

Explores whether observed levels of educational attainment and expenditure per student are endogenously determined by schools' optimizing behavior in resource-allocation decisions, considering both supply- and demand-side factors. This process can generate patterns of expenditure per student in line with empirical findings. Difficulties with…

This model addresses the use of past circulation data to support allocating an academic library acquisition budget. Suggests that the budget allocation should be able to reflect a requirement that the more a department makes use of its acquired materials in the present year, the more it can budget for the coming year. (Author/LRW)

This article provides an overview of state finance polices for gifted education and frameworks for evaluating those policies. The frameworks are then applied for evaluating state school finance policies as of 1998-99 and state aid allocated in 2002. Only Florida provided both sufficient and equitable support for gifted education. (Contains…

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)

Through finance reform, Michigan cut property taxes for school operations nearly 50% and exchanged a district power-equalizing approach to a foundation-allowance program. After three years, there are still strong connections between property wealth and district revenue. However, Michigan has made progress toward equal financial resources for the…

During the 1995-96 school year, Arizona charter schools served over 7,117 students and received over $30 million in funding. An estimated 17,000 students will be served next year. The funding formula is similar to the basic state formula for K-12 education, with similar counting methods and revenue availability. However, charter schools have more…

Examined higher education costs (expenditures) paid by institutions and prices paid by students and their families. The detailed analyses found variations in the nature and the strength of relationships between costs and prices across types of institutions, and within types of institutions over time. (EV)

Describes the weeding process for children's magazines in a public library. Highlights include circulation statistics; cost effectiveness; online availability; shelving magazines by subject to try and increase their use; and a chart that lists reasons to keep and reasons to cancel subscriptions when weeding a periodical collection. (LRW)

This empirical research examined scale economies of academic research libraries and developed a total cost function for estimating economies of scale. Suggests that libraries in general, and academic research libraries in particular, are information provision organizations that provide multiproducts and multiservices. Findings indicate that slight…

The rationale for using Activity-Based Costing (ABC) in a library is to allocate indirect costs to products and services based on the factors that most influence them. This paper discusses the benefits of ABC to library managers and explains the steps involved in implementing ABC in the user services area of an Australian academic library.…

The 100 highest-spending research universities and technological institutes are ranked according to total spending on research and development and separately according to their total federally financed research and development expenditures. The 100 institutions account for about $12.3 billion of the total $15 billion in such spending for all…

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)…

Analyzes the cost of reading and language arts seatwork materials for second-graders. Reports that while a considerable amount of time and money is being spent on seatwork materials, they do not seem to be effective activities for developing reading abilities. (MM)