An analysis of user requests for interlibrary loan materials revealed that about 5% of the total requests placed at the University of Oklahoma required lending fees. Costs and users' willingness to pay those costs are reviewed. Libraries seeking cost recovery would provide more efficient and democratic service if flat charges on all requests were…

Re-examines seven major public library central facilities that were built or renovated in the past six years, including Chicago (Illinois), Los Angeles (California), Denver (Colorado), Phoenix (Arizona), San Antonio (Texas) and Vancouver (British Columbia). Topics include coping with crowds; new uses for the libraries; reorganization of space;…

This study of state university libraries in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates provides information on library organization and analysis of collections, services, staffing, budgeting, expenditures, automation, and information technology. Suggests further research is needed in collections, services and…

Maintains that the equal marginal value principle may not be optimal in the analysis of the cost-effectiveness of policies to reduce auto emissions, the economics of garbage disposal, and the economics of pollution abatement. Argues that examining these exceptions can help students understand the equal marginal value principle. (MJP)

Traces the history of school finance litigation, discussing methods of measuring funding equity and methods of calculating an adequate level of funding for all schools. Although equity is usually measured in terms of variation in per-pupil revenues among districts in a single state, there are no universally accepted definitions of equity or…

Some of the impacts associated with a metropolitan university are estimated, conceptualizing the impact as a series of backward (expenditure) and forward (knowledge-related) linkages. Issues are highlighted through a case study of Northwestern University in Illinois. Results emphasize the magnitude of university expenditure links with the…

Shows that primary education spending growth in Norway resulted from cost factors determined at the national level, together with lack of adjustment to rising costs in local governments. Policies to control school spending must address the central government's bargaining strength to hold back on teacher wages and employment and local governments'…

Analyzes the division of public school funds in seven states in the postbellum South and finds that the higher the ratio of black to white students, the more economic incentive white school boards had to discriminate. (Contains 13 endnotes and 4 tables.) (Author/MLF)

Reports results of a survey of public libraries that investigated trends in audiovisual materials. Highlights include format issues; audiobooks; media budgets for various formats; video collections; DVDs; circulation; collection sizes; music CDs; and future possibilities. (LRW)

Discusses the development of electronic resources across library networks in Thailand to meet user needs, particularly electronic journals. Topics include concerns about journal access; limited budgets for library acquisitions of journals; and sharing resources through a centralized database system that allows Web access to journals via Internet…

Presents data on number of volumes, volumes added in 1995-96, current serials, permanent staff, and total expenditures of university and non-university research libraries in the United States and Canada. Also charts operating expenditure percentages for salaries, books and monographs, serials, and other materials and expenses. (MSE)

A study of the cost of educating undergraduate medical students at the University of Virginia resulted in calculations of faculty contact hours, faculty requirements, and cost of faculty, staff, and administrative services. Overall cost of a four-year medical education was estimated at $357,000 per student. The model used is described. (Author/MSE)

Discusses cataloging policy at the University of Alabama libraries that allows the acceptance of LC (Library of Congress) classification call numbers from OCLC cataloging into the local database without shelflisting, and describes a study that measured error rates for locally unshelflisted samples to determine the disarrangement of the local…

Uses Texas data to explore using an indirect measure of local wealth as the basis for calculating indexes of wealth neutrality. The proposed measure, the percentage of school district revenues derived from local sources, can easily be calculated from data contained within the U.S. Department of Education's Common Core of Data. The measure…

Following a series of continuing resolutions, the omnibus fiscal year 1996 appropriations bill restored federal education funding to 1995 levels or made smaller cuts than specified in the continuing resolutions. However, most job training and employment programs were cut significantly. Examines effects on rural education for Title I, impact aid,…