Discusses adequacy and equity in school finance and efficiency in school operation, and recommends ways to improve all three. The ultimate responsibility lies at the state level. State policies and financing mechanisms must hold educators accountable while addressing challenges that are especially great for schools in high-poverty areas or for…

Argues that the purported decline in public education is exaggerated and the accomplishments of public education neglected. Offers favorable evidence on student achievement and minority-majority comparisons, and suggests that recent trends in educational expenditures, class size, and curricular patterns should boost achievement. Addresses…

Uses historical, state-level schooling data, manufacturing productivity measures, and quantitative research to examine relationships between changes in rate and distribution of public school expenditures, public schooling organization, and state-level economic growth from 1880-1940. Significant effects for per-student spending on school…

Examines issues surrounding ownership versus borrowing costs of scientific journals at the four State University of New York (SUNY) Centers. Compares access to journal articles through a consortial approach, traditional interlibrary loan (ILL), and commercial delivery services. Analyzes user satisfaction with ILL and willingness to pay for…

Shows how the Cournot-Nash and Stackelberg equilibria can be represented in the familiar supply-demand graphical framework, allowing a direct comparison with the monopoly, competitive, and industrial organization models. This graphical analysis is represented throughout the article. (MJP)

Describes the change from a traditional, paper-based collection to an electronic library at Bell Canada's Information Resource Center in Montreal. Highlights include universal desktop access for users; library Web site; decline in traditional services to increased use of online services; materials, including books, consultant reports, and…

Analyzed states' spending for hospitals and suicide rates in 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1984. Found spending was not directly related to suicide rates until 1984 when it accounted for 5 percent increase in variance. Considered effects of divorce rates, and change, density, economic level, and racial composition of population. Discusses implications of…

The first article reviews problems within the scholarly communication system and programs designed to ease the situation. Responses by five academics and librarians present their perspectives on this issue. Areas discussed include economic factors, the role of research libraries, the use of information technologies, and the need for research and…

Discusses a survey of over 500 public, academic, and special libraries on the use of bibliographic, reference, specialized, and multimedia/interactive CD-ROMs and the Internet. Demand, funding, and equipment needs are considered, and graphs display the distribution of results. (AEF)

School finance is the focus of battles for equity in funding. Issues in equitable finance that focus on the impact on Latinos are discussed. Some reform strategies are considered. As long as funding inequities can be related to achievement gaps, per-pupil expenditures will remain an important focus of discussion. (SLD)

While there appears to be widespread agreement that schools need to use time more effectively to improve learning opportunities, education research is needed on the cost and results of using time differently. Presents a cost-simulation model to determine the relative costs of a year-round program. (MLF)

Uses data from New York State's Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) to examine the interaction of rural school district size and wealth factors with BOCES size and wealth as they relate to expenditure levels for service provision. Findings suggest that opportunities available to districts through regional educational service agencies…

Discussion of the use of full-text CD-ROMs in libraries focuses on a study of graduate students at Penn State University's Great Valley campus who used Business Periodicals Ondisc. Highlights include a user satisfaction survey, user profile, impact on interlibrary loan requests, cost effectiveness, and impact on subscriptions. (LRW)

Discussion of allocation of library acquisitions budgets, especially for monographs, focuses on the proportional use statistic (i.e., a value that compares circulation and holdings in a subject area). Topics addressed include economics; benefits that libraries provide; use of the collection by patrons; computers as aids to resource allocation;…

Use of energy-conservation technology and utility rebates can yield millions of dollars in savings and significant environmental benefits. The University of Rochester (New York) will halve its energy use within five years. Its experiences with consumption management, supply management, and student involvement may be useful to other colleges.…