Information professionals have a role to play in building Intranets. Discusses competencies required of information professionals: competitive intelligence, information searching, sound information practices, teaching search strategies, cost containment, content procurement, content management, knowledge management, and timely decision making.…

The seven articles in this edition show that cost-benefit analysis is emerging from the confusion of the 1980s and is probably going to become the central tool of program evaluation in the future. The modern approach involves incorporating probability distributions into the cost-benefit analysis. None of the articles are specifically…

Offers background information on cost-per-hire. Includes reflections offered by human resources officials who discuss how they calculate this statistic and how they use it. Explains difficulties associated with calculating cost-per-hire, provides a sample worksheet, and uses a case study to show how this cost might be lowered. (RJM)

Since 1980 an Ohio school district, by combining new technologies and equipment, new funding mechanisms, and common sense, has been able to reduce energy-related costs in two test schools by $4 million. The Energy Conservation Merit Plan has a cash-back clause that returns a portion of the money saved by energy conservation to the school. Contains…

Examines teacher salaries based on surveys sent to five randomly selected school districts in the 48 contiguous states. Census data are used to compare the salaries in relation to household income. Teachers in most school districts are paid more than the average household. How much more and how teacher salaries relate to local household income…

Renovation, addition, and adaptive reuse of existing facilities offer many advantages over new construction: savings, preservation of historical or architecturally significant buildings, preservation of traditional location, and faster relocation to a more desirable location. Discusses building criteria: structure, hazardous materials, siting,…

Discusses why it is essential to look at costs related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty not simply as a critical expense, but as part of an intentional investment strategy meant to produce an important and significant value-added benefit. Offers advice on planning, financing, and assessing this investment. (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)

Propensity score matching was used to evaluate the effectiveness of Mexico's College of Professional Technical Education system with data from 5,574 graduates and a control group. Although controls found jobs faster, graduates have jobs more congruent with their training and earn 20-28% more. Cost-benefit analysis also supports program…

Offers practical advice for school boards about gifted programs, which can be both cost-effective and educationally beneficial. Examines the nature of various gifted programs, the budgets required to support these options, and a cost-benefit analysis of each. (MLF)

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…

Examines the state of cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis in education, first examining the progress that has been made in these fields in the health and medical sectors. Explores one outstanding example of cost-benefit analysis and critiques four other educational evaluations. Synthesizes strengths of cost-effectiveness analysis in…

Describes a cost-effective process for delivering large-scale life support training in a medical center, a situation with high risk and low tolerance for incompetence. Discusses the reengineered credentialing system that delivers competency-based instruction via multimedia CD-ROM. (SK)

Policymakers often use Rate of Return information in formulating public resource allocation decisions. The World Bank uses this strategy to advise developing nations in setting student subsidy levels, tuition, and allocation by educational level. However, Rate of Return may be an inappropriate policy device for these objectives. (Author/MSE)

The paper reviews cost-effectiveness evaluations of child maltreatment interventions. Though methodologically sound research is limited, existing research suggests that home health visitors, lay group counseling, and family and group therapy are promising interventions. Medical foster care substantially reduces costs, but its effectiveness has not…