In 1992 the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) surveyed administrators in member libraries regarding resource strategies of the previous three years. This paper summarizes revenue activities, adaptive tactics, and budgetary practices reported by 87 Canadian, U.S. private, and U.S. public university libraries and establishes a baseline for comparing these factors. The period from 1990 to 1992 has been a difficult one for ARL members, with the largest reductions in public support experienced by public university libraries. All respondents sought outside revenues to supplement their campus allocations. Virtually every responding library had experienced some form of internal restructuring, and three of every five had eliminated positions over the three-year survey period. Administrators valued flexibility in fund reallocation very highly, but few had much control over carrying unspent funds to the next year. While 88% of respondents expected the demand for services to grow, only 32% anticipated budget increases. Greater selectivity in activities and greater library sharing are likely to result from the economic realities. Three appendixes contain the survey summary results, the cover letter, and the questionnaire. (Contains 33 references.) (SLD)