Considers 10 areas of internal operations in which the Research Libraries Group/North American Collection Inventory Project (RLF/NCIP) Conspectus can be used as a management aid: collection priorities, collection management, space utilization, preservation programs, staffing allocations, material fund requests, accreditation, materials selection,…

Discusses the increased costs of library materials, the need for a new budgeting approach, and the impact of technology. The development of a library materials index that was developed at Ohio State University to provide a consistent source for measuring library materials expenditures against the marketplace is described. (Contains 14 references.)…

Discussion of the decline in the purchasing power of academic libraries' acquisitions budgets focuses on why and how the acquisitions budget should be integrated into the broader library and institutional budgeting and planning process to help manage the costs of scholarly communication. Highlights include collection development and remodeling the…

Describes strategies that academic libraries can use to stretch the collection budget in the face of increasing costs. Collection management measures are discussed, including cancellations, coordinated buying, and cooperative databases; budgetary strategies are described; and political factors are considered, including faculty support,…

This theme issue contains eight papers that were originally presented at a conference sponsored by the University of Oklahoma Libraries on library acquisitions. Highlights include budgeting problems in academic libraries; maintaining research library collections; monograph collections in scientific libraries; vendors' perspectives; electronic…

Presents the Brown University Library experiences in purchasing electronic services to serve as a model for issues of budgeting for electronic materials in academic libraries. Topics include politics of budgeting; education of users; availability issues; access issues; consortia issues; ownership issues; tracking electronic product prices; and…

The 16 articles in this issue focus on planning for future trends in public library administration. Topics discussed include leadership qualities; administrator education; collective bargaining; funding and budgeting; governance; user fees; collection management; community involvement and support; special population groups; services to educational…