This essay served as the basis for the opening keynote speech during the Library Assessment Conference in Baltimore in 2010. It set the stage by tracing the demands for accountability in the beginning of the century and outlining progress made. It provided important background and context for the following four keynote papers delivered by Megan…

A model based on storage and retrieval costs that determines efficient allocation of materials to different storage regimes in academic libraries is developed. An economically rational basis for determining role of several alternative storage methods which distinguish among materials by expected level of use is offered. Nineteen references are…