An outline of the activities necessary to convert from comprehensiveness of collection to selectivity of collection in university libraries is presented. These are the development of 1) written collection policies; 2) deselection programs; 3) cooperative storage and acquisition programs; and 4) the criteria necessary to evaluate the resulting…

Two out-of-print book buying methods, searching desiderata files against out-of print book catalogs and advertising want lists in The Library Bookseller,'' are compared based on the data collected from a sample of 168 titles. (7 references) (Author)

The widely accepted approval-plan concept has moved from a lengthy period of discussion of selection responsibility to a few recent studies of the plans' cost, efficiency, and impact on research collections. An annotated list of articles from 1958 to 1972 traces this transformation and identifies the research studies. (34 references) (Author)

Approval plan purchasing is related to library goals of comprehensiveness, pointing out the interrelated pressures of the university system which have contributed to making this method of purchasing possible and the defensive techniques used to justify it. (19 references) (Author)

Compares the approval-built collection with the collection which is created when traditional select and order procedures are used. The study was limited to 1974 imprints in four subject areas and utilized the services of two major vendors. (Author)

Science libraries buy many unneeded books in the effort to provide all needed books. Since books are the least-used source of information for physicists and other scientists, highly selective, objective criteria need to be developed and applied to book selection so as to limit acquisitions to items really needed. (Author)

Allocative formulas are preferred alternatives for distributing the book budget among departmental funds. Economic efficiency via cost-effectiveness analysis is suggested as potentially useful for within fund acquisition of library-resource units. (Author)

Traces the growth of higher education in the United States and the related growth of university libraries. (PF)

A survey of state purchasing agencies, libraries, and book wholesalers has revealed that any small savings in purchasing books by state-wide contract on the basis of high-discount is more than offset by the extra time and money spent in coping with inadequate service and large back-order files. (LS)

A model is presented in which the division of library resources among competing interests is based upon considerations of economic efficiency. It is argued that allocation decisions should depend upon the prospective usage rate of materials, explicit value judgments about how much such use contributes to the university's goals, and costs. (Author)

Reiterates the need for a "literature size" approach to book fund allocations and presents a case for using reviews from "Choice" magazine as a useful means for determining literature size. References are listed. (Author/RAA)

A formula for distributing monograph funds was developed within the University of Cincinnati Central Libraries System. Relying on a combination of objective data and professional judgment, the method employs a size-of-literature approach to the allocations process and incorporates need and enrollment factors. Eleven sources are included. (EJS)

Approval plans challenge library boundaries, require consensus on collection development priorities, cooperation among library departments, and a close partnership with the vendor. Few concrete performance standards exist, and effectiveness is difficult to measure. Vendors will play an active role in the evolution of approval plans, though…