Examination of several library legislation models developed to meet the needs of developed and developing nations reveals that our traditional notion of the library's role in society must be abandoned if we wish to reconcile its benefits to its costs. Four models currently exist: many nations, particularly Asian, have no legislation; most nations,…

Discusses planning "future of the catalog" decisions given AACR2 and suggests that courses of action for small libraries may be developed through self-study and by reference to a list of 11 resources. (RAA)

Explores the increasing difficulty that library decision-makers will face in proving the value of libraries to society, and suggests appropriate questions that they will want to ask in their use of community analysis. (Author/PF)

To meet future demands for more services with relatively fewer resources, an inhouse management survey was conducted. This paper focuses chiefly on the administration and the technical services division. (JB)

Discusses two ways that perceptions concerning effectiveness of special libraries and information centers can be changed--change methods used to account for library financially and change provision of services to better meet users' needs. Seven steps for increasing real and perceived value of library to organization are proposed. (11 sources) (EJS)

As technology permeates the special library, new requirements will emerge to integrate staff, equipment, and systems and establish connections between information resources and people. Being library managers in special libraries of tomorrow means mastering fundamentals of cost accounting, strategic planning, technological change, and behavioral…

The "average" costs of integrated library system components--including hardware, software, and related expenses--are outlined to assist in projecting the costs of a small system. Potential benefits of such systems, i.e., areas in which operational costs can be reduced through their use, are also reviewed. (EJS)

Discusses personnel cost projections as a component of overall academic library planning. Topics addressed include strategic planning; the impact of the external environment; accountability; visions and values; technology and personnel costs; new program initiatives; client-centered philosophies; cost studies; and the personnel program cost…

A pilot study conducted to identify concerns of public services middle managers on costing and use of performance measures found the librarians interviewed had little faith in their usefulness. Implications of these findings are discussed and specific ways to increase the usefulness of such measures for library decision-making are suggested. (CDD)

Performance measurement at the University of South Africa (Unisa) library is integrated in its planning and review procedures and is continuously adapted and improved. This paper traces the development of performance measurement at Unisa over more than a decade. Performance measurement provides an indication of how good or bad the library is doing…

The problem of selecting which sites to use in locating library and information centers in order to best achieve system objectives is modeled as a mixed zero-one linear programming problem and examined in detail. The model incorporates an objective function based on the costs of locating centers and of transmitting information to the users. The…

The literatures of library science and management were searched for material concerning the history of centralized processing of library materials and the Planning-Programing-Budgeting System (PPBS). Literature on the history, major components, and advantages of PPBS was reviewed and features of PPBS such as comparison of alternatives, zero-base…

Discusses how archives and library administrators' perceptions of each other's operations and administration may lead to conflicts, and how better understanding of the distinctiveness of an archive as opposed to a library may improve relations. (CLB)

Discusses special aspects of East Asian collections and explores how organizational changes in academic libraries affect them, based on experiences at the University of Arizona. Considers total quality management; continuous quality improvement; teamwork; staffing changes; specialization versus generalization; budgetary restraints and cost…

A research group at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, worked on the development of a system to provide the required statistical information for effective management and decision making in university and large public libraries. A management science approach was used. Library objectives, standards, and performance criteria were…