Systems analysis, in this context, is not the process which is the necessary prelude to library automation; it is something more basic. It involves seeking out the fundamentals of a situation and applying scientific methods to their study, to find an optimal solution to the problems facing the manager. (20 references) (Author/TW)

The Long Range Planning/Comprehensive Management Systems (LRP/CMS) program is an outgrowth of a consortium of 42 developing higher education institutions. The monograph is the result of a decade of experimentation and experience of the members of this group. As such, it is designed to present a detailed long range planning model which incorporates…

Any general systems approach has five basic elements, which serve as the tasks for the researcher using systems analysis. The five are (1) the objectives, (2) the alternatives, (3) the costs, (4) the model (or models), and (5) the decision rule. With these five steps, the researcher should be able to specify the objectives, select alternatives,…

A model is presented for clarifying the goals of an institution of higher education while simultaneously developing support for them among its various constituencies. The model assumes (1) the existence of two or more statements of goals, objectives, and/or purposes; (2) that the distinction between these statements is vague; and (3) that they are…

Research was conducted to develop and gather evidence of validity for a normative process model to be used by community adult education councils in establishing priority among community-level needs. The study design was based on a five-stage problem solving, systems model involving exploration, model building, design and development, validation,…