Describes operations research as an important management tool that can aid library managers in effectively using available resources and as a set of analytical tools that can enable researchers to better understand library and information services. Early history, definition, models, applications to libraries, and impact are noted. Twenty-five…

The greater organizational complexity of libraries and information centers in recent years has given rise to more complex problems for managers. To facilitate solutions, operations research (OR) techniques have been developed that consider the quantitative dimensions of problems along with their political and organizational aspects. Eight standard…

Reviews of relevant research on the application of operations research and statistics that appeared prior to 1980 are compared with those appearing in the early 1980s. In summary, both explicit and implicit users of mathematics in educational administration see it as a tool that essentially brings order and generalizability to administrative data.…

This paper explores the fault-tree analysis approach to isolating failure modes within a system. Fault tree investigates potentially undesirable events and then looks for failures in sequence that would lead to their occurring. Relationships among these events are symbolized by AND or OR logic gates, AND used when single events must coexist to…