Technical Services Costs in Large Academic Research Libraries:

Abstract

In 1983 the Samuel Lazerow Fellowship Committee, sponsored by ACRL and the Institute for Scientific Information, awarded a research grant to a project whose objective was to survey technical processing costs in large academic research libraries. There were three assumptions at the base of the research project: (1) information on the costs of technical processing functions can and should be managed with a progressive and dynamic approach; and (3) comparison of cost information across academic research libraries would provide insights into factors which have direct effects on cost levels. The project defined seven functional categories which encompassed all technical services tasks. Three cost categories were defined. A survey instrument was developed and reviewed by potential participants. Of twenty-six institutions approached, only four could provide full data sets for all seven functional categories. No statistical tests could be performed on the limited sample. However, eleven observations were noted, in hopes that each might serve as the basis for future research.