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College and Research Libraries
September 2002, Vol. 63, No. 5
Abstracts
Toward Developing a Framework of Cost Elements for Preserving Authentic Electronic Records into Perpetuity
Shelby Sanett
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The financial challenges of the processes involved in preserving electronic records into perpetuity are significant. Financial management tools will support the decision-making processes in which archives and libraries engage when preserving electronic records. Applying business concepts, in combination with archival precepts and collection management principles, to the challenge of preserving electronic records will assist institutions such as archives and libraries in making decisions that will support their mission statements and act in the best interests of their users. This article proposes that a cost model specific to preserving authentic electronic records be developed.
The Cost Function and Scale Economies in Academic Research Libraries
Lewis-Guodo Liu
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This empirical research examined scale economies of academic research libraries that belong to the Association of Research Libraries and developed a total cost function for estimating economies of scale. The author argues that libraries in general, and academic research libraries in particular, are information provision organizations that provide multiproducts and multiservices and points out that some previous studies that used the production function have limitations due to the fact that this function only permits a single-output variable. This investigation incorporated a wide range of collections and service output variables into the total cost function. The regression results show that the R square of the cost function model is .8142 and that the coefficients of three very important output variables (volumes held, serials, and group presentations) are statistically significant at high confidence levels. The findings of this research show that the function coefficient is .93, indicating that slight economies of scale exist in academic research libraries.
Use of Main or Branch Library Web Pages on Public Access Computers in Academic Branch Libraries: Results of a Listserv Inquiry
Anita Breckbill and Virginia Baldwin
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Some academic branch libraries display a main library Web page as the default home page for their public computers. Others display a branch library page. In response to an inquiry sent to selected listservs, librarians from sixty-three academic institutions provided information about the choice and content of their default home pages. Although the numbers from the study do not clearly favor either choice, this paper, in summarizing the librarians’ input, provides insight into other available options and the considerations that contribute to maximum user benefit for a given library and library system.
Testing the Competition: Usability of Commercial Information Sites Compared to Academic Library Web Sites
Tiffini Anne Travis and Elaina Norlin
PDF version
With the growing size of academic library Web sites, constant updating, authentication issues, and organization are increasingly difficult for libraries to maintain user-friendly sites. This usability study examines how students use electronic research libraries such as Questia, which has been designed to replace traditional libraries and compare it with large university library Web sites. Students were asked to perform tasks at two electronic research library sites and then at two large university library Web sites. Major implications of this study are that design features incorporated by Web site designers can drastically affect the success of students doing research.
The Ownership of Religious Texts by Academic Libraries
Matthew Harris and Gregory Crawford
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This study examined the ownership of religious texts within academic libraries that were members of the Associated College Libraries of Central Pennsylvania (ACLCP). Texts from the Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Morman, Ba’hai, Christian Scientist, Scientology, and Satanic faiths were included. The ACLCP Union Catalog was searched to find ownership of the specific texts in both English and their original languages. The results showed that most of the texts in English were indeed owned by the libraries included in the study, whereas the texts in their original languages were generally not owned. Due to the growing religious diversity of the students, faculty, staff, and community users of these libraries, ownership of religious texts has become more important in order to serve these individuals more fully.
Selected Reference Books of 2000/2001
Eileen McIlvaine
PDF version
This article follows the pattern set by the semiannual series initiated by the late Constance M. Winchell more than sixty years ago and continued by Eugene Sheehy. Because the purpose of the list is to present a selection of recent scholarly and general works, it does not pretend to be either well balanced or comprehensive. A brief roundup of new editions of standard works is provided at the end of the articles. Code numbers (such as AA604) have been used to refer to titles in the Guide to Reference Books (Chicago: ALA, 1996).
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