Efficiency and effectiveness of technical services units are difficult to measure, analyze, and compare, partly because operations are complex and vary substantially from one library to another Cost studies have been widely conducted as a means of measuring the cost efficiency of specific technical services tasks Since data on costs are not necessarily comparable among institutions, other quantifiable measures of efficiency and effectiveness would enhance managerial decision-making This article reports the analysis of data compiled from a survey of twenty-six academic libraries It seeks to supplement the findings of cost studies by providing measures of efficiency and effectiveness for cataloging departments based on reported productivity, number of staff, task distribution, and quality measures such as backlogs, authority control, and database maintenance Benchmark productivity levels for six libraries with “best practices” are identified

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Cataloging Efficiency and Effectiveness.

Authority control in an academic library consortium using a union catalogue maintained by a central office for authority control

This article is based on time and cost studies conducted at Iowa State University between 1994/95 and 2000/01. It represents a continuation of previous analyses in which monographs acquisitions functions were evaluated and examined with a view toward using the results as a management tool. Continued decreases in time and cost factors were anticipated as the library migrated to more advanced technologies, but time reductions were mitigated by new initiatives that were added to the work processes. As a result of various factors, costs associated with the acquisition of monographs generally increased, but the value of the services provided by the Monographs Acquisitions Department was enhanced considerably.

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Monographs Acquisitions Time and Cost Studies: The Next Generation

The economics of monographs acquisitions: A time/cost study conducted at Iowa State University

How do I know when I can legally download or copy an image from the Web? If I have the right to copy an image from a print publication, do I also have the right to put it on my Web page? But I'm a librarian, what can they do to me? Find the answers to these and many more questions in this helpful, easy to understand guide. Learn what you should - and need - to know about copyright law, and how it applies to online information and specifically to libraries, including fair use and other pockets of protection, liability for Web content, interlibrary loan and resource sharing, downloading and printing rights, hyperlinks, public display and performance of audio/video Internet. A look at recent legislation is included, along with a discussion of the increasingly important issue of trademark law and the use of words and symbols as logos, links, and in metatags on Web sites.

Copyright in cyberspace : questions and answers for librarians

All Technical Services staff at Iowa State University (ISU) Library are involved in an ongoing time and cost study which began in April 1987. Since the initiation of this research project, nineteen one-week samples have been taken. In this article we will analyze the data for the Serials Cataloging Section, present times and costs associated with serials cataloging at ISU, compare them with monographic cataloging times and costs, and explain the use and importance of the information.

Dilys E. Morris

Papers

Serials cataloging time and costs : results of an ongoing study at Iowa state university