The provision of duplicate copies of texts in academic libraries is a contentious area of library management This article outlines previous work in this area and describes a model of specific use in developing a duplication policy for recommended texts for undergraduates. A concept of 'user utility' is described as the principal measure of library effectiveness. This concept is used as a basis for a behavioural model of student borrowing. The model may be used to allocate a budget set aside for duplication purposes so as to maximize the expected user utility gained per pound spent by the library.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Warwick, J.An operational research study of duplication policy for undergraduate recommended reading. PhD thesis, South Bank Polytechnic, 1985.
2.
Leimkuhler, F.F.Systems analysis in university librariesCollege and Research Libraries, 1966,27,64-71.
3.
Trueswell, R.W.Determining the optimal number of volumes for a library's core collectionLibri , 1966, 16, 49-60.
4.
Trueswell, R.W.A quantitative measure of user circulation requirements and possible effects on stack thinning and multiple copy determinationAmerican Documentation, 1965, 16, 20-5.
5.
Morse, P.M.Measures of library effectivenessLibrary Quarterly, 1972, 42, 15-30.
6.
Morse, P.M.A queueing theory, Bayesian model for the circulation of books in a libraryOperations Research , 1978, 693-716.
7.
Morse, P.M.Demand for library materials: an exercise in probability analysisCollection Management, 1977, 1 (3-4), 47-78.
8.
Burrel, Q.L., and Cane V.R.The analysis of library dataJournal of the Royal Statistical Society, 1982, 145, part 4, 439-71.
9.
Fussler, H., and Simon, J.Patterns in the use of books in large research librariesUniversity of Chicago Press, 1969.
10.
Bruce, D.A Markov model to study the loan dynamics at a receive-loan desk in a lending libraryLibrary Quarterly, 1975 , 45, 161-79.
11.
Arms, W.Y., and Walter, T.P.A simulation model for purchasing duplicate copies in a libraryJournal of Library Automation, 1974, 7, 73-82.
12.
Llinas, J., and O'Neil, E.T.The effect of cyclic demand on book availability. In Innovative developments in information systems: their benefits and costsProceedings of the American Society of Information Scientists , 1973, 10, 123-4.
13.
Buckland, M.K.An operational research study of a variable loan and duplication policy at the university of LancasterLibrary Quarterly, 1972, 42, 97-106.
14.
Begg, D K H.The rational expectations revolution in macro-economicsWiley, 1982.
15.
Warwick, J.P. , and Taylor, P.B.Optimal loan periods for undergraduate recommended readingOMEGA, 1981, 8 (16), 671-9.
16.
Goyal, S.K.A systematic method for reducing over ordering of copies of booksLibrary Resources and Technical Services, 1972, 16, 26-32.
