[Original posting on this topic appeared in COLLDV-L no. 1742 and is
reproduced below; the responses follow it.]
As we begin our annual struggle with budgets, we confront the following
questions once again and hope that people on the list can offer some
wisdom. Understand that the bulk of the budget is distributed to
departments and programs based primarily on history tempered in the past
few years by a formula.
1. Are your newspapers generally paid from departmental funds [Le Monde
from French, etc.] or from the library general fund and why? We have some
paid by the library general fund and some paid by departmental budgets.
Some departments want the library general fund to pick up the cost so
that it won't be counted as part of their annual allocation. In many cases,
they want obscure newspapers or ones that will only be used by their
faculty or students, so we wonder if the budget should reflect this fact.
In other cases, the newspapers seem to be of interest to a mixed
population.
2. In the budget allocation process, if you refer to a formula in an
attempt at equity, and faculty are counted in their home departments
rather than in the programs in which they might also teach, how can poor
little programs (usually interdisciplinary in nature) ever get ahead? We
factor in number of faculty (double weighted), enrollment, majors, and
cost of materials in the field in our formula. The programs always
suffer. It doesn't make sense to count faculty in both their home
departments AND in programs. Has anyone else dealt with this issue?
Thank you for any help you can provide.
Regards,
Mia
<*> Mia Brazill <*>
<*> Head of Acquisitions & Collection Dev.<*>
<*> Smith College Libraries <*>
<*> Northampton, MA 01063-0001 <*>
<*> phone: 413 585-2922; fax: 413 585-2904<*>
<*> email: mbrazill_at_sophia.smith.edu <*>
(1)========================================================================
From: "James Tobin" <RJT_at_gml.lib.uwm.edu>
[Re: 1--]The way to equity seems clear, as you state the case here. Assign
titles to the department unless the department can show convincingly that
the title has general interest. I would say that Le Monde is probably of
general interest.
[Re: 2--]If you must use a formula that includes faculty it seems to me
that the equitable way to apply it would be to establish a ratio of credits
taught in a program to credits taught in a department and apply a fraction
of a full time faculty position to each, accordingly. Or, if a course
carries credit both in a department and in an interdisciplinary program
then you may have to create a fictional total number of faculty greater
than the number of bodies--analogous to the way that FTE enrollment is
separated >from the head count of enrolled students at an institution like
mine, which has many part time students. In one case the head count is
greater, in the other case lower than the full-time equivalent number.
Complicated? Yes. My sympathies. (We don't use formulas.)
Jim Tobin
Collection Management Librarian
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
(2)========================================================================
From: Susan Mueller <mueller_at_selway.umt.edu>
[Re: 1]--Our newspapers all come from the general library fund.
[Re: 2]--Our formula is based on the number of degrees granted, number of
faculty in
the department, number of graduate student credit hours and the number of
overall student credit hours in that program or department. Each program
or department receives a base amount of $1,000. Also, we only run the
funds for monographs through the formula. The serials are based on the
historical distribution of serials in the 1970's, when this institution
went through a major serials cut. Since then there has not been any funds
for adding new serials, even for new programs, without dropping a journal
of the same cost. Our Collection Development committee is looking at this
problem. If you or anyone else has a method of handling these I would be
interested. >
Susan Mueller e-mail: mueller_at_selway.umt.edu
Director of Technical Services phone: 406-243-4558
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library fax: 406-243-2060
The University of Montana
Missoula, MT 59812
(3)========================================================================
From: Thomas Izbicki <izbicki_at_jhu.edu>
[Re: 1]--Many of our newspapers are charged to a special fund. It covers
domestic titles & some of the foreign titles. It also covers microforms
bought
from UMI for archival purposes. A few of the foreign papers, mostly from
Europe, are charged to subject funds. My biggest headache is the desire
of many, however few they are, to have their home-town papers. Thus I get
requests for papers from Australia to Philadephia via Hungary. I ask
the recommenders to come make a pitch to me if I cannot simply provide
internet access to the title(s). Otherwise the fund would take a worse
drubbing than it already does. Besides, some of our overseas
subscriptions are notoriously unreliable. Web access, where available,
simply is less trouble.
[Re: 2]--I avoid formulas & try to support the programs themselves as they
need support.
Tom Izbicki
Johns Hopkins
Received on Tue Jun 09 1998 - 09:58:27 EDT