Willis, 'On the Frequency Distribution of Recent Time and Cost Studies of Some Key Library Processes', LIBRES v2n10 (October Some, 1992) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/libres/libres-v2n10-willis-on.txt LIBRES 2.10 Feature Article [Volume 2, Number 10 (October 1992)] 1. On the Frequency Distribution of Recent Time and Cost Studies of Some Key Library Processes. (361 lines) by Alfred Willis ********************************************************************** COPYRIGHT to this article is the property of Alfred Willis On the Frequency Distribution of Recent Time and Cost Studies of Some Key Library Processes Alfred Willis Architecture Library Kent State University I. Technical Services, an Unexpected Underdog? Whereas a century ago libraries may have been managed by "librarians" so described in the simplest of terms, the growth of these institutions into the complex organizations that many of them have by now become has entailed the definition of numerous professional sub-categories: "reference librarians," "cataloging librarians," "acquisitions librarians," "administrative librarians," etc. It is not quite clear whether this trend toward increasing specialization will continue indefinitely into the future. But what is clear is that many librarians -- especially technical services librarians -- perceive the trend to have resulted already in a polarization of professional activities into "public services" (chiefly reference-related) and "technical services" spheres. Moreover, "technical services" seem to be perceived as the sphere of decidedly lesser prestige or even usefulness, and the one more subject to administrative budget-cutting initiatives which may or may not be grounded in rational schemes for the optimization of library processes (Ref. 1). There can be little doubt that technical services units in general, and cataloging units in particular, are widely regarded as cost centers ripe for reduction. This notion seems to underpin not only such recent proposals as reductions of subject analysis, shortcuts in description, and elimination of authority work in order to generate transferable surpluses in cataloging-unit budgets by reducing their operating expenditures, but also moves to substitute for positions in cataloging departments new positions elsewhere in a library organization or to "cross-train" catalogers to function as part-time reference workers. It has become pervasive enough in library culture to attract the attention of public-services librarians, who are now seeing how time-and-motion cost-cutting initiatives in cataloging units can extend well beyond the laudable goal of improving a library's cost/benefit ratio to a point where cataloging cuts actually result in a dramatic loss of any potential benefit to library users. Thomas Mann, a reference librarian at the Library of Congress and an unusually articulate discussant of this notion, has pointed out in a recent position paper numerous ways in which the declines in cataloging quality that stem from misguided or overzealous efforts to reduce cataloging costs cannot but have detrimental effects on the quality of reference services available in his and other libraries. He points out, for example, that such strategies as "minimal-level cataloging" and "speed cataloging" inevitably result in the creation of records difficult or impossible to retrieve by logical searches on traditional descriptive and subject headings, or even by probabilistic searches by keywords (Ref. 2). The notion driving such cataloging reductions as Mann critiques -- that cataloging units are essentially cost centers -- runs quite counter, of course, to consensus in the literature on managing library processes. In this literature, cataloging units are squarely identified not as cost centers but as loci of value-adding activities (Ref. 3). Although cataloging processes can certainly be optimized, cataloging costs cannot be effectively reduced at any cost. This is because any proposed reduction entails a cost as surely as any strategy of optimization entails a benefit. This cost is realized in a reduction in value of the cataloging product (i.e., diminished retrievability of records and hence of the documents for which the records stand), and library patrons inevitably pay the price of this cost in ineffectual searches for library materials. Yet this inevitable result of cost-cutting in cataloging units runs exactly counter to current librarianship's objective of assuring patrons' access to materials whether or not owned by a local library. Clearly, the source of the notion of cataloging units as major cost centers inherently subject to drastic cost- cutting measures can hardly be found in any rational theory of library management. Identifying the source of the notion of cataloging and other technical-services units as cost centers thus presents a puzzle. II. A Possible Solution to the Puzzle? A simple analysis of the recent literature in library science suggests that the parameters of that literature itself as a possible source. Perhaps it lies in an over-representation of studies of cataloging and other technical- services costs relative to those of public- services costs. In order to investigate this possibility, the cumulative volumes of Library Literature from 1980 to 1991 (inclusive) were examined to discover studies of the costs assignable to these and other library processes. The original working hypothesis was that more citations would be found to studies of the costs of cataloging than to studies of the costs of reference services. This hypothesis was confirmed, as inspection of the following table shows. (The first column gives the volume year of Library Literature; the second column gives the number of citations found under the heading, "Cataloging--Time and Cost Studies"; and the third column gives the number of citations found under the heading, "Reference Services--Time and Cost Studies.") YEAR Cat Ref 1980 2 1 1981 3 1 1982 0 2 1983 4 1 1984 3 2 1985 0 1 1986 1 0 1987 1 0 1988 5 0 1989 2 1 1990 1 0 1991 6 2 ___ ___ TOTAL 28 11 In only two years out of the past twelve did the number of cited studies of reference- services costs exceed that of cited studies of cataloging costs. Cumulatively, there were more than twice as many cited studies of cataloging costs as cited sudies of reference- services costs. (It is of incidental interest that, of the total of eleven cited studies dealing with the costs or cost-effectiveness of reference work, four dealt specifically with online searching (a highly technical function) and only seven with more general aspects of such work.) Using Student's t-statistic, this difference can be shown to be significant at the 99% confidence level (n = 39; t = 2.4951, > f-table look-up = 2.423). It is extremely unlikely that the distribution found can be due to mere chance. III. Context as an Important Qualifier In order to put this conclusion into its proper perspective, further counts were made of citations in the same volume years of Library Literature. The following table reports the number of cited studies found under these headings: "Acquisitions--Time and Cost Studies"; "Administration--Time and Cost Studies"; "Interlibrary Loans--Time and Cost Studies"; and "Information [Storage and Retrieval] Systems--Time and Cost Studies." YEAR Acq Adm ILL Sys 1980 3 0 2 3 1981 3 0 5 3 1982 2 0 3 6 1983 0 0 5 6 1984 4 1 2 4 1985 0 1 1 4 1986 0 0 3 4 1987 0 1 4 3 1988 0 0 2 2 1989 1 0 2 2 1990 1 0 5 3 1991 7 0 4 1 ___ ___ ___ ___ TOTAL 18 2 38 41 The sketch histogram below clearly delineates the pattern of emphasis placed by the library-science research literature of the past twelve years on identifying the costs and/or cost-effectiveness of six of the most important contemporary library processes. * 40 * * * * * 30 * * * * * * * * 20 * * * * * * * * * * * * 10 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 0 * * * * * * Sys ILL Cat Acq Ref Onl Adm | | | | \ / | 29.7% 27.5% 20.3% 13.0% 8.0% 1.4% Explanation of the histogram: Systems 41 citations ILL 38 citations Cataloging 28 citations Acquisitions 18 citations Reference (general) 7 \_ 11 citations Reference (online) 4 / Administration 2 citations The recent literature of librarianship thus reflects a strong interest in the costs associated with systems, interlibrary loans, and cataloging; a moderate interest in the costs associated with acquisitions and reference work; and very little interests in the costs of library administration. Considering studies of all six of these topics as a context, the difference of proportion found in the literature between studies of cataloging costs and studies of reference-services costs shrinks in significance. Other topics have commanded both more and less attention recently than have cataloging and reference-services costs. Pairwise tests of proportions reveal only three significant differences in the relative representation of the six topics in the sample -- and these were differences significant only at the 90% confidence level! Interlibrary loan costs were significantly more frequently studied than reference-services costs; systems costs were also significantly more frequently reported than reference-services costs; and systems costs were significantly more frequently studied than acquisitions costs. These differences may be partially -- even largely -- explained by the greater ease (especially in automated environments) of gathering cost-related data on systems, interlibary loans, cataloging, and acquisitions as opposed to reference and administration. But it might also reflect variations in the degree of willingness of librarians as library- scientists to study, and publicize their findings about, the costs of these six processes. IV. The Solution Revisited and a New Dilemma In any event, it is clear that a search of the recent library literature for ideas on where or how to cut a library's operational costs involves a rather higher probability of finding articles on, say, cataloging costs than of finding articles on reference costs. This probability will be higher not only when the recent library literature is considered as a whole but almost always as well when any one year's worth of that literature is considered individually. Now, it is easy to imagine how repeatedly finding more information on the costs of cataloging than on the costs of so visible an activity as reference services could lead an administrator, albeit subconsciously, to this inadvertent conclusion: that cataloging units are not the loci of value-adding processes that they are actually known to be but rather the cost centers that they are statistically depicted as being by the library literature. In life occasionally as often in art, appearance can triumph over substance and fool the eye of even the sharpest observer. If correcting the perception of cataloging units as cost centers does depend on changing the portrayal of cataloging in the literature (i.e., on changing the relative proportion of published library cost studies on cataloging to cost studies focused on reference or administrative activities), this goal might be more readily accomplished by reporting _less_ research on the costs of cataloging than by encouraging the reporting of _more_ research on the costs of other library processes. Meanwhile, instead of focusing on the costs of cataloging, library scientists interested in cataloging might serve their own interests better by addressing not the costs of that activity but rather the costs of reference services -- or, as Mann has begun doing from the perspective of a reference provider, the costs _to_ public services of any proposed reductions of cataloging costs that a superficial apprehension of their earlier studies may have inspired. Such research would put studies of cataloging and other technical- services costs into a more accurate perspective while at the same time shifting the current discussion on reference services from issues of absolute effectiveness to issues of effectiveness relative to efficiency. Ref. 1. Eskoz, Patricia A. "Librarians of a Lesser God: Conversations with Technical Services Administrators." _Technicalities_ 9 (September 1989): 14-17. Ref. 2. Mann, Thomas. _Cataloging Quality, LC Priorities, and Models of the Library's Future_. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1991. Ref. 3 Taylor, Robert S. _Value-added Processes in Information Systems_. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1986. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 16:30:44 EDT Reply-To: "'Library and Information Science Research Electronic Conference'" Sender: "'Library and Information Science Research Electronic Conference'" From: EDITORS@KENTVM.BITNET Subject: LIBRES 2.10 Announcements LIBRES 2.10 Announcements Table of Contents 1. ACH/ALLC Call for Papers (170 lines) 2. Prof. Bruce Croft on "Putting Information Retrieval to the Test" (259 lines) ======================================================================= From: NEUMAN@GUVAX.BITNET Subject: ACH/ALLC Call for Papers ...................................................................... Dear Colleagues, November 1st, the deadline for submitting proposals for ACH-ALLC93, is fast approaching. We welcome your inquiries and your submissions. For more details, see the call for papers below. Regards, Michael Neuman Georgetown University for ACH-ALLC93 ......................................................................... ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTERS AND THE HUMANITIES ASSOCIATION FOR LITERARY AND LINGUISTIC COMPUTING 1993 JOINT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ACH-ALLC93 JUNE 16-19, 1993 GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON, D.C. CALL FOR PAPERS This conference is the major forum for literary, linguistic and humanities computing. It is concerned with the development of new computing methodologies for research and teaching in the humanities, the development of significant new networked-based and computer-based resources for humanities research, and the application and evaluation of computing techniques in humanities subjects. TOPICS: We welcome submissions on topics such as text encoding; statistical methods for text analysis; hypertext; text corpora; computational lexicography; morphological, syntactic, semantic and other forms of text analysis; also, computer applications in history, philosophy, music and other humanities disciplines. For the 1993 conference, ACH and ALLC extend a special invitation to members of the library community to contribute to the conference on the topics of creating and cataloguing network-based resources in the humanities, developing and integrating databases of texts and images of works central to the humanities, and refining retrieval techniques for humanities databases. LOCATION: Georgetown, an historic residential district along the Potomac River, is a six-mile ride by taxi from Washington National Airport. International flights arrive at Dulles Airport, which offers regular bus service to the Nation's Capital. REQUIREMENTS: Proposals should describe substantial and original work. Proposals describing the development of new computing methodologies should make clear how these methodologies are applied to research and/or teaching in the humanities. Those concerned with a particular application (e.g., a study of the style of an author) should cite previous approaches to the problem and should include some critical assessment of the computing methodologies used. All proposals should include references to important sources. ABSTRACT LENGTH: Abstracts of 1500-2000 words in length should be submitted for presentations of thirty minutes including questions. SESSION PROPOSALS: Proposals for sessions (90 minutes) are also invited. These should take the form of either: (a) Three papers. The session organizer should submit a 500-word statement describing the session topic, include abstracts of 1000-1500 words for each paper, and indicate that each author is willing to participate in the session. (b) A panel of up to 6 speakers. The panel organizer should submit an abstract of 1500-2000 words describing the panel topic, how it will be organized, the names of all the speakers, and an indication that each speaker is willing to participate in the session. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: November 1, 1992 NOTIFICATION OF ACCEPTANCE: February 1, 1993 FORMAT FOR SUBMISSIONS: Electronic submissions are strongly encouraged, and should follow strictly the format given below. Submissions that do not conform to this format will be returned to the authors for reformatting, or may not be considered if they arrive near the deadline. All submissions should include a header in the following format: TITLE: title of paper AUTHOR(S): names of authors AFFILIATION: affiliations of author(s) CONTACT ADDRESS: full postal address of main author (for contact) E-MAIL: electronic mail address of main author followed by other authors (if any) FAX NUMBER: fax for main author PHONE NUMBER: phone for main author ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS: Please submit plain ASCII text files. Files that include formatting by a wordprocessor, TAB characters, and soft hyphens are not acceptable. Paragraphs should be separated by blank lines. Headings and subheadings should be on separate lines and be numbered. References (up to six) and notes should appear at the end of the abstract. Where necessary, a simple markup scheme for accents and other characters that cannot be transmitted by electronic mail should be used; provide an explanation of the markup scheme after the title information. If diagrams are necessary for the evaluation of an electronic submission, they should be faxed to 1-202-687-6003 (after dialing one's international access code) or 202-687-6003 (from within the US), and a note to indicate the presence of diagrams should be inserted at the beginning of the abstract. Address for electronic submissions: Neuman@GUVAX.Georgetown.edu (include a subject line " Submission for ACH-ALLC93"). PAPER SUBMISSIONS: Submissions should be typed or printed on one side of the paper only, with ample margins. Six copies should be sent to ACH-ALLC93 (Paper submission) Dr. Michael Neuman Academic Computer Center 238 Reiss Science Building Georgetown University Washington, D.C. 20057 PUBLICATION: A selection of papers presented at the conference will be published in the series Research in Humanities Computing edited by Susan Hockey and Nancy Ide, published by Oxford University Press. INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM COMMITTEE Chair: Marianne Gaunt, Rutgers University (ACH) Thomas Corns, University of Wales, Bangor (ALLC) Paul Fortier, University of Manitoba (ACH) Jacqueline Hamesse, Universite Catholique Louvain-la-Neuve (ALLC) Susan Hockey, Rutgers and Princeton Universities (ALLC) Nancy Ide, Vassar College (ACH) Randall Jones, Brigham Young University (ACH) Michael Neuman, Georgetown University (ACH) (Local organizer) Antonio Zampolli, University of Pisa (ALLC) INQUIRIES Please address all inquiries to: ACH-ALLC93 Dr. Michael Neuman, Local Organizer Academic Computer Center 238 Reiss Science Building Georgetown University Washington, D.C. 20057 Phone: 202-687-6096 FAX: 202-687-6003 Bitnet: Neuman@Guvax Internet: Neuman@Guvax.Georgetown.edu Please include your name, full mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address with any inquiry. ====================================================================== 2. From: january@donner.cc.bellcore.com (Amy Wang @ Bellcore) Subject: Prof. Bruce Croft on "Putting Information Retrieval to the Test" NJ/ASIS Distinguished Lectureship W. Bruce Croft October 14, 1992 The New Jersey Chapter of the American Society for Information Science proudly announces Professor W. Bruce Croft of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst as the recipient of its eighth annual Distinguished Lectureship award. New Jersey established this award in 1985 to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of information science. You are cordially invited to attend the events surrounding the presentation of this award. COLLOQUIUM: W. Bruce Croft, "Current Research at the University of Massachusetts Information Retrieval Laboratory." He will present and discuss recent results from IR research including the use of phrases in retrieval, automatic thesaurus construction, the inference net retrieval model, and integration with database systems. Rutgers University Student Center Colloquium: 2:30 - 4:00 Multipurpose Room with an informal reception 126 College Avenue immediately following at New Brunswick, NJ 08903 SCILS, 3rd Floor Faculty Lounge. Please park in Lot 26 or 30 behind the Student Center or the deck on College Avenue. No parking permit is necessary; simply write ASIS on a piece of paper and leave on windshield. RECEPTION AND DINNER: Somerset Marriott 110 Davidson Avenue Somerset, NJ 08873 Reception 5:30 PM; Dinner 6:30 PM; Speaker 7:30 PM. PROGRAM: NJ/ASIS Distinguished Lectureship Award W. Bruce Croft, "Putting Information Retrieval to the Test: Experiences from the TIPSTER Project." This talk will focus on the DARPA-funded TIPSTER project in which IR techniques are evaluated using large, full-text databases in English and Japanese. The early experiences from this project will be discussed, along with the potential impact of this work on the development of commercial systems. I plan to attend the following events of the NJ/ASIS Distinguished Lectureship: ___ COLLOQUIUM ___ DINNER/PROGRAM COST _____ Chicken Piccata ___ $30.00 Nonmembers _____ Fillet of Sole, Stuffed with ___ $25.00 Members Crabmeat ___ $15.00 Students, retirees, _____ Vegetarian Lasagna unemployed NAME: ____________________________________________ AFFILIATION: ___________ COMPANY: _________________________________________ TELEPHONE: _____________ Return this portion with your check payable to NJ/ASIS no later than October 9, 1992 to: Judith Roff Ciba-Geigy 556 Morris Avenue, SIC 134 Summit, NJ 07980 (908) 277-5404 Please note: Payment is expected in advance. No refunds without 72 hours notice. ======================================================================== 75 Received: from KENTVM.BITNET by KENTVM.BITNET (Mailer R2.08) with BSMTP id 0811; Tue, 22 Sep 92 17:40:19 EDT Received: from UVVM.UVic.CA by KENTVM.BITNET (Mailer R2.08) with BSMTP id 0801; Tue, 22 Sep 92 17:38:44 EDT Received: from UVVM.UVic.CA (JCOWARD) by UVVM.UVic.CA (Mailer R2.08 R208004) with BSMTP id 3190; Tue, 22 Sep 92 14:37:10 PDT Date: Tue, 22 Sep 92 14:36:48 PDT From: JCOWARD@UVVM.UVic.CA Subject: REGISTER NOW FOR ITCH'92 To: HUCFF-L@BRLNCC, LIBRES@KENTVM, MEDLIB-L@UBVM, MEDSTU-L@ASUACAD VICTORIA, CANADA - OCTOBER 18 TO 21, 1992 This conference is of MAJOR INTEREST to many physicians, nurses, academics, and managers, in health care and information systems. REGISTRATION FORMS AND PROGRAMS ARE READY! Many people are already registered! UPDATES ! PLEASE REGISTER SOON.... * The Pre-Conference Workshop, "COMPUTER NETWORKING FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH", will be given by the University of Victoria's, School of Health Information Science. Some Spaces Still Open. * 60-70 Papers will be given by participants from across Canada and the U.S.A., also from; England, China, Fiji, Wales, Germany, Netherlands, New Caledonia, and other countries. The themes of ITCH'92 include; CONSUMER EMPOWERMENT - TELE-PARTNERSHIPS - SYNERGISTIC LINKAGES * DR. RUTH LUBIC from New York City, a University of Victoria Lansdowne Lecturer, will open the conference with "Family Empowerment Through Shared Responsibility for Information Collection". * Students are participating in a STUDENT PAPER AND POSTER CONTEST; sponsored by: METRO-MCNAIR CLINICAL LABORATORIES of Vancouver, Canada. * DR. MAX HOUSE, of the Centre for Offshore and Remote Medicine, will discuss "Distance Health Systems - Collaboration Brings Success". * DR. HAROLD GOLDBERG will join us from the University of Washington in Seattle to discuss "Firm System Research Using Ongoing Randomization". * CONFERENCE REVIEW:FINAL PLENARY SESSION Dr. Ken Thornton, Professor at the University of Victoria, Patricia M. Coward, RN,MN, Acting Vice- President of Patient Care at the Greater Victoria Hospital Society and Dr. Max House, will lead a comprehensive review of the contents and effectiveness of the Conference. * EXHIBITORS & SPONSORS: B.C.Systems Corporation, Metro-McNair Clinical Laboratories, B.C. Telephone Company, B.C.Ministry of Health, School of Health Information Science, Thornton & Associates, University of Victoria, Canadian Public Health Association, UVic Lansdowne Lecturers, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Clinicare Corporation, MedCal(COSTAR) Ltd., Shoreline Technology Ltd., etc. (Contact Jim Coward for Exhibitor & Vendor Information (604) 598-3681) DON'T MISS THIS ONE ! Larry Scott, Chair ITCH'92 PHONE (604)721-8577 University of Victoria. po box 3050 VICTORIA BC V8W 3N6 E-MAIL: LSCOTT@UVVM.UVIC.CA ITCH'92 - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN COMMUNITY HEALTH ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 16:31:37 EDT Reply-To: "'Library and Information Science Research Electronic Conference'" Sender: "'Library and Information Science Research Electronic Conference'" From: EDITORS@KENTVM.BITNET Subject: LIBRES Call for Articles/Reports/Drafts etc. Dear LIBRES Subscribers, Please submit articles for our Nov., Dec. and Jan. issues. You will retain copyright and will be able to re-publish elsewhere. We especially need articles by reference librarians to give some balance to the discussions this Fall. Also, anyone interested in becoming a LIBRES editor please contact me for details at dkovacs@kentvm.kent.edu You will be more qualified if you have an Internet accessible account. Regards, Diane K. Kovacs, Editor-in-Chief ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 16:42:24 EDT Reply-To: "'Library and Information Science Research Electronic Conference'" Sender: "'Library and Information Science Research Electronic Conference'" From: EDITORS@KENTVM.BITNET Subject: LIBRES 2.10 Notes & Queries LIBRES 2.10 Notes & Queries Table of Contents 1. Text encoding and text analysis. (17 lines) ====================================================================== 1. Subject: Information request. I am researching on text encoding and text analysis. I will welcome Bibliographic information or other helps related with this subjects. thanks F Zeidan. e-mail: tucusito@kokuki.kuaero.kyoto-u.ac.jp Kyoto University. Japan.