Acquisitions Formula

How does the Library pay for books, journals, videos, and other library materials?

The Library pays for books, journals, videos, and other library materials using three sources of acquisitions funding:

• operating funds
• earnings from endowments (created by gifts)
• gifts and grants

Of these, the operating funds are by far the most important, accounting for over 90% of library acquisitions expenditures.

Acquisitions funding from endowments, gifts, and grants comes designated for a specific area. Approximately 70% of the operating funding is allocated according to the objective acquisitions formula outlined below, with the remainder going to interdisciplinary and library areas to acquire materials. Interdisciplinary areas include African-American, Area, and Women's Studies as these are sufficiently broad in subject coverage as to defy specification in the LC Classification System. Library allocations cover reference materials and databases, general books and journals, maps, children's literature, and microfilm copies of journals (in lieu of binding). Overall, more than 75% of the budget is allocated to support specific academic programs. The Libraries also receive gifts designated for acquisitions but not for a specific area.

The Acquisitions Formula

Elements of the Formula

The formula is divided to account for the amount (supply) of materials in a field and the usage (demand) of those materials; each accounts for 50% of the formula. Usage is further divided between potential demand (as represented by student enrollments and faculty) and manifest demand (as represented by use within and outside the Libraries [circulation] and by interlibrary borrowing).

• Supply = 50% (cost of all materials in a subject areas)
• Demand =50% (actual usage and potential usage)
  • 20% Materials used (circulation, in-house, and electronic use)
  • 5% Interlibrary loan borrowing
  • 20% Enrollment (weighted student credit hours)
  • 5% Number of Faculty

How are the specific formula elements defined?

A fundamental tool in allocating data is the Library of Congress Classification System (the “call numbers” ranging A-Z used to shelve similar materials together in most major academic libraries). This is used for supply (or cost) and materials used. Specific call number ranges are analyzed according to subject content and credited to specific departments. As the subject matter covered by disciplines changes over time and the subject matter does not neatly divide according to the Library of Congress (LC) Classification System, more than one discipline may share a subject area—with percentages determined by the discipline’s interest in the classification area as reflected by purchasing of materials within that range.

Supply/Cost (50%)

This reflects, as comprehensively as possible, the entire universe of information in a discipline's area, including the cost of subscribing to ALL journals and purchasing all books and other resources (video, CD-ROM, online resources, etc.). Cost data are obtained from objective sources (such as jobber and subscription agent lists). Given the publishing explosion, no library in the world can afford to collect everything published in whatever format. The cost factor is weighted by the Ohio University program level. Ph.D. programs need access to a greater part of the universe of knowledge than B.A. programs. The weighting factors are 75% for Ph.D programs, 55% for master's, and 35% for bachelor's.

Demand (50%)

Materials Used 25%

• Circulation and In-House
  This is derived from actual materials circulated through the library system and from materials used within the libraries and reading rooms (based on periodic sampling). These materials are counted according to LC Classification divisions. Use within OhioLINK (borrowing and lending) is included due to system capabilities.
• Interlibrary loan borrowing (5%)
  This includes all requests through the Interlibrary Loan Department and is determined by the disciplinary affiliation of the faculty or student borrower.
• Electronic Usage
  Usage statistics from e-journal collections, databases, e-books, and other electronic resources are obtained from their publishers and OhioLink and divided by LC Classification where possible.

Enrollment (20%)
This is based on modified Weighted Student Credit Hours for courses taught by a school or department. The modification is to weight all courses at a given level equally, e.g., all "100" level courses have a weight of 1, all "300" level courses have a weight of 3, and all "800" level courses have a weight of 8. This data are generated by the Office of Institutional Research and weighting is added by the joint formula committee.

Number of Faculty (5%)
This is taken from the data reported for schools, departments, and colleges in A Compendium of Historical Planning Information for Credit Generating Departments, produced by the University's Office of Institutional Research annually.

Questions about the Acquisitions Formula? Contact the Assistant Dean for Collection Development, Jan Maxwell (maxwelj2@ohio.edu).