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Jeff Bailey, Interim Dean
Linda Creibaum, Acquisitions Librarian
Dean B. Ellis Library
Arkansas State University
November 2, 2011
Copyright Jeff Bailey and Linda Creibaum, 2011
Developing a Weighted Library
Allocation Formula
Ground Rules
• Questions are welcome at any time, but we do reserve the option of deferring a question until later in the workshop
• Interactive discussions are welcome
• We will do some brainstorming later• There are no bad ideas or wrong answers
• No critiquing of ideas or suggestions while brainstorming
• Ideas and suggestions will be grouped and sorted after brainstorming
• There will be a break about halfway through
Background and History
•In 1997 the Arkansas State University library had no equitable means of making allocations
•One department accounted for nearly 20% of all collection development expenditures
•Funds had not been reallocated/redistributed in many years
•We had no means to support new programs
Background and History - continued
•We searched literature to discover methods of making
allocations, including the use of a formula (this was
before much of this type of information was available
online)
•We chose to use a formula based on one used by
Colorado State University (SPEC Kit #36)
Getting Started
Now is the time to pay attention!
First Steps: Gathering Data (1)
Do these before selecting formula factors
•List data that may be relevant• Doing this is much like a brainstorming session
Some of Our Ideas
• Cost of materials
• Degrees awarded per department or program
• Faculty per department or program
• Number of course sections offered
• Number of courses in catalog
• Number of degree programs
• Number of majors in each program
• Semester credit hour production (actual enrollment)
• Use of materials
First Steps: Gathering Data (2)
•Evaluate and refine the list• Eliminate duplicates and non-viable suggestions
Some of Our Ideas - continued
•What we used
• Cost of materials (from the Library and Book Trade Almanac)
• Degrees awarded per department or program
• Faculty per department or program (FTE faculty)
• Number of course sections offered
• Number of courses in catalog
• Number of degree programs
• Number of majors in each program
• Semester credit hour production (actual enrollment)
• Use of materials
First Steps: Gathering Data (3)
•Determine what data is available or could be gathered• Both internal (within your library and within the field) and external
(campus, community, company, etc.)
• Eliminate possible factors for which data cannot be obtained
•Gather samples of available data
Next Step: Selecting Factors
These will not be easy decisions!
The Formula
•Weights
• The assigned weight values are inserted into the Excel
spreadsheet and are used in formula calculations
• Weighting is the assigning of values to indicate the
importance or impact of each factor in the formula relative to
the other formula factors
The Formula
•Assigning weights to each factor
• These should be determined based upon each institution’s
priorities and culture
• Library Committee
• Faculty Senate
• Institutional Administration
• Something else?
• We subdivided some factors before assigning weights
• We chose not to vary weights within a factor, but it can be
done
• Do test runs and adjust weights if needed
(by non-mathematicians)
How the Formula Works
Screen shot of a previous formula run
Running the Formula
•You can do separate formula runs for…
• Books
• Journals
• Online resources (databases/ejournals/eBooks)
• Any other budgets your library may have
• Or any combination of these
•We chose to run a single formula for all allocations
Additional thoughts…
•Before running the formula, determine how much of your
budget to allocate and how much to keep back for library
use (if any)
•You may choose to make adjustments to individual
allocations after running the formula• Do no harm
• Nonparticipation
• Special entities or sacred cows
•Your formula will probably need to be modified at some
point in the future
In Conclusion…
•Document, document, document!
•Make the decisions and modify the formula to fit your
library’s needs
•Feel free to contact either of us with any questions you
may think of later
To download an interactive copy of the demo spreadsheet
http://www.library.astate.edu/charleston
Contact Information
Jeff BaileyInterim Dean
Dean B. Ellis Library
Arkansas State University Jonesboro
P.O. Box 2040
State University, AR 72467
870-972-2724
Linda CreibaumAcquisitions Librarian
Dean B. Ellis Library
Arkansas State University Jonesboro
P.O. Box 2040
State University, AR 72467
870-972-3354
Thank you!!!
