Comparing Public Library Systems

The operations of 31 large public library systems across the country are compared using information from the author' s interview survey. Operations are compared in physical terms: hours of service, materials, locations, and staffing. Differences in operations are found to be associated with differences in labor costs, local fiscal circumstances, and demographics. The libraries seem to reduce hours in the face of higher labor costs. Differences in the use of the libraries are found to be associated with differences in library services and demographics. The number of materials acquired per capita has a strong impact on library use.

Public Libraries and Labor Markets

Differences in labor compensation across 31 large public library systems are examined based on the author's interview survey. Salaries for recruit clerical workers, recruit librarians, and librarians with five years' experience are compared along with hours of work per week and fringe benefits. Cost of living differences in metropolitan areas and collective bargaining are found to be strongly associated with differences in labor compensation. The collective bargaining differential for experienced librarians seems to be about13.5 percent.

Open Scholarship and Research Universities

Compare the cost per article for publication in commercial journals, not-profit journals, and open-access journals. For universities that support open-archives and open-access journal management software as part of standard university infrastructure, the financial cost of hosting an additional journal is quite low. Scholars who commit to editing and promoting a journal need to focus primarily on the intellectual tasks with little concern for finances

Open-Access Scholarly Publishing in Economic Perspective

What is the prospect for migrating scholarly journals from paper to digital formats in a way that lowers university expenditures? Although many journals are published digitally, at least so far, the digital format complements paper, increasing university expenditures. Open-access publications that are free to readers and financed by publication fees paid by authors and their agents may both lower costs and allow scholarship to reach a larger audience. However, gains to universities may depend on open-access being qualityassured and controlled by not-for-profit publishers. Potential savings for a typical US research library might be on the order of $2.3 million per year even as the same level of effort goes to reviewing and editing published articles as at present. To launch the initiative, provosts might adopt policies to support publication fees and not-for-profit publishers might invest in start up funds for editing and marketing open-access journals.Department of Ecomomics, Vanderbuilt Universit