College and Research Libraries


not yet developed to a point where they can 
replace the older methods.-Ralph H. Park-
er, University of Missouri. 

Cost of Library Services 

The Cost of Providing Library Services to 
Groups in the Purdue University Com-
munity-1961. By Gerald L. Quatman. La-
fayette, Ind.: Purdue University Library, 
1962. 58l. Apply. 

The purpose of the Purdue study was to 
determine the average cost of providing li-
brary services and facilities to members of 
the university engaged in research supported 
by organizations outside the university. This 
clientele works primarily in the science field, 
uses more current materials, and needs the 
material more quickly than others. 

The author was a graduate research assist-
ant at Purdue who worked with Purdue li-
brarians and with a representative from the 
university's business office. The duration of 
the study was from February 1961-January 
1962, a period of one year. Twenty survey 
days were selected. Entire days were used for 
a sample of usage. The days were selected to 
represent as equitably as possible other days 
with similar characteristics. 

The information in this study will pro-
vide a basis for including library cost esti-
mates in government and industrial research 
contract budgets, the purpose for which the 
study was made. But, in addition, it will 
provide librarians with a greatly needed 
study of true library costs. To know that the 
library cost to serve undergraduates is $44.22 
per year, that the graduate cost is 2.8 times 
as great as that to undergraduates, and that 
faculty cost is 2.267 times as great, would be 
invaluable information to the library admin-
istrator. These ratios reflect the fact that 
faculty members and graduate students use 
more costly library services than undergradu-
ate students. 

The process used by Quatman in arriving 
at his cost figures is well worth studying. It 
can be used as a guideline for future cost 
studies in libraries. These studies are greatly 
needed. The study was conducted in five 
steps: 

1. The actual use of twenty library services 
was measured. 

2. The costs of the services were computed. 
3. The costs of the services were allocated 

to the using groups on the basis of per-
centage of use. 

4. The total costs chargeable were divided 
by the number of persons. 

5. The ratios of graduate student to under-
graduate student library costs and facul-
ty member to undergraduate student 
library costs were computed. 

The tables are numerous, and the presen-
tation is lucid. Table VIII shows the average 
percentage of time spent on various library 
services and table IX, the percentage of ref-
erence time spent on each type of question; 
table XII, which shows the distribution of 
the cost of library services, is exceedingly 
helpful to busy administrators. Quatman's 
study of space expenditures is perhaps the 
most original section of the study. 

It is hoped that this study will stimulate 
other cost analyses in the library profession; 
all administrators need them constantly.-
Lorena Garloch, University of Pittsburgh. 

Cataloging 

Sample Catalog Cards, Illustrating Solutions 
to Problems in Descriptive Cataloging. By 
Robert B. Slocum. New York: The Scare-
crow Press, 1962. 190p. $4.50. 

Cataloging Made Easy. By A. Stan Rescoe. 
New York: The Scarecrow Press, 1962. 
210p. $5. 

The cataloger is always seeking help with 
the idiosyncrasies encountered in original 
cataloging. Here are two books which prom-
ise help. As Mr. Slocum points out in his 
preface, there are printed codes available for 
describing works with peculiar and unusual 
characteristics, but they often leave that 
element of vagueness that produced uncer-
tainty in the first instance. Sample Catalog 
Cards provides, under appropriate headings, 
examples of what has been done on Library 
of Congress printed cards. Cataloging Made 
Easy summarizes rules and provides ex-
amples. Both will be useful to catalogers. 

170 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES