Jeff Bailey, Interim DeanLinda 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• Print• 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

jbailey@astate.edu

Linda CreibaumAcquisitions Librarian

Dean B. Ellis Library

Arkansas State University Jonesboro

P.O. Box 2040

State University, AR 72467

870-972-3354

lcreibaum@astate.edu

Thank you!!!