Financing Information Services: Problems, Changing Approaches, and New Opportunities for Academic and Research Libraries (New Directions in Information Management)

Will American academic and research libraries be able to cope with the current technological, economic, and organizational issues that are bringing about rapid changes in information services or must fundamental changes first take place within these libraries? The twelve essays collected by Spyers-Duran and Mann attempt to answer this question. Section I: Problems, contains essays on the precarious financial environment of today's academic institutions; the erosion of funding levels in British university libraries; and realistic suggestions for financial planning in academic libraries. Section II: Changing Approaches, offers discussions on the importance of sharing scholarly resources; the discrepancy between library budgets and services offered; the growing role of the library in the information industry; a review of funding formulas in the academic library; and the changing needs, sources, and styles of financial planning. The final section of the book explores new opportunities for academic and research libraries, and includes information on current library automation; information-sharing among member libraries; external contracting for library services; and grantsmanship.

German-born novelist, essayist, and philosopher Thomas Mann (1875-1955) won the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature principally for his novel Buddenbrooks, which is recognized as one of the classic works of contemporary literature. Other of his novels include Death in Venice and The Magic Mountain.