THE CHANGING PRINT RESOURCE BASE OF ACADEMIC-LIBRARIES IN THE UNITED-STATES

Changing economic factors in the 1980s caused a reduction in the numbe r of monographic printed materials acquired by academic research libra ries in the United States. This study employed descriptive methodology to analyze changes in collecting patterns between 1985 and 1989 in th e aggregated resources base of seventy-two Association of Research Lib raries (ARL) libraries. Data for the study were extracted from the 199 1 edition of the OCLC/AMIGOS Collection Analysis CD (CACD) system, whi ch contains a database of nonserial imprints for the ten-year period 1 979-1989. The study establishes that the rate of acquisitions for new imprints in the collective resources base declined 27.76 percent from 1985 to 1989. Further findings were a steep decline in foreign languag e acquisitions, a decrease in the percentage of unique titles in many subject areas, and an increased concentration on core materials. These findings point to less diversity and more homogeneity in the collecti ve resources base of the seventy-two ARL libraries, which could indica te the unavailability of research materials for resource sharing in th e future.