MONOGRAPHS ACQUISITIONS - STAFFING COSTS AND THE IMPACT OF AUTOMATION

In this article, the authors examine the staff costs involved in monog raph purchases by Iowa State University (ISU) Technical Services and e xplore the impact of automation on these costs between 1990 and 1995. They demonstrate that acquiring a monograph is now comparatively expen sive relative to the costs of cataloging. They describe the impact of staff overhead costs on product or service costs and highlight the imp act of professional responsibilities on costs. The authors further dem onstrate that the automation of monographs acquisitions, in, the main, has really only mechanized former manual processes and has done littl e to change the fundamental principles underlying the work or provide opportunities for innovation. Lastly, although cost data for collectio n development has not been documented the authors explore the relation ships between collection development and automated acquisitions, relat ionships that influence costs.