The University of California Libraries: A Plan for Development (1977)

44 The University of California Libraries
The most frequently cited villians--inefficiency and mismanagement--need
have nothing to do with the problem...
Similar cost trends have been documented in other inflexible
labor-content portions of the economy [and]
continue through all sorts of economic circumstances.
The problem, they conclude, is simply "a direct consequence of the
association between the amount of human effort employed and the range
of library services that can be offered," and is "very much a matter
of the technology of library operations which, so long as one adheres
to traditional modes of library operation," are "largely beyond the
librarian's control." 20
Clearly then, it is time for a new approach to library operations,
and just as clearly it will be best if the impetus for the new
approach comes from within. "Failure of research libraries to take
the initiative in making change," Rosenthal points out, "will result
in either forced and not necessarily wise change or a subtle erosion
of library capabilities. Neither course is acceptable." 21
The new approach must also be financially realistic; it must be
tailored to the significant characteristics of users and information;
and it must be systematic.
The system proposed is outlined in the following chapters.
20 William J. Baumol and Matityahu Marcus, Economics of Academic Libraries,
American Council on Education, 1973, pp. 56, 76-77. Italics supplied.
21 Rosenthal, p. 18.