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

84 The University of California Libraries
In the experience of other institutions that have used the particular
system being installed by the University, it can be operated without
increased costs, and even with some savings, but there are start-up
costs associated with purchase and installation of the equipment. The
exact costs vary from campus to campus because of the varying number
of terminals required and differences in the size of the files that
must be maintained, but the average installation cost is approximately
$200,000. Under the policy adopted in 1976, half of the start-up costs
are budgeted systemwide, and half by the campuses. For this purpose,
then, $300,000 should be budgeted in 1978/79, and $100,000 in 1979/80,
for purchase and installation of automated circulation systems on the
remaining campuses.
Loan Periods. The effect of loan periods on the availability of
library materials at the campus level must also be considered. Buckland
has noted that "for the individual borrower, a loan period is
desirable," but
for everybody else, this borrower's lengthy loan period is
inconvenient because there is always some probability that
someone else may want that particular book. The longer the
borrower retains it, the longer it is absent from the shelf
and the less chance anyone else has of finding it immediately
when they want it. For everyone, except the borrower,
a shorter loan period is more convenient. The fact that
every library user plays both the role of borrower and the
role of "everybody else" does not remove this conflict of
interest. 5
The problem is complicated, he notes further, by several factors:
1. "The level of demand varies enormously from book to book
or, to put it another way, the probability that a book will be sought
whilst it is out on loan varies greatly."
2. "Inducing the borrower to return a book soon is not the only
way of reducing the frustration of other would-be borrowers because
one can always provide another copy. Duplication is clearly on
acceptable alternative strategy."
5 Michael K. Buckland, Book Availability and the Library User,
Pergamon Press, 1975, pp. 55-56.