College and Research Libraries Circulation Service Desk Operations: Costing and Management Data Pat Weaver-Meyers, Duncan Aldrich, and Robert A. Seal The University of Oklahoma Libraries' Department of Access Services conducted a cost study of circulation service-desk operations. Service-desk tasks were flowcharted to identify impor- tant components. Work sampling observations were used to determine the percentage of staff time occupied in particular tasks. Observations were made at random by uninvolved observers. Using the percentages obtained, pay rates, indirect costs, and overhead, total costs were com- puted on a task-by-task basis. Also, several tabulations of the same data were used to identify idle time and peak-use periods. This information then served as a basis for reorganization of work assignments and revision of staff scheduling. Improved efficiency and service, without any staffing increase, were the result. n academic library public ser- vice desk is typically the scene of a variety of activities involv- ing both patron interaction and processing. Whether circulation, refer- ence, or some other function, these ser- vice points must be staffed at all times the library is open. The cost of each activity and the amount'of time spent on each are of interest since such analyses can provide managers with information for planning and change, with an ultimate goal of im- proving service and the efficiency of oper- ations. The circulation department, with a high degree of routine, repetitive work, and a variety of tasks, is ideally suited to work sampling analyses. The present study attempts to determine the cost of operating the main library circulation desk at the University of Oklahoma, focusing in particular on determining the costs of each major task and the proportion of time spent on each by various levels of staff. This paper begins with a brief review of · the literature, examining costing and other quantitative methods that have been previously used to analyze circulation op- erations. Following is a description of the methodology used in the present study along with an analysis of the results. The departmental reorganization that resulted from the cost study is discussed. LITERATURE REVIEW As a preface to the discussion of the present cost study, it wo1tld be useful to review important efficiency and cost stud- ies done previously in order to place our study in context with other research. This should also provide a brief comparative review for those interested in duplicating the study for their own purposes. As early as the mid-1960s, basic work measurement was being applied to circu- lation operations. 1 Kozumplik called for the use of quantitative methods and ap- plied them to standards of production and goal setting. He cited an unexpected esprit de corps associated with the study of pro- duction levels. In his 1970 review of quan- titative management, Fred Heinritz felt that librarians, mostly with backgrounds Pat Weaver-Meyers is access services department head, Duncan Aldrich is circulation supervisor, and Robert A. Seal is director of library public services at University of Oklahoma Libraries, Norman, Oklahoma 73019. 418 in the humanities, greatly underutilized the potential of these measures in all as- pects of library operations. 2 Top-down costing, a breakdown of cost by department from library-wide budgets, has been used for years by administrators in budget justification. A well-known ex- ample is the Stanford study first com- pleted in 1965. 3 Cost-benefit analysis is an- other type of costing sometimes applied to circulation. 4 It is a method of allocating re- sources most efficiently when numerous departments are competing for the same , budget dollar. This analysis may require the use of sophisticated techniques. Budget justification appears to have been a major motivation in the trend to use more specific costing measures in cir- culation during the 1970s. When turn-key and in-house automation of circulation gained in popularity, librarians attempted to justify the purchase of such systems through costing. Some of the first cost studies were comparisons of manual ver- sus automated systems via time studies that provided specific task information. 5 These studies generally found automation to be more expensive than manual systems-a fact that forced administrators to pursue a more sophisticated rationale, such as efficiency, effectiveness, and ser- vice quality. 6 A new trend toward modeling of circu- lation systems has become popular in the last five to ten years. Manpower needs7 and loan dynamics8 are just two of several topics for which models have been pro- posed. Throughout the development of these strategies for examining circulation operations, public libraries have contin- ued to apply costing analysis. One un- usual application contrasts types of pa- trons and determines which patron should bear the burden of circulation costs. 9 Another study compares loss rates with the elimination of overdue fines and the cost effectiveness of such a policy in conjunction with paperback versus hard- back use. 10 It is also important to note that quantita- tive measures have been applied to anum- ber of other circulation concerns not in- volving costs, but relating instead to the effectiveness of the circulation depart- Circulation Service Desk 419 ment. Specifically, optimal loan periods and their effect on book availability have received much attention. 11 Even though much has been done to ap- ply costing and other quantitative meth- ods to circulation, a study by David Kohl on the use of and need for management data by circulation professionals indicated that .such analyses are deemed important, but data provided by others is considered more important than self-generated data. 12 Kohl further points out that such findings may be the result of lack of train- ing in data analysis skills-the same con- clusion reached by Heinritz in 1970! This widespread lack of self-study is reinforced by the fact that information on what it costs another library of similar size and makeup to charge a book is not readily available. Although exchange of in-house reports indicates some circulation cost data is available, 13 it does not appear that circulation services costs are included in such reports, except in the broad context. Task-specific data on circulation is scarce. Since public service activity can be var- ied and not routine, quantitative measure- ment is more difficult than in technical ser- vices. Stella Mosborg' s application of random observation to circulation activi- ties is one of the first studies in which staff time spent on specific tasks was deter- mined in this manner. 14 Previously, some time studies were done, but this type of study does not account for a variation in the type of staff performing the procedure-a factor that varies in the pub- lic service setting. By random observation, Mosborg was able to show how much time different staff contributed to the same task. The same technique was used in the present study, with added computations that provided specific costing per task. It is this specificity that allows close scrutiny of department operations. Such examina- tion is the only means of providing a pub- lic service manager with data so specific that a single task or procedure might be targeted for manipulation or elimination for reasons of efficiency. Not only can the task itself be broken down, but also the amount of time expended on that task by staff members with widely divergent sala- ries. 420 College & Research Libraries Finally, random sampling is a very sim- pfe methodology that is subtle enough ~ot to affect service. An observer can easily monitor service, unseen or rarely noticed by staff. Handily, observation also pro- vides additional useful management data for scheduling and work flow changes that can be used for practical, action- oriented solutions to efficiency shortfalls. Therefore, both the administrator and the middle manager can benefit from the data. A brief description of the circulation desk situation and the calculations used in the study follow. BACKGROUND The University of Oklahoma's main li- brary circulation desk is open for service approximately ninety hours per week. Student assistants make up the regularly scheduled staff. Backup staffing and su- pervisory support are provided by full- time staff and faculty. (Hereafter, "staff" refers to full-time non-student employ- ees.) Four full-time staff members perform stack maintenance and circulation super- vision, billing, and reserve duties. These same staff, along with the department head, provide backup to student workers until 10:00 p.m. The main library collec- tion primarily addresses social sciences, business, humanities, and biological sci- ences, while "hard" sciences and fine arts are served by branch libraries on campus. Therefore, the borrowing population is comprised of faculty, staff, students, and courtesy borrowers with these fields of in- terest. Circulation for the 1982-83 fiscal year was about 150,000. Reserve mat~r~als are also circulated from the desk and It IS a pickup point for interlibrary loan. In a~di­ tion, the desk is the patron consultation area for billing complaints and, due to its location, provides substantial directional information to users. Circulation of mono- graphs and reserve materials is automated on the DataPhase ALIS II system, while bound periodicals circulate manually. METHODOLOGY Initially several methodologies for cost- ing services were reviewed. Although a time study was found to be a proven September 1985 methodology, 15 it was not ad-opted. Rather, work sampling was selected as a previously successful method that ap- peared less invasive of normal work flow than a time study. Work sampling has been successfully used in a number of li- brary studies of work analysis16 and has proven useful in the costing of some pro- cedures such as interlibrary loan. 17 Work sampling methodology made it simple to limit the study to observation of service desk personnel and to catch un- scheduled backup personnel in the act of providing services. This also made it easy to target circulation desk operations, ex- cluding back-office functions that support the front desk . Additionally, there was in- terest in determining the cost of specific tasks such as charging or discharging an item. In work sampling, specific tasks and personnel can be readily observed and tal- lied, easily providing the basic informa- tion necessary for costing particular activi- ties . In preparation, all the routines normally performed at the circulation desk were flowcharted. The flowchart made it easy to identify those components that were of major interest: charge, renewal, dis- charge, online inquiry, etc. These tasks • were then divided in component parts to allow scrutiny of the efficiency of proce- dures for possible future streamlining. Some additional categories were identi- fied, but not broken down into steps . All the identified tasks were then incorpo- rated into a recording chart used by ob- servers. It should be noted here that the simple creation of the recording chart can be a valuable exercise. The self- examination required may reveal prob- lems or bottlenecks before the study even begins. Figure 1 is an example of the chart used to record observations. In recording observations, codes were used to specify the type of worker en- gaged in providing the service. Although the desk is primarily manned by student workers, a fair proportion of staff time is spent assisting student employees when business picks up or when problems de- mand supervisory input. One of the goals of the study was to find out how much time was spent by staff in this backup role. ~ ("l g::::l o..CJ ~~ ::r~ ~ - --- f---- 1Zt 'fSCJQ CJJ!A.ICJS UO!Jl!fDJ.J!;) Time Down? Patron Reg. Emer. Circ. Terminal Op. Stamp - Desensitize Manual-Journal Patron Consult. Terminal Op. Printing Patron Consult. Sensitize Terminal Op. Printing Stamp Sort Message Manual-Journal Holds Searches Patron Consult. Item Printing Reserve Paging Reserve shelving Fine/Overdue Con. Fine Receipt I.L.L. paging Phone Consult. Patron Assist. Alarms Courtesy Card Pro. Retrieve BO Person Downtime rec. load Special Project Idle time/break Staff on duty -- I ~ ~ 0 H Ul () ~ ~ H 5 c: H ~ :3:: H {/) &J t"' ~ ·0 ~ 1»'0 0 ~ lD' :e 0 $II t>.l +'· Ill ~ J-1>(1) '< 422 College & Research Libraries Further, considering the higher cost of staff service, compared to that of student assistants, it was felt that the cost figures would be more accurate if staff time was calculated . Also, management was inter- ested in the direct-service time require- ment and how that compared to the pro- portion of time spent by staff in back-office duties. A comparison of the time each staff II\ember spends at the desk relative to the ~~k for \:Yhich they are normally respon- sible can give a manager specific informa- tion about unstructured work time. If the billing supervisor, for example, spends 50 percent of her time interacting with pa- trons, the manager might conclude that she needed additional clerical assistance for back-office paperwork. Most observations were made by staff or student supervisors. Before the study be- gan, the methodology was discussed at a weekly staff meeting, and all workers were informed of the project's intent. A special effort was made to inform every- one that only worker types were going to be recorded, not individual names. It was hoped that this explanation, along with assurances that some idle time was ex- pected, would prevent workers from de- libe ately improving their efficiency for the uration of the study. T assist in the sampling process, an in- exp nsive digital alarm watch was pur- cha ed and attached to a clipboard with the observation charts. Using a random tim table, 18 each projected observation tim was recorded on the charts each day. At the beginning of each day, the first ob- server would set the watch alarm to ring for the first observation time. When the alarm went off, the observer would pro- ceed to the circulation-desk area, record the activities of all the staff present at that instant, and reset the alarm for the next observation time listed. While recording, the observer would pay special attention to the student work schedule. Those indi- .. viduals actually scheduled for desk ser- vice would be noted. If an individual was taking a break or was otherwise absent at · that moment, he or she would be recorded in the idle-time category. Since the con- cern was solely with what occurred at the front desk, staff not regularly scheduled September 1985 were recorded only if they were involved in front-desk activity when the alarm sounded. The observations would con- tinue throughout each day in the same manner until closing. During lunch breaks or in the evening, the clipboard would be passed on to another observer familiar with the procedure. The study was conducted in October, specifically because it was a moderately busy time of year. About fifty samplings were made each day, and the study period encompassed nine days including one weekend. During any one observation, from two to five workers could be engaged in front-desk service. In all, 1,267 observa- tions were made. A test sample of one day's observations was conducted prior to the actual sam- pling. This test provided a base from which estimates could be made of the per- centage of time workers were involved in any one task. Also, any shortcomings in the recording chart could be discovered and . corrected before the actual sampling began. The percentages revealed were then used to set the sample size at 1,290, using a table designed for that purpose. 19 This sample size · has an accuracy between 2.5 percent and 3.0 percent with a 95 per- cent confidence level. RESULTS The data gathered from the observa- tions were analyzed using SAS (Statistical Analysis System) frequency procedures. In SAS, frequency procedures tally every variable loaded by category. This provides the frequency with which any particular procedure was observed . Coupled with the other notations made on the recording chart (variables), SAS can manipulate the data to produce cross-tabulations. Each observation included the following vari- ables: staff type, procedure, time of day, day of the week. Since each observation included four variables, a variety of tables could be pro- duced. For example, a frequency table of "staff type /procedure" was used to com- pute the particulars of costing by task. "Procedure /time of day" and "proce- dure /day of the week" tables were used by the circulation supervisor to adjust scheduling so that coverage during the busiest times of the day was adequate. Of course, several other permutations are possible. Clearly, one random observa- tion study that includes the recording of several characteristics can provide data for numerous management needs. The table of "staff type/procedure" (see table 1) is a consolidated version that col- lapses forty-one separate tasks into ten procedure categories. As mentioned ear- lier, several of the major procedures were broken down into component tasks for in- depth analysis of the work flow. For the purposes of costing, though, only the ten major procedures were examined. This particular table, which displays nine of the twelve staff types, allows ex- amination of the time contributed by sup- port staff and faculty. Since no faculty or full-time staff are formally scheduled at the desk, the amount of time they contrib- uted to desk operations was not clearly ev- ident until the sampling was complete. In table 1, under the column headed Circ. Super., one can see that the circulation su- pervisor contributed 2.14 percent of all the staffing at the desk. Since the supervisor works a forty-hour week and the observa- tion period spanned seven weekdays and one weekend, he could have worked a maximum of fifty-six hours at the front desk. From the table, two questions were answered: 1. How many of the possible fifty-six hours of the supervisor's time were spent assisting at the front desk? 2. How much did the circulation super- visor's salary rate contribute to the in- creased cost of providing service on a task- by-task basis? In order to compute the amount of the supervisor's time spent at the desk, the following formula was used: s = (N/A) X H N = Total number of observations of su- pervisor at the desk A = Total number of times the observer answered the alarm H = Number of hours desk was open dur- ing observation period S = Number of hours supervisor was at the desk Circulation Service Desk 423 27/375 = .07 x 118 = 8.26 hours per nine- day observation period Dividing by 56, the number of hours of su- pervisor time, gives 8.26/56 = .15, or 15 percent of the circulation supervisor's time is spent providing service at the front desk. Also, from table 1 it can be seen that 44.44 percent of his contribution at the desk is spent in miscellaneous activity. It appears that most of the supervisor's time is spent in other activities rather than pro- viding charge/discharge services. Considering the higher salary of the cir- culation supervisor, it is more cost- effective if his time is spent in supervisory rather than in desk activity. It is less ex- pensive to have that task performed by a student assistant. This concept is clearly il- lustrated by figure 2, in which the direct labor cost per hour for the charge proce- dure has been computed. As shown, the percentage of time a particular staff type was observed in charge/renewal is multi- plied by hourly salary (including fringe benefits) to obtain the cost per hour per type for all staff observed in that proce- dure. The final total then is $4.11 per hour of direct labor costs associated with charge/renewal. In this example, the student assistants, class 1, contribute the greatest person- power to the procedures of charge/rene- wal. Student assistants, class 1, make up 57.26 percent of the person power devoted to this procedure. Consequently, direct la- bor costs for this procedure are relatively low, since this group is the lowest paid of all staff types. Table 2 shows all the broad task catego- ries and the cost per hour associated with each task. When the cost per hour, com- puted by the same procedure illustrated in figure 2, is multiplied by the percentage of staff time devoted to the procedure, the resulting overall service desk cost per hour is tabulated. This overall average of $4.18 (see table 2) can then be compared to each individual cost per hour per task to determine which is the most expensive service to provide and which task contrib- utes the most to the overall average ex- pense. For example, charge/renewal ac- counts for $1.28 of the overall average, ~ ~ TABLE 1 PROCEDURE BY SELECTED STAFF TYPE (") 0 -Frequency Selected Staff Type -Stack tl) Percent QQ Row% Dept. Billing Circ. Security ILL Computer ILL Reserve Main . tl) Col% Head Super. Super. Guard Student 1 Operator Super. Super. Super. ~ Procedure ~ tl) Billing 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 IIJ n> 0.00 0.32 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 ~ 0.00 26.67 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 n ::r' 0.00 28.57 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 r-"4 Charge 2 1 5 16 0 0 1 4 2 0: 0.16 0.08 0.40 1.27 0.00 0.00 0.08 0.32 0.16 11 s. 0.51 0.25 1.27 4.06 0.00 0.00 0.25 0.25 0.51 tl) 25.00 7.14 18.52 14.68 0.00 0.00 28.57 28.57 66.67 IIJ Discharge 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.16 0.08 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.40 0.70 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 C/) 0.00 0.00 7.41 0.92 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 tl) "'0 Idle Time 2 0 0 51 0 0 0 2 0 .... tl) 0.16 0.00 0.00 4.03 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.16 0.00 a 0.79 0.00 0.00 20.16 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.79 0.00 0"' tl) 25.00 0.00 0.00 46.79 0.00 0.00 0.00 14.29 0.00 11 lo-ol ILL Paging 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 I.C 00 0.08 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 (.11 14.29 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 12.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Inquiry 0 4 2 4 0 0 1 4 0 0.00 0.32 0.16 0.32 0.00 0.00 0.08 0.32 0.00 0.00 6.25 3.13 6.25 0.00 0.00 1.56 6.25 0.00 0.00 28.57 7.41 3.67 0.00 0.00 11.11 28.57 0.00 Misc. 1 2 12 7 0 0 1 0 0 0.08 0.16 0.95 0.55 0.00 0.00 0.08 0.00 0.00 0.57 1.15 6.90 4.02 0.00 0.00 0.57 0.00 0.00 12.50 14.29 44.44 6.42 0.00 0.00 11.11 0.00 0.00 ~.s~ oggg oggg .-.~~~ (1)~ ~~~ ciao ooc:i ori~ o oggg oggg ooo oc:ic:i oooo oooo .-.oo\00 .-- o\c<"5oo.....;--oocit.O~c-iCf':i~ t;~ c::1~~~~~8~(:::~~ 8§ lt')~\!)oci' \!)~C"),~~\0' ~$ ~ , ..... q•'-1 N ~~ ..... E- f:F7 'iil 0 E-< 8~ Nt-...C"l0'\00'\~00M~ Nll')ll')~~~~t-...001.1') .8~ ~~~~~~~~~0: ~~~~ OOO~OO~Ot-...000'\ "20' · t-.:' ~'o't-...' ~'N'N''-C>'--o' 000 z N ...-~~ ~ + OOMOMNt-...1.1')\00'\'-C> "' t-...MOt-...C"l'-C>OOOt-...0 0 ~~LQ~:g~gRg~ u .8 Mt-...NO~t-...N~t-...t-... t-...' \!)~ N'oci'~C1')~' j ~ ~ ~ .!:l Cl ~ ~0'\t-...OOC"lM~M~O ~ll')OO~~Mt-...01.1') 0 ~~~~~~~~~~ u + X September 1985 of questionable value-. 21 The following are examples of the three uses of data and how they were applied to organizational change at the University of Oklahoma. In- cluded is a discussion of other manage- ment tools that enhanced the change. The identification of an inefficient pro- cedure was made simple by establishing idle time as a separate category. This re- vealed a relatively high percentage of idle time, 20.02 percent for front-desk personnel-mostly in the evening. Due to this high percentage of available "free" time, management examined the depart- ment organization. As a result, sort-room . duties, normally part of stack mainte- nance responsibilities, were transferred to front-desk personnel. This task was cho- sen because it could be performed in the front-desk area and permitted personnel to move quickly to the desk to service pa- trons when heavy traffic required addi- tional help. The problem could have been solved by reducing staffing at the desk, but the ability to serve a sudden influx of patrons would have been hampered. This solution also proved quite advanta- geous to the stack maintenance unit. Re- lieved of sort-room responsibilities, stack maintenance personnel were able to in- crease their shelf-reading time by more than 100 hours per month. In purely mon- etary terms, the additional staff time avail- able as a result of the reorganization would have cost the library about $4,800 annually. Yet without additional invest- ment of funds, the condition of the stacks improved and service to patrons at the desk did not suffer. In-house costing can also mark the level of performance from semester to semes- ter. Ideally, costs for charging material should increase only in proportion to sal- ary increases and inflation of mainte- nance, supplies, etc. If a comparison of costs can be made from repeated sampling studies, increases or decreases in cost can be noted and attributed to changes in pro- cedure, implementation of automation, etc. Of course, the data for such efficiency analysis must exist. Therefore, plans have been made to repeat the sampling proce- dure at least once a year. This study will then serve as a bench mark to which fu- ture findings can be compared. For exam- ple, a major change in procedures, such as the reorganization of sort-room duties de- scribed earlier, should make a measurable change in the idle-time category and the costs associated with it. Another method of comparing perfor- mance with other activities in a bench mark fashion was done by comparing cost results with discharge accuracy. Returned interlibrary loans are sampled monthly to determine if they have been discharged correctly. This simple quality control mea- sure can assist in monitoring any changes. It can warn of an increase in operator er- ror; even changes arrived at by quantita- tive means may result in unwanted and unforeseen reductions in quality, and this discharge quality control measure pro- vides a check against such a mishap. The percentage of time support staff spent at the desk providing backup assis- tance is one result that can be compared to other research. John Beecher and Fran- cesca Anstine have completed an in-depth study of professional and support staff ac- tivity via random work sampling. 22 Al- though their study observed overall li- brary staffing, some comparison can be made. Anstine states "Support staff spent more of their time in circulation activities during the fall and spring than in any other area. " 23 Interpretation of the per- centage of support-staff activity at the University of Oklahoma should probably take this into consideration, particularly since the observation period was during the fall. Assuming the Anstine analysis can be applied, it seems reasonable to con- clude that our circulation supervisor would spend a lower percentage of time assisting at the desk during the summer. If this conclusion is then correlated with data on discharge accuracy kept in the de- partment, some feel for the "right" per- cent of time a circulation supervisor should be providing support can be de- duced. Specifically, if supervisor support dropped below 10 percent and discharge accuracy was then observed to drop sev- eral percentage points, it could be reason- ably concluded that more supervisory time was required at the desk to insure discharge consistency. Too much supervi- Circulation Service Desk 429 sor support, though, would not be cost- effective due to higher salaries. DISCUSSION Regardless of its origins, organizational change cannot be accomplished without cooperative attitudes among staff or with- out additional management tools that can help minimize stress. The study itself can often provide a backdrop for change, par- ticularly if all staff are included in plan- ning. For example, the transfer of duties described earlier was enthusiastically ini- tiated by the circulation supervisor be- cause of his integral involvement in the study. Typically, though, when a study reveals needed change, there can be con- siderable resistance. Coping with resis- tance to change can be a challenge with several possible solutions, all of which may serve to enhance efficiency of every- day operations. The key to truly effective and practical change based on study data is the use of management data in opera- tions. If use of study data is understood to be a part of the normal course of events, the response of staff to study results will be less defensive. At the time this study occurred, several management tools that no doubt assisted the transition were in place. Supervisor evaluations have been done for the last two years. This provides an alternative channel for feedback from student work- . ers and probably contributes to the coop- erative attitude department-wide. This feedback loop gives students more oppor- tunity to suggest change, based on their viewpoint of work flow and, as a result, changes in procedures take place more readily. Procedure review was another manage- ment tool in effect at the same time. An ongoing revision of procedure manuals has been an important department goal. This review forces staff to scrutinize how a procedure is performed and how it can be pared down to the simplest description. The review is just another situation that makes staff realize that the department is a . dynamic and changing entity-again min- imizing their resistance to change. Annual staff evaluations also contrib- uted to the successful reorganization. By ~__ _______________ _ ___ _ ____________________ _ 430 College & Research Libraries including the formulation of unit goals in the evaluation process, staff are again forced to examine overall department needs. When such goals are based on sound study data arrived at with staff par- ticipation, they are certainly pursued more enthusiastically than goals with seemingly arbitrary or vague origins. The three "tools" described above are just a few of the many possible approaches to management that coordinate well with quantitative measures such as work sam- pling. Practicality is another major consider- ation in implementing change based on quantitative study results. Many of the shortcomings revealed in a work sampling are quite practical in that they often do not require additional funding. Reassignment of duties, changes in procedures, and can- cellation or promotion of an underutilized service are simple, everyday solutions that can pay off. Although there is no sub- stitute for a good, observant supervisor, subjectivity can be a problem when intui- tion or the desire to protect staff positions is a part of the analysis. Quantitative mea- surement provides an objective yardstick to support supervisory analysis. The tables generated by SAS on '' proce- dure/time of day" and "procedure/day of the week" are good examples of supervi- sor analysis that can be enhanced with sampling data. When these tables were analyzed by the circulation supervisor, the student work schedule was revised. Staffing for several periods of the day that had previously been intuitively scheduled as busy periods was reduced when the study indicated such heavy staffing was unnecessary. Costing data like this may also serve as a rationale for more unusual solutions to stringent budgets. The idea of discourag- ing circulation and encouraging in-house use is not typical for librarians who usu- September 1985 ally use circulation statistics as support in funding requests. However, as Richard DeGennaro suggests, 24 quality rather than quantity is now playing a more important role in such arguments than in the past. As a result, the additional costs of take- home circulation compared to in-house use may prove to be appealing rationale. In addition, the current trend in preserva- tion lends additional weight to this view- point. Visualized even further, a circula- tion desk in a library with a vital public relations campaign encouraging in-house use might conceivably save more dollars by operating part-time. All this points to a definite need in circu- lation departments, usually employers of a large number of staff, for repeated sam- pling and analysis. The large size of most circulation staffs also creates more flexibil- ity when budget constraints force reduc- tions. Under those circumstances, quanti- tative statistics might be the best resort for a circulation librarian arguing to retain workers . Whether or not such compari- sons are significant, library administrators still appreciate the importance of figures on book charge/renewal that show a re- duction in cost or a favorable comparison with other institutions. This kind of study provides the information necessary for such comparisons. In summary, a variety of information was garnered from a simple random ob- servation study. The techniques for this type of study can be easily mastered and are readily accessible in standard texts. 25 Several comparative studies, cited earlier, already exist in the literature and have as- sisted in these formulations and analysis. Therefore, a continuing annual study in any circulation department would be rela- tively simple and could prove most useful in work-flow analysis, efficiency compari- sons, and overall examination of depart- ment organization . . REFERENCES 1. William A. Kozumplik, "Time and Motion Study of Library Operations," Special Libraries 58:585-88 (Oct. 1967). 2. Fred J. Heinritz, "Quantitative Management in Libraries," College & Research Libraries 31:232-38 Guly 1970). 3. Glen Densmore and Charles Bourne, A Cost Analysis and Utilization Study of the Stanford University Circulation Service Desk 431 · Library System, Prepared for Stanford University, Stanford, California (Menlo Park, Calif., Stanford Re- search Inst., 1965), ED 026 080) . 4. John E. Keller, "Program Budgeting and Cost Benefit Analysis in Libraries," College & Research Libraries 30:156-60 (Mar. 1969). 5. Isobel Jean Mosley, "Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Automation of a Circulation System," Journal of Library Automation 10:240-54 (Sept. 1977). 6. Thoinas K. Burgess, ''A Cost Effectiveness Model for Comparing Various Circulation Systems,'' Journal of Library Automation 6:75-86 (June 1983). 7. Jerry W. Mansfield, ''Using an INS Simulation to Forecast Manpower Needs,'' Journal of the Ameri- · can Society for Information Science 33:217-21 (July 1982). 8. Daniel R. Bruce, "A Markov Model to Study the Loan Dynamics at a Reserve-Loan Desk in a Lend- ing Library/' Library Quarterly 45:161-78 (Apr. 1975). 9. Peter J. Stratton, A Regression Study of Demand, Cost and Pricing Public Circulation Services (Arlington, Va.: ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED 163 948, June 1978). 10. Paul Little, Bookmobiles and Paperbacks: An Extended Study of the Use of Paperbacks and Elimination of Overdue Fines at the Oklahoma County Libraries, Oklahoma City, Okla. (Oklahoma City, Okla.: Okla- homa County Libraries, Oct. 1976, ED 129 306). 11 . Michael K. Buckland, Book Availability and the Library User (New York: Pergamon, 1975); Ava K. Fried and Alice J. Hurlebaus, ''A Reevaluation of Circulation Policies,'' Special Libraries 72:284-89 (July 1981); Ford Jensen, "A Cost Analysis and Usage Study of the Reserved Materials Collection of the University of Arizona Main Library, (Arlington, Va.: ERIC Document Reproduction Ser- vice, ED 054 822, Aug. 1971); Paul B. Kantor, Objective Performance Measures for Academic andRe- search Libraries (Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries, 1984). 12. David F. Kohl, "Circulation Professionals: Management Information Needs and Attitudes," RQ 23:81- 87 (Fall1983). 13. Technical Services Costs in ARL Libraries: Spec Kit 89 (Washington, D.C.: Systems and Procedures Exchange Center, OMS, Association of Research Libraries, 1982); Cost Studies and Fiscal Planning: Spec Kit 52 (Washington D.C.: Systems and Procedures Exchange Center, OMS, Association of Research Libraries, 1979); Determining Indirect Cost Rates in Research Libraries : Spec Kit 34 (Washing- ton, D.C.: Systems and Procedures Exchange Center, OMS, Association of Research Libraries, 1977); Indirect Cost Rates in Research Libraries : Spec Kit 64 (Washington, D.C.: Systems and Proce- dures Exchange Center, OMS, Association of Research Libraries, 1980). 14. Stella Frank Mosborg, "Measuring Circulation Desk Activities Using a Random Alarm Mecha- nism," College & Research Libraries 39:437-44 (Sept. 1980). 15. Edward C. }estes, "Manual versus Automated Circulation: A Comparison of Operating Costs in a < University Library," Journal of Academic Librarianship 6:144-50 (July 1980). 16. Mosborg, "Measuring Circulation Desk Activities,"; J. L. Divilbiss and Phyllis C. Self, "Work Analysis by Random Sampling," Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 66:19- 23 (Jan. 1978) . 17. Carol C. Spencer, "Random Time Sampling with Self-Observation for Library Cost Studies: Unit Costs of Interlibrary Loans and Photocopies at a Regional Medical Library," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 22:153-60 (May-June 1971); Joel A. Nachlas and Anton R. Pierce, "Determination of Unit Costs for Library Services," ·College & Research Libraries 40:240- 47 (May 1979); Carol C. Spencer, "Random Time Sampling with Self-Observation for Library Cost Stud- ies: Unit Costs of Reference Questions," Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 68:53-57 (Jan. 1980). 18. JohnS. Goodell, Libraries and Work Sampling (Littleton, Colo .: Libraries Unlimited; 1975) . 19. Ralph M. Barnes, Motion and Time Study: Design and Measurement of Work (New York: Wiley, 1968), p.528. 20. Koht p.88. 21. Charles R. McClure, "From Public Library Standards to Development of Statewide Levels of Ade- quacy," Library Research 2:47-62 (1980). 22. John W. Beecher and others, "Use of Random Alarm Mechanisms for Analyzing Professional and Support Staff Activities in Science Libraries: Part I: Methodology," Library Research 4:137-46 (1982); Francesca A. Anstine and others, "Part II: Data Analysis and Discussion," Library Research 4:147-61 (1982). 23. Ibid., p.155. 24. Richard DeGennaro, "Library Statistics and User Satisfaction: No Significant Correlation/' Jour- nal of Academic Librarianship 6:95 (May 1980). 25. Richard M. Dougherty and Fred J. Heinritz, Scientific Management of Library Operations, 2d ed. (Me- tuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1982) . Fall,1985 The world in your hands. General Yearbook of the United Nations The principal reference work or the United Nations, providing in single annual volumes, a comprehensive account or the organization's wide-ranging activities since 1946. Latest issue: 1981 E.84.1.1 (ISBN : 92-2-100038-6) $75.00 Everyone's United Nations Official textbook which contains a definitive history or the Organization from 1946 to date. Latest issue: I Oth ed. E.85.1.16 (ISBN: 92-1-100273-7) $14.95 (cloth) E.85.1.16 (ISBN: 92-1-100274-5) $ 9.95 (paper) Directory of United Nations Databases and lnfonnation Systems A repertoire or over 600 information databases in 36 UN affiliated organizations. It enables one to see what information and services are available in the United Nations family as a whole and how to obtain detailed information from particular organizations. 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Latest issue: 1981 E.84.V.l (ISBN: 92· 1·133332-6) $25 .00 United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Yearbook Annual issued since 1968. Included are studies and reports on international trade contracts, international payments, international commercial arbitration and conciliation, the new international economic order, transport law and activities of other organizations. Latest issue: 1983 E.85.V.3 $41.00 Yearbook of the International Law Commission Issued since I 949. Subjects dealt with include arbitral procedures, diplomatic immunities, law of the sea, nationality, law of treaties and rights and duties of States. Latest issue: 1983 vol. I E.84.V.6 $33.00 voi. II pt. I E.84 .V.7 (ISBN: 92-I-133262-I) $23.00 vol. II pt. 2 E.84.V.7 (ISBN: 92-1-133331-8) $I2.50 Energy/Environment Energy in the Eighties Highlights of the Meeting of the Ad Hoc Group of Energy and Petroleum Experts. 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