Materials Budgets in the Electronic Age: A Survey of Academic Libraries

Academic libraries face a host of expenditures for products and services, which, though not materials per se, provide access to materials. The extent to which libraries fund these services through materials budgets is the focus of a survey of academic librarians in the United States and Canada. In September 1994, the author sent questionnaires to the head librarians of 230 academic libraries. The survey generated a 76.9 percent response rate. Over two-thirds of the respondents indicated they allocate less than six percent of their materials budgets to nondata resources. Seven out of ten respondents agree, however, that it is natural for materials budgets to absorb certain technology costs. In addition, only 23 percent think that materials budgets should be limited to materials in a traditional sense. These findings suggest that most librarians are continuing to allocate materials budgets in a traditional manner, while recognizing the inevitable shifts in allocation of scarce resources.