The report looks closely at the extent and kinds of cooperative arrangements between academic libraries and academic departments to pay for specialized resources and services. The study gives data on the frequency of such arrangements, which resources that they help to pay for, and what percentage of library resource spending is accounted for by such arrangements. The study also describes the nature of these deals, including the “split” on expenses, the share typically paid for by the library and the share paid for by the academic departments.
Data in the report is broken out by many different institutional and personal characteristics of the survey participants including size, type, public/private status and tuition level of the institutions, and age and gender of the individuals participating in the survey.
Just a few of the report’s many findings are that:
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More than 56% of the research library institutions in the sample share costs of some resources or services with academic departments.
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Use of shared expenses agreements was much greater outside of the USA than in the USA.
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The most frequently mentioned partners for cost sharing agreements were business and management departments.