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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Recurso educativo Open Access |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
1988
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED305932 |
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Table of Contents:
- An Investigation into the Economics of Retrospective Conversion Using a CD-ROM System. Co, Francisca K. Bibliographic Databases College Libraries Comparative Analysis Cost Effectiveness Economics Higher Education Library Catalogs Machine Readable Cataloging Online Catalogs Optical Data Disks This study compares the cost effectiveness of using a CD-ROM (compact disk read-only memory) system known as Bibliofile and the currently used OCLC (Online Computer Library Center)-based method to convert a university library's shelflist into a machine-readable database in the MARC (Machine-Readable Cataloging) format. The cost of each method of retrospective conversion was determined from a random sample of bibliographic records. The two systems were then compared in three areas to determine which method would be more cost effective: costs, the total time expended for editing a set of cards, and the total hit rate. The results obtained from the comparisons showed that: (1) the CD-ROM would be less expensive than OCLC in overall cost for a 5-year period; (2) there was no significant difference between the amounts of time used by each system to edit a record; and (3) OCLC had a higher hit rate. To compensate for the lower hit rate of the CD-ROM, a compensation cost was added to the CD-ROM cost; however, even with the cost adjustment, the total cost of CD-ROM was still lower than OCLC by 44%. Further investigation and study are recommended in areas such as the impact of CD-ROM on the library's workflow, its impact on the attitudes of users, the actual implementation of the CD-ROM system, and the problems and implications that would be associated with its implementation. (9 tables and 41 references) (EW)