Cost Savings to Canadian University and Large Urban Public Libraries from Their Use of National Library of Canada MARC Records

Abstract

The authors present a study to determine the savings incurred by Canadian university and large urban public libraries as a result of using Canadiana printed monograph cataloging records generated by the National Library of Canada (NLC) rather than cataloging these items themselves. The study employed three methodologies: questionnaires were sent to 90 Canadian university and college libraries and to 30 member libraries of the Council of Administrators of Large Urban Public Libraries (CALUPL); follow-up telephone interviews were held with 18 university and 12 public libraries; and a sample of 100 bibliographic records for Canadiana printed documents was selected by the NLC from its catalog and then compared with records in a sample of 20 university and 10 public library OPACs to determine the extent to which NLC records form the basis for copy cataloging by other libraries. The saving per library through using NLC records as the basis for copy cataloging rather than originally cataloging items was $16,400 per annum for university libraries and $7,800 for large urban public libraries. An extrapolation to all university and large public libraries suggests an annual saving of $1,476,000 for all Canadian university libraries, and $249,000 for all Canadian large urban public libraries. Many libraries make use of NLC name or series authority data, and use NLC copy in their acquisitions processes or for other bibliographic purposes. The monetary benefits accruing to the libraries from these services and activities have not been quantified.