Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Linear Goal Programming For Academic Library Acquisitions Allocations, Ken Wise, D. E. Perushek

UT Libraries Faculty: Peer-Reviewed Publications

The allocation of an academic library's acquisitions funds should contribute to the achievement of the library's goals and objectives. The availability of diverse materials and the varying demands of user needs in a variety of subject disciplines may represent a set of conflicting, incommensurate goals. Lexicographic linear goal programming offers an appropriate allocation methodology for determining an optimal solution with conflicting goals. This article applies this methodology to 90 funds representing books and periodicals in 45 subject disciplines at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT). The model's goals incorporate several categories of budget constraints and user needs. The application of …