Framework for an academic/university library’s collection’s budget allocation and purchasing model

The objective of this paper is to establish a framework for budget allocation and purchasing model for the university academic libraries. The proposed framework is a modification of the earlier model introduced by Engku Abu Bakar, Rahman and Yusof (2011). The framework consists of three models. The first model, Model A, is an LP model to maximize the total budget allocated to all the academic faculties/schools in the university subject to various factors such as total faculty members, total undergraduate student population, total postgraduate student population, age of programs, number of programs, total service course slots, total distance learning students, and total non-academic staff in the faculties/schools. The second model, Model B, is also an LP model to maximize the total budget allocated to all the academic departments within a faculty/school in the university, subject to the amount allocated for the school which is obtained from the optimal result of Model C and used the same set of criteria as in Model A. The final model is Model C, which is an IP model to maximize the use of the budget allocated for each department in the respective faculty/school for the purchasing of textbooks, hardcopy journals, and electronic journals. For all the three models, the Compromised- Analytic Hierarchy Process (C-AHP) method was used to calculate the weight of the determining criteria. This new-proposed framework could ensure that university libraries have a better plan in the cost allocation and expenditure according to the needs of the libraries’ stakeholders and certain conditions imposed by the university management. The three models would also help university libraries to prioritize the criteria used towards the final budget allocation decision