Lisa J. Aren, Susan J. Webreck and Mark Patrick
Although library costs continue to rise in respect to staff, materials, and general operating expenses, the budgets needed to maintain the expected level of services are not…
Abstract
Although library costs continue to rise in respect to staff, materials, and general operating expenses, the budgets needed to maintain the expected level of services are not keeping pace. And, in spite of a surge in interest in computing unit costs for budget justification, resource distribution, cost comparison, and forecasting, relatively few organizations have implemented full‐scale cost analyses.
If you ask most people about cost and price they believe they understand exactly what is meant. Cost is what you pay for an item and price is what the seller asks — and for most…
Abstract
If you ask most people about cost and price they believe they understand exactly what is meant. Cost is what you pay for an item and price is what the seller asks — and for most buyers the transactions are the same. However, cost and price are different to different players in a transaction. There is the cost of creating, developing, producing, marketing, supporting, distributing, storing, and selling an item. There is the retail or list, wholesale, sale, or discounted price at which the item is sold and which the purchaser pays. It sounds simple, but in reality it is a complex process involving a high degree of subjective judgment.