Economics of periodicals in special libraries: An application of Bradford's distribution to CFTRI library periodicals holding

Abstract

<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="" lang="EN-US">Rationalization of periodical holdings based on a coat effectiveness study is necessary. B. C. Brookes has developed a mathematical model based on Bradford’s distribution phenomenon for cost effectiveness studies. This paper reports one such study of the periodical holdings of the CFTRI library. An estimate of the resulting saving in the periodicals budget is made. The findings are: (i) The top 20 most productive periodicals account for 45% of the total periodical literature output in the field of interest to CFTRI, (ii) the scatter of periodical literature in this area obeys the Bradford's distribution, (iii) a flexible decision making model regarding the coverage of periodical literature can be developed.</span>