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This article discusses the impact of information technology requirements on the costs of electronic libraries. The fast‐paced developments of technology require continual updating of hardware and software. Networking access consists of initial costs and recurring expenses. Electronic content, training, and support all demand ongoing expenditures. In this environment institutions must budget accordingly. One‐time outlays from grant‐funding agencies or parent institutions will not meet the demands of the information technology marketplace. This article asks key questions concerning hardware, software and network installation and upgrades and provides strategies for dealing with the needs for continuous funding and long‐term financing that are essential for keeping up with the requirements of the electronic library.

The current stringent economic climate requires library managers to be more systematic in cost analyses. Allocating costs to cost centers, determining costs per unit of service, and correlating costs to specific categories of users, helps ensure accurate analyses of costs, productivity, and efficiency. Along with cost analysis, assessment of service is a key component in the complete analysis, for cost and efficiency must be related to quality and effectiveness. In addition to discussing the general process of determining costs for specific library services, this article focuses on the cost center model in more detail, with a case study of the cost of a library's support for grant‐sponsored research.

The current article aims to give an overview of how the new cost accounting models, such as activity‐based costing (ABC) and time‐driven activity‐based costing (TDABC) are researched and adapted by university libraries, focusing on the methods used for measuring work time allocation as well as on the strengths and weaknesses of both models.

The data used in this paper are based on reviewing and summarizing of relevant studies which were conducted in libraries inspired by the ideas of modern theoretical considerations and treatments relating to cost accounting and costing, originally developed for industry and private sector organizations.

The implementation of cost accounting systems in libraries has historically been treated as a technical innovation rather than an organizational or management innovation. The most important consideration is that librarians are not machines, which can be set at a given speed and expected to produce a uniform product. It turns out that the results of such research are largely affected by what methods are used to identify the time spent on activities and how well the management of libraries or researchers were able to explain to the staff the necessity for such research.

Besides the articles published so far dealing with the implementation of ABC and TDABC in libraries, no research or surveys focus on these issues from the perspective of employees.

Reference librarians in today's academic libraries are typically confronted with a growing array of simultaneous demands. Strained financial resources, staffing shortages, the challenge of adding new services, the explosion of information, and the electronic revolution have complicated (and sometimes compromised) the delivery of quality services. In response to many universities' growing commitment to offer nontraditional degree programs, reference staff are also assuming more responsibility for night and weekend instruction.