PATTERNS OF GROWTH IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES OF FOUR-YEAR, STATE-SUPPORTED INSTITUTIONS OF LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA, 1960-1979; A COMPARATIVE STUDY (STATISTICS, COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES)

Selected categories of HEGIS statistics were analyzed to determine patterns of growth in academic libraries of four-year, state-supported institutions of Louisiana and South Carolina for the years 1960-1979, to compare and contrast the patterns of growth between the two states, to investigate correlations between categories of growth, and to assess the usefulness of Baumol and Marcus's methodology in comparing academic libraries of two states.;Data were obtained from Statistics of Colleges and University Libraries and analyzed by use of the Scientific Analysis System (SAS). The data were assessed for growth rates, and growth rates were examined for consistency. The patterns of growth were tested for similarities or differences between the academic libraries of the two states and between the two decades of the 1960s and 1970s. The data of 1967 and 1979 were correlated to discover the relationships between variables.;The academic libraries studied progressed in similar manner in most categories. The Louisiana libraries experienced significantly higher growth in total volumes. The South Carolina libraries had higher rates of increase in expenditures per student and in ratio of library expenditures to those of the campus. The 1960s were years of significant development for the libraries; the 1970s were ones of less progress. Most of the variables were found to be strongly related. The variable of library expenditures per student displayed little or no relationship with the other categories studied. The category of expenditures for wages in the South Carolina libraries also was erratic in its relationships with the other variables.;Baumol and Marcus's methodology was utilized to compute total percentage of growth of the collection of each library, to rank the libraries by growth of collection, to categorize the size of collection, and to compute growth rates for all of the variables; however, simple correlations were substituted for stepwise multivariate regression.;Variables examined included enrollment, number of volumes at end of year, number of volumes added, number of periodicals received, number of professionals, number of nonprofessionals, total operating expenditures, expenditures on salaries, expenditures on wages, expenditures on books and other library materials, expenditures per student, and expenditures ratio as a percentage of the institutional budget.