On costing alternative patterns for COM‐fiche catalogues

An algebraic model relating catalogue costs to the numbers of existing titles, new titles and titles processed is developed. The number of titles processed is then related to the cumulation and consolidation frequencies so that the effect of different cumulation patterns can be calculated. This shows that annual consolidation is sensible in several situations. Variations in other factors are not considered explicitly but a computer simulation model is described which could be used to investigate any set of reasonable alternatives.