The answers, I believe, lie in a number of factors.

First one needs to have a good understanding of what it means to contract
out (as opposed to outsourcing).  One needs to evaluate many facets of the
library operations which are being considered, and one needs to evaluate
the costs verses the benefits of any action taken.

(Caveat:  I don't purport to suggest that these are all of the issues,
but this is what I could think of off the top of my head.)

To address the first issue:  I would consider contracting out to simply
mean that the first party (the library) establishes a contract with an
outside agency (the second party) to perform some service or provide some
benefit at a cost to the first party.

Some examples of this that we (libraries) currently use might include:
Subscription service agreements, Book purchasing agreements, External
accounting, Cleaning services, Book repair services, Cataloging,
Inter-Library Loan, perhaps even Reference and Circulation.

Outsourcing, on the other hand, would be the sending out of a certain
function to an outside organization for completion.  Outsourcing is
certainly a type of "contracting out", but I would not consider all
contracting to be outsourcing.  The clearest example of outsourcing I can
think of (right now) is Chrysler.  They do not make the seat belt buckles
for their cars, rather they outsource this operation.

Another way to distinguish these is that you may contract with an outside
agency to provide your reference service, but the service is provided
in-house.

The second consideration should be the library operations.  Some, as
stated above, can be easily considered for contracting out.  Others, I
would be hesitant to move on.  Cataloging has been a hot topic recently
for outsourcing.  Another one in law library circles has been the
outsourcing of an entire library by a large law firm.

I suppose you could contract out just about any facet of librarianship
and libraries, but I would hesitate suggesting that you should.  I would
certainly raise questions any time you consider outsourcing.

Finally, the questions that should be raised.  First and foremost:  What
are the costs and benefits of the intended action.  It may be appealing
to get your cataloging directly from a cataloging authority, or to give
up acquisitions to an outside agency, and it may even look smart on
paper.  The question, though, should be what are the real costs.  What
are you giving up by taking this kind of action?  Are you giving up
control of your collection development, or are you enhancing your ability
to get material?  Is your contract set up in a way that it will cost you
more in the long run than doing the operation in house?  Are you giving
up the ability to interact with the people who are doing the operation?
Will the contract result in slower turn-around?  What do you do if the
second party cannot fulfill the contract?  What is the back-up to the
contract?

I'm sure there are probably a bazillion more questions which can be
asked, but you should certainly, absolutely, without question, consider
the hidden costs of such a major decision as this.

That's my 2 cents (or maybe 2 dollars) worth.

                ******************************************
                ******************************************
               ***                                      ***
               ***               Jim Mumm               ***
               ***   Acquisitions / Serials Librarian   ***
               ***                                      ***
               ***              Law Library             ***
               ***         Marquette University         ***
               ***          Sensenbrenner Hall          ***
               ***       1103 W. Wisconsin Avenue       ***
               ***             P.O. Box 3137            ***
               ***       Milwaukee, WI  53201-3137      ***
               ***                                      ***
               ***         mummj@vms.csd.mu.edu         ***
               ***         TEL : (414) 288-5351         ***
               ***         FAX : (414) 288-5914         ***
               ***                                      ***
                ******************************************
                ******************************************

On Wed, 15 Nov 1995, Cindy Diamond wrote:

> The following message has also been posted on COOPCAT, ACQNET-L,
> LIBREF-L, LIBPLN-L and LIBADMIN.  Please excuse any duplications.
>
>         Why should (or should not) Libraries contract library
>         services?
>
>         Which services are appropriate for contracting?
>
> Please respond to the list or to my personal e-mail address.  I will post
> results to the list.  Thank you.
>
> Cindy Diamond
> National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research
> Information Service
> <V092N2F8@UBVMS.CC.BUFFALO.EDU>
>