Communications Overload: Proposals from the Study of a University Library

Urban social institutions are being exposed to a growing barrage of communications. A preview of future conditions was sought in a contemplorary institution already operating at high message input levels, particularly one unable to raise the price of services in accordance with spurts in demand. A many-sided analysis of a library for research and higher education was undertaken.' A set of general policies was revealed which first employed economies of scale and then, under conditions of stress, shifted costs *to the executive and to' the client publics. A communications channel capacity model was developed. Fourteen separate policies, combined to meet the stresses of increasing communications load, were identified. The varied effects of overloading upon spatial organization, physical equipment of central facilities, the decision pattern, morale, and the status structure are treated. Richard L. Meier is research social scientist in the Mental Health Research Institute and associate professor of conservation in the School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan.