DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Measuring (and Increasing) the Value of Academic Libraries

  • Tenopir, Carol (School of Information Sciences, College of Communication and Information University of Tennessee) ;
  • King, Donald W. (University of Tennessee and Bryant University)
  • Received : 2010.08.29
  • Accepted : 2010.10.06
  • Published : 2010.11.30

Abstract

The value of the university library to faculty, students, and administrators has long been assumed. In an era of decreasing resources and increasing choices, academic librarians must now find the best ways to measure and demonstrate the value of the library to all of their stakeholders, including faculty members, graduate students, undergraduate students, administrators, and funders. Techniques to assess and measure value can also help library decision makers select the products and services that provide the highest return on investment (ROI) to the university community. It is important to measure and convey the value of the academic library; it is also possible to increase the value of the library to the university by carefully refocusing the academic library's products and services. In this presentation I will discuss methods and results from a recently completed study in eight countries that measured the value and ROI of e-journals to the grants process. The Return on Investment (ROI) of the e-journals collection to grant funding ranged from over 15:1 to just under 1:1 in 9 institutions. In addition, many other qualitative and quantitative measures of value are as important as derived measures like ROI. Building on that research study, I am now leading a team that includes the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and several university libraries in a project funded by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. We are collecting data using on the value of a wide range of library services using several methods for measuring the value of what the university library contributes to the institution and its stakeholders.

Keywords

References

  1. Ali, M. M., & Bhattacharyya, P. [n.d.]. Research grant and faculty productivity nexus: heterogeneity among dissimilar institutions. Academic Analytics. in press.
  2. Jones, D. Y. 2007. "How much do the 'best' colleges spend on libraries?" College & Research Libraries, 68(4): 343-351. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.68.4.343
  3. Kaufmann, P. 2008. "The Library as Strategic Investment: The University of Illinois 'Return on Investment Study' from the Director's Perspective." Presented at the LibraryConnect 2008 Seminar, Tokyo: Japan. [online]. [cited 2009. 7. 11]. .
  4. King, D.W., Aerni, S., Brody, F., Herbison, M., & Knapp, A. 2004a. "Comparative costs of the University of Pittsburgh electronic and print library collections." The Sara Fine Institute for Interpersonal Behaviour and Technology. [online]. [cited]. .
  5. King, D.W., Aerni, S., Brody, F., Herbison, M., & Knapp, A. 2004b. "The use and outcomes of university library print and electronic collections." The Sara Fine Institute for Interpersonal Behaviour and Technology. [online]. [cited]. .
  6. King, D.W., Tenopir, C. & Clarke, M. 2006. "Measuring total reading of journal articles." D-Lib, 12(10). [online]. [cited]. .
  7. Luther, J. 2007. "University Investment in the Library: What's the Return? A Case Study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign." [online]. [cited 2009. 7. 11]. .
  8. Luther, J. 2008. "University investment in the library: What's the return? A case study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign." Library Connect White Paper no. 1. Elsevier, San Diego: CA. [online]. [cited]. .
  9. Matthews, J. R. 2007. Library assessment in higher education. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
  10. McClanahan, K., Wu, L., Tenopir, C., & King, D.W. 2010. "Embracing change: perceptions of e-journals by university faculty members." Learned Publishing, 23(3): 44-57.
  11. Mezick, E. M. 2007. "Return on investment: libraries and student retention." Journal of Academic Librarianship, 33(5): 561-566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2007.05.002
  12. Nicholas, D., Huntington, P., Jamali, H., & Tenopir, C. 2006. "Finding information in (very large) digital libraries: a deep log approach to determining differences in use according to method of access." Journal of Academic Librarianship, 32(2): 119-126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2005.12.005
  13. Research Information Network. 2009. "Ejournals: their use, value, and impact." A Research Information Network Report in collaboration with Ciber, London, RIN, April 2009. [online]. [cited]. .
  14. Strouse, R. 2003. "Demonstrating value and return on investment: The ongoing imperative - Assessing your library's value statement." Information Outlook, 7(5): 14-19.
  15. Tenopir, C. 2009a. "Measuring the value of the academic library: Return on Investment and other value measures." The Serials Librarian, 58(1-4): 39-48.
  16. Tenopir, C. 2009b. "The Value Gap." Library Journal, 134. [online]. [cited]. .
  17. Tenopir, C. 2009c. "Measuring the value and return on investment of academic libraries." Paper presented at the International Conference on Academic Libraries (ICAL), Delhi: India.
  18. Tenopir, C., & King, D.W. 2000. Towards electronic journals: Realities for scientists, librarians, and publishers. Washington, DC: Special Libraries Association.
  19. Tenopir, C., & King, D.W. 2007. "Perceptions of value and value beyond perceptions." Serials, 20(3): 199-207. https://doi.org/10.1629/20199
  20. Tenopir, C., King, D.W., Wu, L., & Edwards, S. 2009a. "Electronic journals and changes in scholarly article seeking and reading patterns." Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives, 61(1): 5-32.
  21. Tenopir, C., King, D. W., Spencer, J., & Wu, L. 2009b. "Variations in article seeking and reading patterns of academics: what makes a difference?" Library and Information Science Research, 31(3): 139-148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2009.02.002
  22. Tenopir, C., Love, A., Park, J., Wu, L., Baer, A., & Mays, R. 2010. "University investment in the library, phase II: An international study of the library's value to the grants process." Elsevier. [online]. [cited 2010. 7]. .
  23. Tenopir, C., Read, E., Manoff, M., Baker, G., Nicholas, D., & King, D.W. 2007. "What does usage data tell us about our users?" Online Information 2007 Conference Proceedings, London: Incisive Media, 80-86.