Measuring value and return on investment of academic libraries

Abstract

The problem of how to determine the value of a library's services and products is not a new one. Many scholars throughout the years have attempted to take an abstract concept, such as the value of information, and make it more concrete and measurable. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 What was once often an intellectual exercise, however, now has practical urgency for librarians and for the institutions they serve. This is due both to an uncertain economic climate and to rapid advancements in information technology that call into question the traditional roles of the library, while providing opportunities for new roles. Libraries must demonstrate their value in measurable ways that are meaningful to funders and administrators. Just as importantly, measuring the value of services and products helps librarians make decisions about which best serve their users and provide the best return to both the institution and its constituents. Value in contextThe first problem in the process of determining the value of a library is a basic one: What constitutes value and how do you measure it? Various Measuring value and ROI of libraries Carol Tenopir et al Serials -23(3), November 2010182 Measuring value and return on investment of academic libraries Updated from a paper presented by Carol Tenopir at the 33rd UKSG Conference, Edinburgh, April 2010The value of an academic library to its parent institution is difficult, but important, to measure. Many different methods have been used to measure value, including return on investment (ROI), contingent valuation, and other explicit and implicit measures. In a recent study we looked at the value and ROI of the library e-journal collections in the grants process in eight universities in eight countries. The results show that library-provided access to scholarly journals supports faculty productivity and that faculty members value and use electronic resources to support their research, grant and publishing activities. CAROL TENOPIR

Library Impact Data Project: Looking for the Link between Library Usage and Student Attainment

“…This is often part of an effort to reinforce the importance of the library: for example, Tenopir 11 emphasizes the need to consider measuring the value of libraries, rather than merely marketing them as important, to remind users of what libraries can do for them as a population, and as investors in their costs (be it via taxes for public libraries or tuition fees for academic libraries). Tenopir has more recently been involved in specifically examining academic libraries, 12 surveying faculty to measure the link between citation use, reading, and seeking information with grant-related activities, finding that the library supports key academic research activities and thus can be considered to make a vital contribution to university value. 13 Additionally, Tenopir and Volentine 14 have demonstrated that academic libraries supply extensive resource provisions for materials for their university's research staff, with a particular focus on those who have received rewards or recognition for their work.…”

How to increase the loyalty of public library users? A qualitative study

“…Specifically, librarians and service providers should take everything possible to improve user satisfaction so that users’ loyalty can be improved (Xu and Du, 2018). Library professionals are looking for new ways to measure and express the value of their libraries to their parent institutions and to measure how well they meet the rapidly changing needs and expectations of their users (Tenopir et al, 2010). “Return on Investment” (ROI) is computed by assessing the statewide value of library material and services to public library patrons and then comparing this value with statewide public library operating expenditures (King, 2012).…”

Reflections on the value and impact of library and information services

“…The ROI methodology has been used by academic libraries to try to link the investment (in electronic subscription sources) to gains (in grant income for the universities) on the basis that the successful grant proposals require access to a wide range of information sources to put together a proposal that reflects the current state of evidence on a topic. Various libraries, in a second phase of the ROI study, have tried to use a methodology originally developed at the University of Illinois (Kaufman, 2008;Tenopir et al, 2010), but experience shows that the methodology is not directly transferable (Sidorko, 2010), and much depends on the way the academic libraries are funded, the types of discipline supported (as some disciplines are likely to attract much more research funding than others) and the mission of the university (some are research intensive, others less so). Data collection (collecting data on the successful grant proposals, and combing through the references to identify subscription sources) should be relatively straightforward.…”

“…The meta-analysis included contingent valuation studies as well as ROI studies. Contingent valuation measures the cost in money or time of not having the service, as well as the costs in money or time for having the service (Tenopir et al, 2010). For example, for electronic resources, the question would be how much would it cost to obtain this item if the library did not provide the item through the e-resource collection (and how much time would be involved in obtaining the item).…”