NASIG Newsletter

VISION SESSION

Measuring the Value of the Academic Library: Return on Investment and Other Value Measures
Dr. Carol Tenopir, University of Tennessee
Reported by Kathryn Johns-Masten

Carol Tenopir gave an informative session which provided a glimpse of results from a multi-phase project that seeks to measure the value of academic libraries based on return on investment, ROI.  Demonstrating and quantifying libraries’ importance to the institutions that fund them and to their users is becoming more important, especially in times of economic hardship.  Tenopir illustrated methods to gain a better understanding of how people use the data they gather from the library.  What is the end product they create with this information and guidance they receive from librarians?  Libraries need to do a better job of showing their end product.  Institutions want to know what they gain for every dollar spent on their libraries.

Carol Tenopir

Phase one, completed in 2008, consisted of a case study of one university to determine the return of investment of grants provided to faculty.  Factors studied were faculty use of citations, grant success rate using citations from the library, and grant income.  The goal was to determine what grant income was generated by using citations obtained from the library.  Phase two tested the model used in phase one, which consisted of a narrow focus on nine different universities in eight countries.  Problems with differences in terminology, variations in data that universities keep, differing fiscal years, variations in academic years, and language slowed the study.  The results of the study should be released in late summer/early fall 2009.  Phase three will branch out to look at grants and research, teaching, and student engagement.  It will look at a variety of returns and finding ways to quantify these to show the administration the value the library provides to the institution.

This research goes a long way toward the goal of demonstrating that library collections contribute to income generating activities.  An ROI calculator will be available to academic libraries as well as the formula used in the study.  It will be made available through the Academic Research Libraries website and the University of Illinois digital repository.  While this study focuses on electronic collections, individual libraries may want to change this or focus on print and electronic separately.  The current results show that academic library collections help faculty be productive and successful.  The library helps generate grant income, which increases the prestige of the institution.  Electronic collections are valued by faculty and needed.  Future studies will seek to tie measures to the mission of the institution; measure outcomes not just inputs; and provide quantitative data to show ROI and trends.  Quantitative data tells a story and each library needs to narrate their story to their institution.