Measuring Value and ROI of Academic Libraries: The IMLS Lib-Value Project

Center for Information and Communication Studies

Measuring Value and ROI of Academic Libraries:

The IMLS Lib-Value ProjectCarol Tenopir

University of [email protected]

Northumbria August 2011



2 Value Studies

Lib-Value Scholarly Reading and Value of Library Resources

Aim: Develop models for assessing value and ROI for academic libraries.

Aim: examine the value UK academics place on having

access to scholarly materials.

End Result: An international perspective on the role and value

libraries and their resources bring to individuals and institutions.


1.purchase or exchange value: what one is willing to pay for information in money and/or time, and

2. use value: the favorable consequences derived from reading and using the information.

In the information context economist Machlup described 2 types of value:


Lib-Value Comprehensive Library Value Study (Bruce Kingma)

• Economic (private)– What is the value to an individual to use the library

resources?• Social (public)

– What is the value to the institution of the library?• Environmental (externality)

– What is the value of the environmental savings of library provision of electronic resources?

– Have libraries gone green without knowing it?


1) Implicit value (i.e., usage, downloads)

2) Explicit value (i.e., interviews)

3) Derived values (i.e., ROI)

Value can be measured in many ways:


University of Tennessee-Knoxville Downloads

FY04-05 FY05-06 FY06-07 FY07-08 FY08-09 FY09-100

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

4,000,000

4,500,000

5,000,000

1,336,639 1,481,040

1,969,350 1,946,883

2,558,722

4,496,516

UTK Article Downloads


Article Readings Over TimeA

vera

ge n

umbe

r of a

rticl

e re

adin

gs p

er y

ear

*2011 (UK), n=1013; 2005,n=932; 2000-03, n=397; 1993, n=70; 1984, n=865; 1977,

n=2350

1977 1984 1993 2000-2003 2005 20110

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

*


Average Readings Per Month:U.K. Faculty, 2011

Article Book Other Publication0

5

10

15

20

25

30

25

811

n=2117, June 9 2011, 6 UK universities


Purpose

Outcomes

Return on Investment (ROI)

Going beyond implied value to show…


Multiple institutions using multiple methods to measure multiple values for multiple stakeholders

LIB-VALUE:


Readings for Work Related Purposes


Reading and Scholarship Surveys (Tenopir & King, 1977-present)

Measure explicitly purpose, outcome, and value from scholarly reading by focusing on critical incident of last reading, with open-ended questions

Include all reading (from library and not) Exchange and use value Method can be used for other services


“The following questions in this section refer to the SCHOLARLY ARTICLE YOU READ MOST RECENTLY, even if you had read the article previously. Note that this last reading may not be typical, but will help us establish the range of patterns in reading.”

Critical incident of last reading


Articles


Libra

ry Subs

criptio

n

Free W

eb Jou

rnal,

Web

site

Dept. o

r Pers

onal S

ubsc

riptio

n

Colleag

ue's

CopyOthe

r0

20

40

60

80

100

65

14 9 6 6

n=1189, June 9, 2011, 6 U.K universities

Per

cent

Source of Article Readings


Under 30 31-40 Years

41-50 Years

51-60 Years

Over 600

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

66 69 68 68

54

Per

cent

n-=1047, June 9, 2011, 6 universities

Article Readings from Library by Age of Reader


Where did you read this last article? (Articles from library only)

Office, Lab62%

Home26%

Travelling10% Library

2%



Preliminary Faculty Survey Results

ActivityAverage last 30

days% of

respondents Physical Visits 2.9 visits 73%Remote Visits 14.2 visits 88%

Average Total Resources Used: in-person visit to the library 7.3 uses 80%

remotely online 14.9 uses 89%


Electronic72%

Print28%

US, 2005

Use of Library Collections for Articles

Elec-tronic93%

Print7%

UK, 2011

n=775

June 9, 2011, 6 U.K universities

n=562


Principal Purpose of Reading

51%

20%

9%

11%

9%

n=1433

67%12%

6%8%

7%ResearchTeachingCurrent AwarenessProposalsOther

U.K, 2011U.S, Australia, 2004-2006

n=1161


Source of Reading by Purpose of Reading: Faculty in U.K

n=1161, 2011

71%5%

11%

4%

5%

4%Teaching

67%4%

12%

5%

4% 8%

Library Subscrip-tion

Personal Subscrip-tion

Open Web

Colleagues

School/Department Subscription

Other

Research

57%

12%

17%

4%7%

3%

Current Awareness


Readings for Research or Writing (2011)

• More likely to be found by searching• More likely to be from e-sources• More likely to be after the first year of

publication• More likely to “inspire new thinking”• More likely to be read with great care


Outcomes of Journal Article Reading2004-06 2011

1st Inspire new thinking or ideas 55% 54%2nd Improve results 40% 38%3rd Narrow/broaden/change the focus 27% 28%

4th Resolve technical problems 12% 10%5th Save time or other resources 12% 10%6th Aid in faster completion 7% 5%7th Assist or result in collaboration/joint research

6% 4%


Under 30 Minutes

30-60 Minutes 1-2 Hours Over 2 Hours0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

55

27

126


Time Spent Per Article Reading:Faculty in U.K, 2011

Per

cent

Mean time is 44 minutes; median time is 30 minutes


Books or Book Chapters


Purchased Library Colleague, Publisher Other0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

39

28 25

8


Per

cent

Source of Book Readings


Under 30 31-40 Years 41-50 Years 51-60 Years Over 60 Years0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

40

2923 22

30

Per

cent

n=863, data as of June 9, 2011, 6 U.K universities

Book Readings from Library by Age of Reader


Time Spent on Book Readings

Under 30 Minutes 30-60 Minutes 1-2 Hours Over 2 Hours0

102030405060708090

100

3224 22 22

n=932, June 9, 2011, 6 UK universities

Mean time spent reading is 1 hour and 33 minutes; Median: 1 hour.

Per

cent


Other Publications

Includes: conference proceedings, government documents, and trade journals or magazines


Other Readings


Government Document

Magazine/Trade Journal

Conference Proceeding

Other0

102030405060708090

100

34 31

19 16

Per

cent


Website, Online

Publisher Copy

Purchased Library Colleague Copy

Other0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

30

18 15 14 13 10


Per

cent

Source of Other Readings


Under 30 Minutes

30-60 Minutes 1-2 Hours Over 2 Hours0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

67

20

8 5

Time Spent Reading Other Publications

n=588, data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

Per

cent

Mean time spent reading is 35 minutes; Median: 30 minutes


Time Spent (Exchange Value) Reading from Library

• Article• 55 min/article X 25 read per month X 12 months X 67%

from library= 184 hours a year per academic staff member

• Book• 123 min/book X 8 per month X 12 months X 27% from

library= 53 hours a year per academic staff member

• Other Publication• 51 min/publication X 11 per month X 12 months X 15%

from library= 17 hours a year per academic staff member


What role do scholarly articles play in your research, teaching, and other activities?

” Absolutely essential. They form the basis of my work.

A great deal—they are the foundation.

A central one for both teaching and research…inseparable in any true university despite the current climate.

A great deal—they are the foundation.


Portrait of a successful faculty member…

”• Publishes more • Wins awards• Reads more• Reads more from the

library• For every article cited,

reads 27-40 additional articles


Return on investment in a strict sense…

…is a quantitative measure expressed as a ratio of the value returned to the institution for each

monetary unit invested in the library. For every $/€/£ spent on the library,

the university received ‘X’ $/€/£ in return.

Demonstrate that library collections contribute to income-generating activities


Return on Investment is also…

…values of all types that come to stakeholders and the institution from the library’s collections, services, and

contribution to its communities.


Value is demonstrated by time invested in reading, by purpose of reading, by value to purpose, by outcomes of reading, and by

how library services contribute to the income and mission of the

institution


More details and searchable Lib-Value bibliographic database available on the

project website:

http://libvalue.cci.utk.edu

http://libvalue.cci.utk.edu/

Documents

Measuring Value and ROI of Academic Libraries: The IMLS Lib-Value Project