ROI in Libraries Measuring a Librarys Value: Why, Who, How
Chrysanne Lowe, Elsevier Paula Kaufman, UIUC Lynn Wiley, UIUC
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Lib-Value: Can We Determine the Value of Academic Libraries?
Paula Kaufman SLA, Arabian Gulf Chapter March 2015 COSTSBENEFITS
WHAT WE GIVE (INVESTMENT) ROI (WORTH) WHAT WE GET (RETURN)
Copyright 2000 Resource Management Systems, Inc. All rights
reserved. LibValue Value, Outcomes, and Return on Investment of
Academic Libraries
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Why UIUC? New Provost demanded more quantitatively impact-based
budget requests No longer about telling the university you need us
Its about demonstrating the value of the library My team was eager
to participate
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ROI Phases 1 and 2 Faculty Grant Research Cycle LIBRARY Conduct
Research Obtain Grants Write Articles Write Reports & Proposals
Write Articles Write Reports & Proposals Obtain Grants Conduct
Research Library
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Phase 1 Findings: ROI for University of Illinois Grants (2006)
$4.38 grant income for each $1.00 invested in library Based on % of
faculty who rated citations in proposals from library as important
to the proposal x % of proposals funded $4.38 grant income for each
$1.00 invested in library Based on % of faculty who rated citations
in proposals from library as important to the proposal x % of
proposals funded
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Phase 2: Going Global
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Phase 2: ROI Findings
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Phase 3: Multiple institutions using multiple methods to
measure multiple values for multiple stakeholders ARL LibValue
Value, Outcomes, and Return on Investment of Academic
Libraries
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Lib-Value Projects Books and Ebooks Special Collections
Information Commons TeachingLearning Comprehensive Library Reading
and Scholarship Tools Website & Value Bibliography LibValue
Value, Outcomes, and Return on Investment of Academic
Libraries
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Ebooks: UIUC Ebooks value to library Financial Circulation,
maintenance preservation less expensive than print Useful to
patrons Ebooks value to patrons Accessibility & availability
Portability Search & navigation capabilities There is still
plenty of room for improvement!
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Albert Dutch Roth Digital Photograph Collection 1890-1974
Digital Special Collections: UTK Value Creation Outreach
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Digital Special Collections: UTK 00:04:52 Average Time per
Visit 11.18 Average Page Views per Visit Unique visits log data
from August 2010 to November 2011
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States from which the collection was accessed: 45 + District of
Columbia Digital Special Collections: UTK LibValue Value, Outcomes,
and Return on Investment of Academic Libraries Usin g eve n the mos
t cons erva tive aver agin g of all the resp ons es, user s of the
four onli ne coll ecti ons are willi ng to pay in the neig hbo rho
od of $5 per mon th for acce ss.
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Digital Special Collections: Findings Using even the most
conservative averaging of all the responses, users of the four
online collections studied are willing to pay about $5 per month
for access
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I had a girl last week working at the desk in the commons help
me research ideas for an English project. She was fantastic.
Student Survey Commons 74% of respondents said using the Commons
helped them do better in class They have a friendly staff willing
to help when needed. Information Commons, UTK: Findings
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In a typical semester, I save time by using the library to
support my teaching. 65% of instructors said that using the Library
to support t heir teaching saves them time. 63% said it saves them
money. Teaching, UTK
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$0 $50 or less +$1001 Teaching, UTK In a typical semester,
using the library saves me money that I might have spent on
materials to support my teaching or my students learning. +$1000 $0
$50 or less
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Learning Goals: UTK Improve first-year students research skills
Offer a friendly face to the Library Explore possible effects of
providing instruction over the long-term Develop tools to assess:
Student comfort Knowledge of research tools Summative knowledge
Information Commons, Hodges Library
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Learning: UTK Workshop Pilot Study - Sessions English 104, UTK
Libraries, Spring 2012 1.Ice-breaking Entering the research
community Scholarly v. popular resources 2.Types of resources
Article, journal, database, book When to use Google Developing
keywords 3.Physical Library Orientation to Hodges Library Scavenger
Hunt Assessment of skills required
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Learning: Findings Reports from project participants indicate
helpfulness of program The best part about these workshops is that
I learned a lot of information about research that I can use for
the rest of my years at UT. It showed me the resources that I have
here and how I can use them and as freshman, that is very helpful.
I felt I learned a lot and my confidence in researching for my
English paper and for other classes improved.
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Scholarly Reading: UK and UIUC UK, n=1189, June 2011;
UIUC,n=639 April 2012
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UK: 6 UK universities June 2011 UIUC: April 2012 Use of Library
Collections for Articles n=639n=775 Scholarly Reading: UK
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% library-provided 0 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 100 Article
ReadingBook ReadingOther Publication Reading 6 UK universities
n=2117, June 2011 UIUC n=639, May 2012 UK 67 UIUC 56 UK 27 UIUC 24
UK 15 UIUC 11 Scholarly Reading: UK and UIUC
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Comprehensive Study: Syracuse Faculty Survey Results (Weighted)
Activity Average frequency in the last 30 days Physical visits2.50
visits (73%) Remote visits12.31 visits (88%) Total Resources Used
During an in-person visit to the library 6.34 uses Remotely online
14.39 uses Total Time Spent Using Resources in-person 64 minutes
remotely 67 minutes
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Student Survey Results (Weighted) Activity Average frequency in
the last 30 days Physical visits5.07 visits (69%) Remote visits4.64
visits (63%) Total Resources Used During an in-person visit to the
library 10.54 uses Remotely online 4.06 uses Total Time Spent Using
Resources in-person 159 minutes remotely 68 minutes
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Willingness to Spend Time and Money Getting Resources from
Other Sources In-personRemote Faculty 169 min94min $67$30 Students
35min32min $5$13
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Value of the Academic Library (millions of dollars) Annual
Value In-Person Use Remote Use Faculty Time$10.2$14.9 Money$3.4$4.1
TOTAL$13.6$19.0 Students Time$12.0$4.2 Money$11.1$10.3
TOTAL$23.1$14.5
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Environmental Impact of Use Getting to The Library % of Faculty
Average Minutes % of Students Average Minutes Walk84%6.2972%8.67
Drive12%4.1711%4.86 Bus1%1.6816%11.84 Other2%1.711%2.09
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What if There was no Online Access? Faculty Value of Time Saved
Faculty Value of Resources Saved Student Value of Time Saved
Student Value of Resources Saved Walk $1,423,371 $2,087,636 Drive
$134,805$57,773$189,885$569,655 Bus$4,526$194$671,492$201,448
Other$9,213$7,408 TOTAL $1,571,915$57,967 $2,956,421$771,102
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What if There was no Shared Access to Journals? Faculty
Articles Monthly Faculty Annual Total Student Articles Monthly
Student Annual Total Online visit11.63109,0772.85549,030 Online in-
person visit 1.028,3041.45279,331 In-person1.2910,5020.55105,953
TOTAL13.94127,8834.85934,314 Photocopied or printed
3.8535,4081.14219,612 Read not printed 92,475714,702
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Value of the Academic Library (millions of dollars)
FacultyStudents Economic In person$13.6$23.1 Remote$19.0$14.5
TOTAL$32.6$37.6 Environmental Remote access$1.6$3.7 Read not
printed$0.1$0.7 Social?? TOTAL$34.3$42.0
Can We Determine the Value of Academic Libraries? NOT YET
LibValue Value, Outcomes, and Return on Investment of Academic
Libraries
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Can We Determine the Value of Academic Libraries? NOT YET But
were beginning to build models to demonstrate value LibValue Value,
Outcomes, and Return on Investment of Academic Libraries
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More details available on ARLs Lib-Value website:
http://libvalue.org/home