Measuring (and Increasing) the Value of Academic Libraries

Carol Tenopir; Donald W. King

doi:10.4275/KSLIS.2010.44.4.019

Measuring (and Increasing) the Value of Academic Libraries

Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
2010, 44(4), pp.19-31
DOI : 10.4275/KSLIS.2010.44.4.019
Publisher : 한국문헌정보학회
Research Area : Interdisciplinary Studies > Library and Information Science
Received : August 29, 2010
Accepted : October 6, 2010

Carol Tenopir ¹, Donald W. King ¹

¹University of Tennessee

Accredited

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

University Library, USA, Value, Reading, Critical Incident Technique, Return On Investment(ROI)

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

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Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.84

Measuring (and Increasing) the Value of Academic Libraries

ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.84

Measuring (and Increasing) the Value of Academic Libraries

ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS

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REFERENCES (23) * References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

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* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.