what is the return on investment of a university library?

Center for Information and Communication Studies

What is the Return on Investment of a University

Library?

Carol Tenopir

University of Tennessee

[email protected]

SCONUL

June 2011


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 receives ‘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 use of the library’s collections, services, and contribution to its communities.


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 two types of value:


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.


Value of Reading & Collections in the UK:

•Participants• Academic staff in 6 U.K Higher Learning Institutions including

UEA, University of Dundee, Cranfield University, Imperial College of London

•Questionnaire• Critical incident of last reading of: scholarly articles,

books/ebooks, other materials; plus demographics • E-mailed invitation from library directors

•Timeline• April-June 2011: questionnaires live• June-December: analysis


Preliminary analysis shows:

1.Academics read many articles, with the library’s e-journal collection as the main source

2.Books more often come from personal sources

3.Academics read many other materials

4.Value is demonstrated by time invested in reading and by outcomes of reading


Articles and Journals


Average readings per month

Article Book Other Publication0

5

10

15

20

25

30

25

8

12

n=1013, as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities


150 171188

216

280 295

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1977 1984 1993 2000-2003

2005 2011

Article readings over timeA

vera

ge

nu

mb

er

of a

rtic

le

rea

din

gs

pe

r sc

ien

tist

*2011 (UK), n=1013; 2005,n=932; 2000-03, n=397; 1993, n=70; 1984, n=865; 1977, n=2350

Carol Tenopir


Libra

ry S

ubscrip

tion

Free W

eb Journ

al, Websit

e

Dept. or P

ersonal S

ubscrip

tion

Colleague's

Copy

Oth

er0

20

40

60

80

100

65

14 9 6 6

n=1093, data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

Per

cen

t

Source of articles


Under 30 31-40 Years

41-50 Years

51-60 Years

Over 600

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

65 68 67 68

57

Per

cen

t

n-=640, data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

Article readings from library by age of reader


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

Office, Lab61%

Home27%

Travelling10%

Library2%



Visits to the library (physical and virtual) Syracuse University 2011

Activity Average last 30 days

Physical Visits 2.9 visits

Remote Visits 14.2 visits

Average Total Resources Used:

in-person visit to the library 7.3 uses

remotely online 14.9 uses


Electronic74%

Print26%

2005

Use of Library Collections

Elec-tronic93%

Print7%

2011

n=707

Data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

n=532


Format of last article reading


45%

40%

10%

5%

2011

Computer Screen

Downloaded and Printed

From Print Journal

Other

n=1071

19%

41%

32%

8%

2005

n=1062


Under 30 Minutes

30-60 Minutes

1-2 Hours Over 2 Hours

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

55

28

125


Time spent per article readingP

erce

nt

Mean time is 43 minutes; median time is 30 minutes


Books or Book Chapters


Purchased Library Free Copy Other0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

39

27 25

9


Per

cen

t

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

38

2721 20

26

Per

cen

t


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

5

10

15

20

25

30

35 32

2422 22


n=851

Mean time spent reading is 1 hour and 34 minutes.


Other Publications

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


Other readings


Government Document

Magazine/Trade Journal

Conference Proceeding

Other0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

3430

2016

Per

cen

t


Website, Online

Publisher Copy

Purchased Library Colleague Copy

Other0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

29

18 15 15 13 10


Per

cen

t

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


Per

cent

Mean time spent reading is 35 minutes.


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

and by outcomes of reading


Time Spent Reading from Library•Article

• 43 min/article X 25 read per month X 12 months X 64.7% from library= 139 hours a year per academic staff member

•Book• 124 min/book X 8 per month X 12 months X 27.2% from

library= 54 hours a year per academic staff member

•Other Publication• 35 min/publication X 12 per month X 12 months X 14.8%

from library= 12.5 hours a year per academic staff member


Purpose of reading

Article Book Other Publication0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70 66.2

52.3

40.9

12.5

27.7

10.6

ResearchTeaching

Per

cent



Readings for research or writing (2005)

• More likely to be rated “absolutely essential”

• 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 be from the library


Rank List of Values of Journal Article Reading

1st To inspire new thinking or ideas (54%)

2nd To improve your principal purpose for reading (38%)

3rd To narrow/broaden/change the focus of your principal purpose (28%)

4th To resolve technical problems (10%)

5th To save time or other resources (9%)

6th To aid in faster completion (5%)

7th To assist or result in collaboration/joint research (4%)


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

”Absolutely essential to both research and teaching.

Pivotal in research by informing me about the state-of-the-art, also significant in

teaching, for up-to-date articles read and discussed by

students.

My field could not exist without them.


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


Library Return on Investment and Value:

Purchase and Exchange Value + Use Value =

Total LIBRARY VALUE


Thank YouFor more information:

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

Carol TenopirUniversity of Tennessee

[email protected]

what is the return on investment of a university library?

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