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The Library as Strategic Investment: University ROI Study Results

This study explores the return on investment for universities in their libraries, quantifying the impact of library resources on income generation and faculty productivity. It provides valuable insights for institutions seeking to articulate the value of their libraries and attract and retain outstanding faculty.

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The Library as Strategic Investment: University ROI Study Results

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  1. The Library as Strategic Investment:Results of the University of Illinois “Return on Investment” StudyPaula KaufmanMay 18, 2009

  2. Study’s Objective For every $ spent on the library,the university received ‘X’ $ in return. • Articulate value in terms of institutional objectives • Measurable effects • Replicable • Meaningful & compelling

  3. Administration Values • Focus on new intellectual directions • Strengthen interdisciplinary work • Find resources • Connect with community, state, nation, globally • Efficiency in all we do • Increase impact of university’s research • Attract & retain outstanding faculty “Funding does not regenerate funding.But reputation does.” – Charles Zukoski, Vice Chancellor for Research Faculty = Funding

  4. Quantifying for the University ROI: • Income as a proportion of the amount invested in an asset. Faculty generate income for the institution. Faculty use the library and its collections. What role do information resources serve in the income generation process? % of grant $ usinglibrary resources ÷ Library budget $ = “X”

  5. Explaining the Study • Not trying to claim an allocation back to library! • Not a budget argument • Not a cost/time savings exercise • Not creating a predictive model • Demonstrate that library research collections contribute to income-generating activities • Quantify a return on University’s investments in its library • Focus on library’s role in externally funded research process • Show“correlations” rather than prove “cause-&-effect”

  6. ROIs for Public Libraries • Reports • Worth Their Weight – Americans for Libraries Council • Making Cities Stronger – Urban Libraries Council • Examples • Southwestern Ohio: $1 = ROI $3.81 • Florida: $1 = ROI $6.54 • ROI Calculator: http://www.lrs.org/public/roi/calculator.php • “Worth Their Weight: An Assessment of the Evolving Field of Library Valuation.” American Libraries Council, 2007. • “Making Cities Stronger: Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development.” Urban Libraries Council, 2007. • Library Research Service, Peer-Based Return on Investment Calculator

  7. Revenue-Generated ROI Adapted Model forAcademic Library Corporate Library Model

  8. Representative Sample 16% Response Rate 3,083 Total Sent 328 Responses • Tenure System • 36% Full Professor • 29% Assoc Professor • 24% Asst Professor • 11% Other • Time at UIUC • 0-5 years 35%* • 5-15 years 36% • 16+ years 29% • *10% new in 2007 • Disciplines • 33.8% Soc Sci • 28.4% Phys Sci • 20.2% A & H • 17.6% Life & Health • 50%+ spend timeon research • 60% received peerrecognition oran award

  9. References Are Vital in Grants • 75.3% Essential • 12.3% Very important • 7.3% Important • 4.0% Somewhat important • 1.0% Not important 95%

  10. Library-Supplied Content 94% report using library resources in grant proposals 75% of references accessed through library For every reference cited in 2006, faculty estimate they read 4-5 more articles or books … Many more abstracts are scanned 94% obtain proposal citations via campus network/LibraryGateway

  11. Impact of e-Resources • 270 of 328 (82%) respondents offered comments • Fewer trips to the library • More time reading, less time finding • More resources reviewed, better ones cited • More efficient access (from home, while traveling, etc.) • Less use of print content (convenience of electronic) • Less serendipitous discovery • Integrated with their work • Read, write, find, share • Searching & reading blend together • Supports interdisciplinary exploration • Better quality; more competitive research & proposals

  12. ROI Model for UIUC 78.14% faculty w/ grants using citations X 50.79% grant award success rate using citations from library X $63,923 avg. grant income= $25,369 avg. grant income generated using citations from libraryX 6232 grants expended÷$36,102,613 library budget= $4.38 grant income for each $1.00 invested in library (ROI Value)

  13. Administration Values:Measuring Up • “I would leave this university in a microsecond if the library deteriorated …” • Attract & retain outstanding faculty • Increase impact • 28.8% more articles per tenured faculty • “Faculty with more publications and citations have higher propensity of obtaining more grants.”* • “Faculty who read more articles tend to receive awards.” (Donald W. King, UPitt Study, 2004) * Ali & Bhattacharyya, “Research Grant and Faculty Productivity Nexus: Heterogeneity among Dissimilar Institutions.” Academic Analytics

  14. Phase 2: Narrow Focus, Broad Range of Institutions • Keeps the focus on ROI for grants • Extends the phase 1 model • To 8 more institutions in 8 countries • Look for similarities and differences across the countries/institutions

  15. Phase 2: Institutions

  16. Phase 2: Preliminary Survey Results References are essential, very important, or important to grants: Range of 71%-98% of faculty Average # of citations in proposals: Range of 20-46 % of citations from e-library: mode varies from 50-99% For every article cited, many more are read

  17. Phase 3: Broaden FocusLibrary Functional Areas and Measurement Within the University Mission

  18. And Anticipate Change..New Scholarly Endeavors That Cut Across the Library’s Functional Areas Teaching / Learning Research Social / Professional e-science Scholarly Endeavors Collaborative Scholarship Institutional Repositories Functional Areas

  19. Examples of Downstream Measures by Library Functional Area (for students and faculty)

  20. Measure Examples of Downstreamsby Library Functional Area (for students and faculty) Teaching / Learning Research Social / Professional Information Literacy Instruction Collections Classroom success Graduation rates Careers Collections Publications Citations Usage Grants Prestige Faculty Retention Events Gatecounts Services Professional Memberships Perceptions Donations

  21. What We Can Show So Far… • Academic library collections help faculty be productive and successful • Libraries help generate grants income • E-collections are valued by faculty and bring return on investment to the university, no matter where in the world

  22. What we hope to show… • The library’s products and services worldwide… • Help faculty be successful • Help students be successful • Generate both immediate and downstream income • Provide good return for the investment

  23. THANK YOUContact Paula Kaufmanptk@illinois.edu

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