What is the Return on Investment of a University Library?

1. What is the Return on Investment of a University Library? Carol Tenopir University of Tennessee ctenopir@utk.edu SCONUL June 2011

3. 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

4. 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.

5. In the information context, economist Machlup described two types of value: • purchase or exchange value: what one is willing to pay for information in money and/or time, and • use value: the favorable consequences derived from reading and using the information.

6. 2 Value Studies Scholarly Reading and Value of Library Resources Lib-Value 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.

7. 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

8. Preliminary analysis shows: Academics read many articles, with the library’s e-journal collection as the main source Books more often come from personal sources Academics read many other materials Value is demonstrated by time invested in reading and by outcomes of reading

9. Articles and Journals

10. Average readings per month n=1013, as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

11. Article readings over time Average number of article readings per scientist *2011 (UK), n=1013; 2005,n=932; 2000-03, n=397; 1993, n=70; 1984, n=865; 1977, n=2350 Carol Tenopir

12. Source of articles Percent n=1093, data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

13. Article readings from library by age of reader Percent n-=640, data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

14. Where did you read this last article? (Articles from library only) n=699, data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

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

16. Use of Library Collections n=532 n=707 Data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

17. Format of last article reading n=1062 n=1071 Data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

18. Time spent per article reading Percent Mean time is 43 minutes; median time is 30 minutes n=1106, data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

19. Books or Book Chapters

20. Source of book readings Percent n=850, data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

21. Book readings from library by age of reader Percent n=787, data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

22. Time spent on book readings Mean time spent reading is 1 hour and 34 minutes. n=851 Data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

23. Other Publications Includes: conference proceedings, government documents, and trade journals or magazines

24. Other readings Percent n=664, data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

25. Source of other readings Percent n=660, data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

26. Time spent reading other publications Percent Mean time spent reading is 35 minutes. n=588, data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

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

28. 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

29. Purpose of reading Percent n=1942, data as of May 1, 2011, 5 U.K universities

30. 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

31. 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%)

32. What role do scholarly articles play in your research, teaching, and other activities? Absolutely essential to both research and teaching. My field could not exist without them. ” 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.

33. 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 ”

34. Library Return on Investment and Value: Purchase and Exchange Value + Use Value = Total LIBRARY VALUE

35. Thank You For more information: http://libvalue.cci.utk.edu/JISC Carol Tenopir University of Tennessee ctenopir@utk.edu