Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report

The ACRL publication Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report is a review of the quantitative and qualitative literature, methodologies and best practices currently in place for demonstrating the value of academic libraries, developed for ACRL by Megan Oakleaf of the iSchool at Syracuse University. The primary objective of this comprehensive review is to provide academic librarians with a clearer understanding of what research about the performance of academic libraries already exists, where gaps in this research occur, and to identify the most promising best practices and measures correlated to performance.

For the full report go to : http://www.acrl.ala.org/value/

ROI 2020: How valuable can libraries become?

In the current economic climate, every dollar spent in support of libraries—whether public, academic, school or special libraries—is being more closely scrutinized than ever. In these circumstances, value calculations and Return on Investment (ROI) tools can provide powerful arguments for continued funding. In most cases, a snapshot of the value that your library provides will necessarily look backward, taking into account current services and resources. But are there ways to calculate value going forward? In an information landscape that seemingly changes from day to day, a view of your library’s future value may be an important consideration for budgetary analysis and planning.

Go to source: http://www.oclc.org/us/en/nextspace/017/1.htm

Measuring the value of academic libraries

This article looks at a quantitative study (claimed to be the first of its kind) on the return on investment in an academic library in terms of grant funding across the institution. For the University of Illinois there was a return on investment of $4.38 for every dollar invested in the library…… pretty interesting for us given the research strength here at UTas.

The Library as Strategic Investment: Results of the Illinois Return on Investment Study

http://liber.library.uu.nl/publish/issues/2008-3_4/?000269