Electronic Access and Research

Efficiencies – Some Preliminary Findings

from the University of Tennessee

Library’s Return on Investment ROI

Analysis

Electronic Resources & Libraries

February 1, 2010

Gayle Baker & Ken Wise

Talk Outline

Phase I Return-on-investment (ROI) project at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Phase II ROI project

Results at University of Tennessee

Phase III

Phase I - Goal

Demonstrate role of library information

resources in generating research grant

income for the institution.

For every monetary unit spent on the library,

the university receives “X” monetary units in

return

Phase I - Data

Faculty – Survey (quantitative and

qualitative)

Grant proposals – University-supplied data,

faculty survey

Grant income – University-supplied data

Library – Total budget (including collections,

facilities, personnel, etc.)

Administrative priorities – Personal

interviews

Phase I

Grants ROI Model for UIUC

78.14% faculty w/ grant proposals using citations from library

X

50.79% award success rate from grants using citations from library

X

$63,923 average grant income

=

$25,369 avg. income generated from grants using citations from library

X

6232 grants expended

÷$36,102,613 library budget

=

$4.38 grant income for each $1.00 invested in library(ROI value expressed as 4.38:1 ratio)

Phase I - ROI Project

University investment in the library: What’s the return? A case

study at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

Judy Luther, President, Informed Strategies

http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/whitepapers/0108/lcwp010801.

html

The Library as Strategic Investment: Results of the Illinois

Return on Investment Study

Paula T. Kaufman

http://liber.library.uu.nl/publish/articles/000269/article.pdf.

Phase II

To test Phase I methodology

8 institutions in 8 different countries

Phase II Results

Faculty Survey

Grant ROI

Discipline Distribution51, 17%

41, 14%

92, 31%

25, 8%

64, 22%

23, 8%

Physical Sciences

Life Sciences

Social Sciences

Health Sciences

Arts & Humanities

Other

Academic Rank

109, 37%

74, 25%

98, 33%

13, 5%

Professor

Associate Professor

Assistant Professor

Faculty Administrative

Proposals Submitted

Importance of Journal Articles

Number of Respondents as PI

Descriptions of coded

responses

Availability / location

Efficiency / saves time

Expands research range

Timeliness / currency

Collaboration

Miscellaneous

Negative

Comments by Position

Comments by Discipline

Examples of comments

Makes my work significantly more

efficient. Compared to the time I began

my career over 25 years ago, I spend

less than 10% of time on

finding/accessing information and

articles. Also, it has likely expanded the

amount of material available tenfold.

(Soc. Sci./Admin.)

Examples…

It has saved me an enormous amount of

time. Not only is there less need to visit

the library but because I can get answers

to questions so quickly I can move on

with the formulation and re-formulation of

questions much more rapidly than in the

past. (Soc. Sci. / Asst. Prof.)

Examples…

It has made me much more efficient. I

can the same work in about 1/10th the

time. Unfortunately, the literature has

grown 10-fold, so I am just breaking

even. I could not keep up with the

scientific field without electronic access.

Also much easier to find pertinent

articles. (Life Sci. / Prof.)

Examples…

Electronic access has dramatically changed the way I carry out research and teaching. I know access articles from a much wider range of sources (especially journal articles and websites), instead of relying on just the main journals in my field. It's easier to assign readings for classes and I find that students have gotten very good at finding their own electronic resources. I tend to avoid resources that are not in electronic format (including some of my own older publications). (Phys. Sci. / Prof.)

Examples…

It has provided for more continuity in my

work by reducing the average time

needed to acquire a source. It has also

enabled me to free up time that used to

be used going to the library and visiting

various sections of the library. It has also

broadened the compass of sources used.

(Other / Assoc. Prof.)

Examples…

For me the biggest change brought about by access to electronic resources is that it has become far easier for me to do a quick informal search of the literature. I now routinely do quick searches to answer minor questions or to "pre-research" an idea to see if it may have scientific merit. I think it helps me make more efficient use of time for the granting process, and also makes me a better-informed, more up-to-date instructor. (Life Sci. / Asst. Prof.)

Phase II

Grants ROI Model

Phase II ROI results for UTK

For every dollar invested in the UTK libraries, the university receives a return of $3.44 in research grant income.

Write-up for Phase 2 Study

http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/librariansin

fo.librarians/lc_home

Available in March 2010

IMLS grant for 3 years

Dr. Carol Tenopir and Paula

Kaufman, Dean of Libraries, UIUC

Value, in addition to ROI

Phase III

IMLS Grant for Lib-Value Study

Questions?