Valuing Libraries - Additional Resources - Blog of Links (US)

Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog – My Postings on the Value of Libraries

From the blog … “Here are the links to the value and impact of libraries postings that I wrote this week all in one place. Please feel free to share.” [April 7^th, 2010]

Our thoughts … This contains links to lists (divided by subject) of additional reports and resources which includes sections on Public Libraries, School Libraries, Academic and College Libraries, and Special Libraries.  All of them are have a strong North American focus.  For those with patience and a fair amount of spare time.

Valuing Libraries - Additional Resources - Report (UK)

The Value of Libraries for Research and Researchers – report from Research Libraries UK and the Research Information Network.

From the Executive Summary ... “This report presents the findings of a systematic study of the value of the services that libraries in the UK provide to researchers, and of the contributions that libraries from a wide range of institutions make to institutional research performance. The aim was to identify the key characteristics of library provision to support research in successful UK universities and departments.

The approach comprised two main elements: quantitative analysis of statistics – from SCONUL, HESA, and the RAE, along with bibliometric data - to investigate correlations between the characteristics and behaviours of libraries in 67 UK HE institutions, and the research performance of those institutions; and gathering and analysing a large tranche of qualitative information from nine institutions with a range of characteristics.”

Our thoughts ...The most interesting thing about this report is the in the visual diagram (map) that clearly shows how libraries can and do positively impact on Higher Education Institutions.  This diagram is used to as a basis to demonstrate how ten major library behaviours and characteristics affect and/or benefit Institutions.  It is also interesting that the focus is on qualitative responses backed up by quantative data.  This is a thought provoking report with ideas that can be transposed to other library environments as well as an excellent demonstration to show the value of libraries.

Value of Libraries - Addition Resources - Australia

To kick off the first of the additional resources here are a few Australian ones (not including the NSW and Victorian Reports of course):

ALIA’s information on Advocacy - http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/

Our thoughts … This is a good starting place for the practical side of demonstrating the values of libraries.  Of particular interest are the links to the “Every member an advocate” kit and the ALIA Guide to Advocacy and Lobbying for Libraries and Information Organisations.

Capturing Business Intelligence Required for Targeted Marketing, Demonstrating Value, and Driving Process Improvement 2012 - Brian Cox & Margie Jantti

From the abstract ... ‘The University of Wollongong (UOW) has undertaken an innovative and collaborative research project to demonstrate the value that can be provided by academic libraries. The tool developed, the “Library Cube”, is a data warehouse linking student borrowing and use of electronic resources to students’ academic grades and demographic information ... Analysis enabled through the Cube has revealed a very strong relationship between library usage and students’ academic performance. This information will improve UOW Library’s ability to demonstrate value to clients and stakeholders. The Library Cube has also delivered some anticipated and unexpected findings on the relationship between social variables (such as gender, age, and citizenship) and library usage behaviors; and in doing so has also identified potential target audiences for Library promotions and engagement strategies.’

Our thoughts … An interesting approach which is also able to include evaluating the use of electronic resources.  It looks at how different client groups access and benefit from different resources.  There is also a brief section that discusses different ways to demonstrate worth and the implications section asks some important questions.

Best bang for the buck: the economic benefits of Sunshine Coast Libraries Queensland (published in 2008)

From the website ... ‘...Now is the time for library managers to be able to translate the value of the services they provide to the community into language able to be understood by politicians and others. To successfully compete for funds with other areas of council, library managers need to develop tools and documents demonstrating the economic benefits which libraries deliver to the community. While there is no international consensus on the most appropriate methodology to apply to calculating the value of libraries, this paper applies a model used in Southwestern Ohio, to the nine libraries of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council in Queensland. The result was a return of $5.45 per dollar invested.’

Our thoughts … This report examines how the Sunshine Coast Libraries demonstrate value in economic and qualitative terms and describe the problems around providing accurate quantitative data.  Another good starting point.