Go8 Librarians

Study of Value Frameworks for Academic

Libraries

The Australian National University

Go8 Librarians

Group of Eight Librarians initiativeThe Group of Eight (Go8) is a coalition of leading Australian universities, intensive in research and comprehensive in general and professional education.

The Go8 Librarians network undertakes collaborative projects

• http://www.go8.edu.au/go8-members/go8-committees/go8-librarians

Go8 Librarians

Group of Eight Librarians initiative

Cost-benefit study to assess in both financial and qualitative terms the value library-provided information resources deliver to their research communities

• commissioned by Group of Eight (Go8) university librarians

• initiated by Vic Elliott

• conducted by Outsell, Inc.

Go8 Librarians

Methodology

Contingent valuation

• hypothetical scenarios

• willingness to pay

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Web survey• administered at

The Australian National UniversityThe University of AdelaideThe University of Queensland

Validation

• outcomes confirmed through focus groups atMonash UniversityThe University of MelbourneThe University of New South WalesThe University of Sydney

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DefinitionsResearch community• All university staff engaged in research

(whether or not also teaching) and all postgraduate pre- and post-doctoral research students as well as research assistants working on behalf of such researchers

Costs

• Costs incurred in providing information resources in both print and digital formats, for the research community

Information resources

• Content only, both print and digital, made available to researchers by their universities

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Response rate

1,175 valid responses (8.5%, with margin of error of ± 2.73%)

1,173 respondents completed all questions

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Demographics

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Demographics

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Use of information resources

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

B1: Use of print or physical information resources

Never

Sometimes

Frequently

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Use of information resources

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

B2: Use of electronic information resources

Never

Sometimes

Frequently

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Time and money spent in using information resourcesC1: Time devoted to use of information

resources

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

Lessthan 1hour

1-5hours

6-10hours

11-15hours

16-20hours

21-40hours

Over 40hours

Axi

s Ti

tle

a. Print

b. Electronic

050

100150200250300350400450500

Lessthan 1hour

1-5hours

6-10hours

11-15hours

16-20hours

21-40hours

Over40

hours

a. Print

b. Electronic

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Time and money spent in using information resources

Time and money spend using information resources

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

None 1-5 6-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 Over 50

Axi

s Ti

tle

a. Print

b. Electronic

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Time and money spent in using information resources

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Time and money spent in using information resources

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Present funding arrangements

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Present funding arrangements

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Qualitative questions about current services

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Qualitative questions about current services

Go8 Librarians

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Journal arti

cles (a

cademic,

scholar

ly, te

chnica

l...

Abstracts

, inde

xes, a

nd bibliograp

hies

Overal

l rang

e of inform

ation r

esource

s Books

Conferen

ce proce

edings

Govern

ment pub

licati

ons

Tech

nical p

apers

Dataset

s (e.g

. num

eric d

ata, su

rveys,

etc.)

Audio-vi

sual

media

Stand

ards and sp

ecific

ation

s

Patents

Other

Not applicable

Often fails to meet my needs

Sometimes fails to meet my needs

Meets my needs adequately

Meets my needs well

Go8 Librarians

0200400600800

10001200

Journal arti

cles (a

cademic,

scholar

ly, te

chnica

..

Abstracts

, inde

xes, a

nd bibliograp

hies

Books

Overal

l rang

e of inform

ation r

esource

s

Conferen

ce proce

edings

Govern

ment pub

licati

ons

Dataset

s (e.g

. num

eric d

ata, su

rveys,

etc.)

Tech

nical p

apers

Audio-vi

sual

media

Stand

ards and sp

ecific

ation

s

Patents

Other

Ease of access

Not applicable

Often fails to meetmy needsSometimes fails tomeet my needsMeets my needsadequately Meets my needs well

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Qualitative questions about current services

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Different funding scenarios for information resources

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Different funding scenarios for information resources

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Different funding scenarios for information resources

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Different funding scenarios for information resources

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Different funding scenarios for information resources

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Additional analyses

Analysis by university

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Additional analyses

Analysis by broad subject discipline

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0

5

10

15

20

25

Overal

l

Arts & Human

ities

Socia

l scienc

es

Life Sc

iences

Physica

l Scie

nces

Subject analysis: hours of use

Hours per week using electronicinformation resources

Hours per week using printedinformation resources

Go8 Librarians

0

5

10

15

20

Overal

l

Arts & Human

ities

Socia

l scienc

es

Life Sc

iences

Physica

l Scie

nces

Subject analysis: items used

Electronic itemsdownloaded or printed

Printed items borrowed,copied or consulted

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Additional analyses

Analysis by type of respondent

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Summary of main findings

Qualitative

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Summary of main findings

Financial

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Some conclusions

Libraries

• Provide a significant return on investment to university researchers

• The electronic environment provides an even more critical role of libraries

• This will change regularly and our value needs regular reassessment

• We need to review our services in light of the findings of then study.

Go8 Librarians

Thank you

Vic Elliott

8 April 2010