STM publisher Elsevier, Netherlands, has announced the results of a new international study that demonstrates the value of the academic library to the institution in improving grant proposal and report writing and in helping researchers attract grant income. Of the eight institutions participating from around the globe, six demonstrated a greater than one-to-one (1:1) return in grant funding, with results ranging from 15.54:1 to 0.64:1. Seen to be equally significant is the result that two institutions showed a significant positive correlation between an increase in library investment over time and an increase in grant funding to the university.
Dr. Carol Tenopir, Director of the Center for Information and Communication Studies at the University of Tennessee, led a team of investigators over a 16-month period. The results of the study, funded by Elsevier, are available through a newly published Elsevier Connect white paper, 'University Investment in the Library, Phase II: An International Study of the Library's Value to the Grants Process' (http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com).
A first phase of the study was conducted as a pilot with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008. In the pilot, a model for calculating a return-on-investment, or ROI, ratio was developed. Phase 2 (results announced now) was replicated, which refined the original model. The research team found that among the participants the ROI return varied according to the goals of the institution, the funding environment of the institution's country, and the availability of data provided by the institution.
Dr. Tenopir and Paula Kaufman, Dean of Libraries at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, are currently leading a team on a third study phase - a three-year project to expand on this research to include other aspects of ROI. This third study phase is being funded through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
This next phase of the research will look at ways to measure the value, outcomes and ROI for the full range of library products and services to a variety of stakeholders. The library's contributions to functional areas of teaching and learning, research and socialisation will be identified and presented as a series of tools, reports and literature reviews. University administrators and library leaders alike are expected to find these of value.
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