Scientific publisher Springer, Germany, has released a new white paper in partnership with Publishers Communication Group (PCG), titled Scholarly eBooks: Understanding the Return on Investment for Libraries. It explores how libraries might determine the value of e-books, and why it is important to do so.
The paper provides a broad view of the current state of e-book valuation, the implications of this measurement for the library community and the challenges that face those who are tracking these metrics.
While return on investment (RoI) for library resources may seem to be a simple question of money in vs. money out, the real difficulty in determining this value lies in the need to consider a number of factors. These include savings in staff time, ease of access to e-books, the effect on research and the space saved in the physical libraries. However challenging, the paper insists that it is still critical to determine e-book RoI as it could have profound effects on libraries where the allocation and prioritisation of resources is concerned.
The piece also states that it is important for librarians to stay up-to-date on developments from new and ongoing research into the value of e-books. These studies provide support to librarians when challenged over how libraries contribute to a university, its students, researchers and reputations.
The paper is posted at www.springer.com/eBooks and will be available at upcoming meetings in hardcopy as well.
