Methodology
The need to identify a return on the university’s investment led to linking the library to income generation
rather than cost savings. Recognizing that faculty use citations in their grant proposals, this study
connected the use of citations in successful proposals to library resources. A model for calculating income
generated with the use of library resources that appeared in an article in Information Outlook published by
the Special Libraries Association was adapted to the academic environment, and a survey was conducted to
confirm assumptions. The results address one component of the libraries’ role in the university’s economy.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Faculty normally publish the results of their research in articles that are often cited in subsequent grant
applications. At UIUC the majority of grant revenues are in the sciences and engineering. Publications in
these disciplines were among the first to be offered in electronic form. Most UIUC faculty use the campus
network to access electronic resources, and the majority of these collections are subscribed to by the
library. These resources are the source of many of the citations that faculty reference in their grant proposals.
Methods considered
A number of approaches were explored before selecting the use of a model. The SROI model was
appealing in terms of quantifying value, but required that measures be developed for social outcomes that
would be difficult to define and quantify. Productivity measures such as the h index, which reflects both
the output (articles published) and the impact (citations of articles) of faculty research, do not link the use
of library resources to income generation.
The use of contingent valuation does not assume a relationship between activities and outcomes. Multivariate
analyses show correlation, and regression analysis can show a causal relationship, but neither produces data that
could be used in creating a (monetary) ROI. The same concern applied to social and behavioral models such as Q
methodology, which examines the relationship between subjective claims in populations, and data envelopment
analysis, which evaluates performance by measuring efficiency in converting inputs to outputs.
Trend data
Ten years of data were collected on grant proposals, grant awards, grant expenditures, library budgets, and
numbers of faculty, principal investigators, and articles published by those associated with the university.
During this period there was a parallel increase in the number of faculty and grant proposals and a greater
increase in the number and size of grants.
The initial intent was to show the impact of electronic resources on faculty productivity. However, it was
not possible to define the amount spent on e-resources or to count titles, as the library budget is allocated
by discipline rather than format, and business models for journals frequently bundle the electronic with the
print. Although usage data on electronic resources are being standardized with the implementation of
COUNTER compliant data, it is still too early to have valid historical data across disciplines. Data on the
number of publications authored by those affiliated with the university were obtained from Elsevier’s
Scopus database and confirmed an increase in the number of articles published per principal investigator.
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