There was an interesting post today from Constance Ard which reported on Stephen Arnold (”search expert”) discussing the formulation of library ROI. She wrote:
“…Stephen Arnold has posted an interesting essay that discusses library ROI. Probably the most profound point made is that the costs used to calculate ROI often do not incorporate the true comprehensive costs.
Library budgets suffer due to the budget that is based upon ‘ignored costs’ and thus in the crunch time library customers suffer.
Librarians have to be more attuned to the costs associated with their knowledge and skills. Pricing the effort put into choosing an information product to be used by the system, time associated with staff training, bibliographic instruction and reference direction to the correct sources must be included in the expenses of a library’s budget. This reaches beyond salaries, it requires valuing the librarian for highly due to their skills and knowledge.
Librarians are uniquely qualified in blending technical and reference skills. We understand how the search systems work (at least enough to be an asset rather than a hazard) and how our customers use the information. We can translate user needs to technical consultants that are charged with ’setting the system’ up. This isnt a free service.
This knowledge and skill set is our meat and potatoes and prices are rising everywhere. It is time for librarians to calculate the worth of their knowledge and skills realistically so that in down times, our budgets remain strong and we arent forced to make hard choices about what services or products to cut in order to make budget. A librarys ROI must include a realistic estimate of a librarians cost beyond salary and truly calculate the service and knowledge employed for the benefit of the institution.”
Thanks for sharing that!
Great post, it was very informative. I think its a must read.
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