Return on Investment for Collaborative Collection Development: A Cost-Benefit Evaluation of Consortia Purchasing

This paper describes the cost-benefits and the return on investment of one consortium comprised of five separately administered libraries in the University of Colorado (CU) System. With a long history of collaboration, the libraries have developed an ideal cooperative arrangement for acquiring electronic content that is accessible across all campuses. The size and flexibility of this institution-based consortium allows it to be responsive and successful in collaborating across four campuses despite different sized budgets and unique local and institutional constraints. To demonstrate the value of jointly leveraging library budgets to university administrators, the authors conducted a consortium level cost-benefit analysis and describe the methodology used to quantify return on the university’s investment. This paper addresses both qualitative and quantitative outcomes and underscores how consortial participation has become an essential way of doing business

More than a Number: Unexpected Benefits of Return on Investment Analysis

In 2010–2011, University of Colorado (CU) librarians implemented a multi-campus pilot study to measure the institutional value of library resources used by faculty in their research. The study incorporated quantitative methods including return on investment (ROI), cost benefit analysis (CBA), and citation analysis of journal articles published by faculty; and qualitative methodologies such as in-person interviews with faculty. The study resulted in a CU ROI model that can be used to measure faculty perceptions of value and the economic benefits of electronic journal collections for faculty research in terms of ROI. The CU ROI methodology provides outcomes beyond a single ROI number and led to unexpected benefits for informing collection development decisions and strategies

Library fee-based information services: financial considerations

Fee-based services in libraries offer research and document delivery services to non-primary clientele on a cost-recovery basis. Highlights services at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Rice University and Purdue University. Explores the major financial considerations involved in starting a new fee-based service, including planning, staffing, pricing and marketing. Relates several special opportunities to which the libraries could not have responded without having had an existing fee-based service with experienced staff in place. Also examines Internet opportunities

The alliance shared purchase plan: A new experiment in collaborative collection development

Beginning in fall 2006, the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries piloted a shared purchase plan designed to manage duplication of monographs and enhance the consortial collection. The plan covered only undergraduate books in four subject areas. Two vendors, YBP and Blackwell, participated in the project. YBP covered economics and religion; Blackwell, political science and mathematics. Distribution of books was based upon individual institutional profiles, the dollar amount allocated to the project by each institution, and anticipated usage. While analysis of project data suggests that the pilot did not meet its collection goals, the project is leading to other collaborative efforts. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC