Article type: Viewpoint.
Purpose: This article examines approaches by academic libraries in demonstrating
return on investment (RoI).
Design/Methodology/Approach: As a participant in a recent international RoI
study, the author reviews the various difficulties in developing a suitable
methodology.
Findings: Using grant income as the basis for demonstrating RoI, it was found that
wide differences in results may be attributable to a number of factors related to the
parent organization, the availability of grant funding and the country of the study.
Research limitations/implications: Further work is necessary to arrive at a suitable
methodology for a diverse range of academic libraries.
Practical implications: Library managers are alerted to issues and problems
surrounding the development of return on investment methodologies.
Originality/value of paper: This paper will prove useful to librarians considering
investing time and other resources in developing methodologies for demonstrating
return on investment.published_or_final_versio
