Benchmarks for Corporate Library Services in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Industries

Copyright © Best Practices, LLC 1

Benchmarks for Corporate Library Services

in the Pharmaceutical & Medical Device

Industries

Strategic Benchmarking Research

2 Copyright © Best Practices, LLC

Table of Contents

Study Overview

Key Findings

Library Profile

Library Services

Financial Resources

Human Resources

Forces of Change


Study Overview

Best Practices, LLC conducted this mini-benchmarking study to develop current benchmarks for selected services and resources provided by libraries and information centers within the biopharmaceutical industry.

Key Topic Areas Study Objective

This study was designed to help

library and information center

leaders compare scope, volume,

cost, and delivery of library

services at their companies with

those at other organizations within

the biopharmaceutical industry.

Use of vendors in services

delivery

Financial resources

Cost recovery practices

Distribution of FTE hours by

service category

Penetration of potential user

base

Forces of change likely to

impact libraries in the near

future


Participating Companies

Twenty companies participated in this study, with 12 representing the pharmaceutical/ biotech

industries, four representing the medical device industry, and four representing other healthcare

businesses. Responses are segmented by industry throughout this deck.

Other Companies

Medical Device Segment Pharma/Biotech Segment


Participant Industry Profile

Sixty percent of the participants represented libraries and information centers within pharmaceutical

and biotechnology companies, while others represented medical device and other healthcare company

segments.

(n=20)

14%

5%

Q. What is your company’s primary industry?


Library User Base – Potential & Actual Users All Companies

Q. How many potential users (employees who have access to your services) and actual users (employees who used your services) did your organization have during the last completed fiscal year?

(n=17)

The average number of employees per company who have access to library and information services

(potential users) is 7,786. The number of employees who are actual users of libraries in the benchmark

study averages less than half that, at 3,270.


8 Core Library Services Are Provided by 95-100%

Core Services are those offered by at least 95% of benchmark participants.

(n=20)

95%

95%

95%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

Evaluation, selection, acquistion of e-resources

Basic reference (< 1 hour)

Scheduled end-user training (e.g., class, vendorevent)

Site license/contract management

Site license negotiation

Development/maintenance of e-resources

Resource assistance (ad hoc user training)

Research (> 1 hour)

% Responses

Core Library Services

Nearly all libraries in the study provide a core group of 8 services. Research (more than one hour) and services related to purchasing and managing e-resources are provided by all the participating companies. Ad hoc user training is also provided at all benchmarked libraries.


Total Library Organization Cost - All Companies

Q. What was the total cost of providing library services and resources in your most recently completed

fiscal year?

(n=16)

Participating libraries spent an average of $4.2 million to provide services and resources during the

most recently completed fiscal year. Budgets ranged from $200K to $25 million.

$4.4 $4.2

$2.1

$0.8

$0.0

$0.5

$1.0

$1.5

$2.0

$2.5

$3.0

$3.5

$4.0

$4.5

$5.0

75th Percentile Average Median 25th Percentile

Average Cost in Millions ($US)

Library Cost: All Companies


FTE Hours Allocated by Process - All Companies

Q. What percentage of total FTE (Full Time Equivalent employee) hours did each of the following categories require?

% Total FTE Hours (n=19)

On average, 35% of all library staff hours were allocated to reference and research services among

participating libraries and information centers. Electronic resource management took another 22%

of staff time, and print collections—the smallest category—used only 4%.

Reference & Research , 35%

Print/ Physical Collections , 4%

Electronic Resources

Management, 23%

Website Development & Management ,

11%

Knowledge Management & Internal Docs ,

9%

User Outreach/Market

ing , 8%

Analytical & Value Add

Services, 6%

All Other, 4%

Best Practices, LLC is a research and consulting firm that conducts work based on

the simple yet profound principle that organizations can chart a course to superior

economic performance by studying the best business practices, operating tactics

and winning strategies of world-class companies.

Best Practices, LLC

6350 Quadrangle Drive, Suite 200,

Chapel Hill, NC 27517

919-403-0251

[email protected]

www3.best-in-class.com

About Best Practices, LLC

Copyright© Best Practices®, LLC 10

Benchmarks for Corporate Library Services in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Industries

Health & Medicine

copyright best practices

core services

delivery of library

corporate library services

selected services

participating companies

actual users of libraries

medical device industry