Working together in difficult times: Challenges for academic libraries Sally Curry Research Information Network JIBS Conference York, 2 December 2010.

Working together in difficult times:Challenges for

academic libraries

Sally CurryResearch Information Network

JIBS ConferenceYork, 2 December 2010

Budgets and finance Searching for savings New strategies? Libraries and their value

1. Budgets and finance

The last decade for UK libraries

Chart 1: Indexed real terms expenditure on libraries 1998-2008

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Year

Exp

end

itu

re (

1998

=100

for

each

dat

a s

erie

s)

RLUK Pre-92 universities Post-92 universities Other HE colleges All SCONUL members

The last decade for UK libraries

Chart 2: Library expenditure as a proportion of overall institution

expenditure 1998-2008

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Year

Pe

rce

nta

ge


US and UK compared

Survey in late 2009 showed both UK and US libraries expecting cuts next year

US and UK compared

… and UK librarians are even more gloomy about the prospects in 2 years’ time

2. Searching for savings

Where and how to make cuts?

Staffing

Services

Infrastructure

Content

Staffing

expenditure has risen in real terms by 31% in UK university libraries

45% in research-intensive universities

highest as a proportion of expenditure (c 60%) in colleges

significant differences between individual libraries (30%->70%)

but academic staff and student numbers have risen faster

Chart 21: Staff expenditure as a percentage of overall library expenditure

1998-2008

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Year

Pe

rce

nta

ge


Chart 20: Indexed real terms expenditure on staff 1998-2008

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Year

Exp

en

dit

ure

(1998=

100 f

or

each

data

seri

es)


Staff, service and infrastructure

Staff Doing more with fewer staff pressure from university management some thought being given to restructuring and re-engineering but recruitment freezes and not replacing staff who leave are

the currently- favoured options

Service Closely related to staffing – opening hours and enquiry services

and user information skills training

Infrastructure Many libraries already cutting plans in both building

developments and in IT projects

Content

As proportion of overall library expenditure, relatively stable at 34%

highest in older universities:

Expenditure on content in UK has risen 34% in real terms

+52% in research-intensive universities

-2% in new universities

Chart 4: Information provision expenditure as a percentage of overall

library expenditure 1998-2008

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Year

Pe

rce

nta

ge


Chart 3: Indexed real terms expenditure on information provision 1998-2008

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Year

Exp

end

itu

re (

1998

=10

0 fo

r ea

ch d

ata

seri

es)


Content: books

expenditure on books has fallen, from c.12% to 9% of overall library expenditure

power of the student voice in demanding books and other library services

e-books the future?

Chart 5: Indexed real terms expenditure on books 1998-2008

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Year

Exp

endi

ture

(199

8=10

0 fo

r ea

ch d

ata

seri

es)


Content: journals

expenditure on journals has risen dramatically in research-intensive universities

different picture for recently-created universities and colleges

Chart 7: Indexed real terms expenditure on serials 1998-2008

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Year

Exp

endi

ture

(199

8=10

0 fo

r ea

ch d

ata

seri

es)


Content: journals

journal expenditure has risen on average from 15% to 19% of overall library expenditure

over 24% in older universities >70% of expenditure on

information resources in many universities

sustainability vs users’ expectations

future of big deals?

Chart 8: Serials expenditure as a percentage of overall library

expenditure 1998-2008

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Year

Perc

entag

e


Cuts in content?

cuts in monographs, other print books, and printed serials the most favoured

cuts in e-journals and e-books least favoured

Content: new areas and activities

information literacy how well is library-based training resourced and co-

ordinated with others?

open access repositories payment of open access publication fees

data curation new skills and capabilities

digital preservation

3. New strategies?

“opportunities to rethink what the library is and what it means….”

New strategies for content?

from just-in-case to just-in time? from librarian-controlled to user-

generated acquisitions? from hybrid to e-only?

drivers and constraints

cyber-infrastructure? consortial collection development?

‘cloud-sourced’ research collections?

role of Special Collections?

4. The value of libraries

Some issues with value

it means different things to different people

describing perceived value and demonstrating value are different activities

available data correlation is not causation……..

Usage and cost

as usage goes up, so cost per use has fallen

downloads of e-jnls rose by 160% in UK - 2004 and 2008


cost per download fell by 40%


big differences between individual libraries

Expenditure and usage

levels of expenditure in individual libraries do seem to correlate with volume of downloads

two journal platforms and COUNTER figures as reported by libraries

Usage and outcomes

usage correlates closely with research outcomes

PhDs awarded research grants and

contract income papers published

E-journal investment, use and research outcomes

Investment drives use

Direct links between use and research success weak as the two are distant from each other

There are indicators that usage does correlate closely with research outcomes

Thank you

Sally Curry

www.rin.ac.uk

References

Challenges for libraries in difficult economic times. RIN in association with SCONUL http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/using-and-accessing-information-resources/challenges-academic-libraries-difficult-economic-

Trends in the finances of UK higher education libraries 1999-2009 A RIN report based on SCONUL library statistics. http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/communicating-and-disseminating-research/trends-finances-uk-higher-education-libraries-1999

CIBER (2009) The economic downturn and libraries, survey findings www.ucl.ac.uk/infostudies/research/ciber/charleston-survey.pdf

Measuring library impact on learning at the University of Huddersfield, Sue White and Graham Stone. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/7842/1/SCONUL_2010_white_stone.pdf

All the RIN reports and briefings are downloadable from the RIN website

If you would like to be added to the RIN mailing list, please get in touch: [email protected]

RIN References

Taking Our Pulse: The OCLC Research Survey of Special Collections and Archives http://www.oclc.org/research/news/2010-10-27.htm

E-journals: their use, value and impact www.rin.ac.uk/use-ejournals

‘Transitions in scholarly communication’ focuses on changes taking place in the world of scholarly communications and their impact on research http://www.rin.ac.uk/resources/publishing/transitions-scholarly-communications

Scholarly books and journals at risk: Responding to the challenges of a changing economy www.rin.ac.uk/files/Scholarly_books_journals_at_risk.pdf

All the RIN reports and briefings are downloadable from the RIN websiteIf you would like to be added to the RIN mailing list, please get in touch:

[email protected]

Working together in difficult times: Challenges for academic libraries Sally Curry Research Information Network JIBS Conference York, 2 December 2010.

Documents

value slide

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value of libraries

academic libraries