Organisations with access to an enterprise library enjoy significant RoI

Libraries can ‘make a powerful argument for their own value’ according to new return-on-investment (RoI) reports from Outsell. The information analyst company measured library end-user feedback from corporate, government and the health and education sectors. Outsell say the findings of their results should encourage information providers, libraries and publishers to highlight the quantifiable contribution they make to an organisation.

Major findings of the research showed that on average, information end-users cut the amount of time they spent on tasks by nine hours for each session and also saved over $2,000 in costs. According to the report, two-thirds of respondents say that the enterprise library resources assisted in making a significant decision.

Research conducted by Outsell in spring this year, found quantifiable evidence of ROI from libraries; the most significant amount was in the corporate and government funded sectors. However, notable savings were still to be found where users in the health and education sectors had access to their own appropriate library resources.

Notably, the study found libraries were helpful in revenue generation for organisations, with the corporate world enjoying the highest figures of $6,570 generated due to library resources. Commenting on the results, Roger Strouse, vice president & lead analyst of Outsell Insights, said, “Though revenue support figures are notoriously difficult to track and verify the fact that users perceive this level of revenue support from the library, in itself, should encourage information managers”.

In terms of the greatest benefits of utilising the library, users from government topped the table saying that on average their library saved them 12.2 hours, corporate users came in next with 9.4 hours. The greatest financial savings came from the corporate world with direct costs of information saving a $3,107 for each use, government users reported a saving of $2,575.