Higher learning as a business: what are library employees worth?

Article Type: Abstracts From: Development and Learning in Organizations, Volume 25, Issue 3

Steele K. The Bottom Line: Managing Library Finances, 2010, Vol. 23 No. 4, Start page: 202, No. of pages: 3

Purpose – This paper considers library faculty and staff activities within an institution of higher learning in light of the recent ACRL report Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report. Design/methodology/approach – Using some of the student assessment measures listed in the ACRL report, the paper discusses possible ways to quantify library duties. Findings – The paper finds that it is invigorating to ponder what libraries do, within a bigger picture. Research limitations/implications – Avenues for possible research, with and without human subjects, include: library employees’ effects on enrolment,retention, and graduation; using SCOPUS or other citation database, to evaluate libraries’ effects on faculty research. Practical implications – It is important to expand assessment of libraries beyond the usual “internal”statistics such as circulation, to include wider institutional measures. Originality/value – The paper provides a commentary on September 2010 ACRL report. Article type: Research paper ISSN: 0888-045X Reference: 40AA871

Keywords: Academic libraries, Librarians, Performance appraisal