Proving its worth... University of Leeds Bill Hubbard 29 November 2007

Leading questions... How much money will it save? The point of this is to allow us to cancel journals, right? When will the repository break even? Where will the money come from? The money will have to come from library budgets... How much money will it make?

No summary answer Reasonable questions about cost, value-for- money, sources of money Reasonable answers about open access, added-value and benefits Our job to bring the two perspectives together Let us try a traditional Cost-Benefit analysis...

Cost - Benefit analysis CostBenefit

Cost - Benefit analysis Cost Software Server FTE staffing Distributed tech maintenance Cultural change New staff Role redefinition Service development Permanent budget line Benefit open access information management citation rise

Costs are plain, benefits strategic Repositories are a strategic investment Are there any comparisons?

Comparisons Any university information system Website Portal Timetabling system Finance system Personnel database Library catalogue e-learning environment

Proving the worth of ... Similarities - a system already in place postal service, telephones - secretaries, services, hierarchies Benefits echoed personalised communication - peer-to-peer direct contact - desktop access Cultural change echoes roles redefined Adoption profile discipline specific - slow-build to tidal wave

and in passing... has not replaced postal service although monolithic commercial concerns are strained embedded monopoly position agile operators move into vacuum social mores insist on some postal communication but new generations will change similar ideas of official communication

Proving the worth of ... Can a similar calculation be made?

So, alternatively... What do we loose if we dont develop a repository service? Who will be disadvantaged if we stop repository development? How much will it cost if we dont have a repository in the future? What is the current situation costing us right now?

Strategic value Show relevance to stakeholder needs Show relevance to stakeholder aspirations Show an account for stakeholder concerns Identify any short-term returns Describe long-term benefits, added value Quantify costs without undercutting true investment Create practical metrics to see if investment is on course but measure the right thing!

Stakeholder needs and aspirations Information management Research management Assessment and RAE Institutional profile Personal profiles Marketing and publicity Keeping up with the Joneses Show how repository addresses these in local and national context

Account for stakeholder concerns IPR - institutional and academic Academics freedom to publish Library roles under redefinition

Short-term returns Funding agency requirements Citation improvements OA citations rise but rise is relative between academics, departments, institutions, so need to keep up with the Joneses

Long-term benefits, added value Information management Research management Assessment and RAE Institutional profile Personal profiles Marketing and publicity

Quantify costs Staff Equipment Maintenance Content acquisition Support Advocacy Distributing the cost - embedding the process

Practical metrics Define your own metrics for success These will be locally sensitive Collection policies Collection targets - be practical By discipline? - by research income? - by prominence? Private metrics for failure for the warning bells to sound for you first!

Some figures for context 4000 articles per year 200 working days 20 articles a day target for collection? and preprints, conference papers, book chapters, reports, data-sets...

Proving its worth... Not through a balance sheet Not through coarse measures of size Not as replacement for anything As strategic investment that improves institutions core work As response to contemporary developments in HE and research As beneficial for research management and research outputs

Bill Hubbard