1. www.braarkiv.se The value of library services : estimation of effectiveness Viveca Nyström 7th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in libraries and Information Services 13- 16 August, 2007

2. www.braarkiv.se Göteborg, Sverige

3. www.braarkiv.se Traktoren Administrative Library Since 1979 Joint library for several local authorities, such as town- and traffic planning offices, city archives, real estate management and social welfare. Each institution pays a contribution every year. 3-4 employees Budget $ 320.000

4. www.braarkiv.se Motivational force An answer to the contributors’ question: Do we get our money’s worth? To use the value analysis as a marketing tool = easy to communicate

5. www.braarkiv.se Balanced scorecards Had been used for about 3 years. Didn’t actually measure our achievements in relation to targets, because we weren’t quite sure about our targets…

6. www.braarkiv.se Definition of the library’s objectives Contribute to skill development among its’ users. Save time for customers Save money for customers Changed point of view from internal productivity to external impact

7. www.braarkiv.se ”All special libraries (libraries in corporate, government agency and other non-academic institutional settings) exist for only one reason – to provide information faster, better and/or cheaper than customers can do so for themselves.” Jerry Baldwin, Library Director, Mn/DOT Library, Minnesota Conclusions: –value of distribution, not value of information –competition –time, money, quality

8. www.braarkiv.se Methods for measurement of: Skill development interviews (30 users, a few non-users) Time-saving observation - 7 users solving a brief task of information seeking without support from the library Money-saving cost benefit analysis

9. www.braarkiv.se The Matrix: impact indicators Stakeholders Value Individual customerOrganizational contributor Time Hours saved by using the libraryHourly value of customer's time Quality Service-minded library staff Information specialists Accessability Simplifies in-job training, capacitation Fiction literature available Increased competence among employees Well-being measures (fiction reading) Money Borrow fiction literature, otherwise probably bought private in the book-store Alternative costs or market prices for information services, minus the library's prime cost =Net gain

10. www.braarkiv.se Result interviews – 30 respondents Definition of human factors that are relevant Preferred service User groups identified Confirmation of quality indicators Improvements suggested by the respondents

11. www.braarkiv.se Result, observations Solving a brief task of information seeking took half an hour for two of the clients, a couple didn’t manage it at all, the rest needed about one hour.

12. www.braarkiv.se Result cost benefit-analysis In-house use not measured Measured: market price for lended books; market price for database use; saved time turned into cash. Saved time: half an hour for every ”item” that leaves the library system and is easily counted: downloaded articles and loans. Hourly value: $ 52 The economic benefit of the library services is at least twice the cost.

13. www.braarkiv.se Did the library save time, money and made it easier to improve professional skills?

14. www.braarkiv.se Sum up: The library saves a lot of time for the user when it comes to finding and receiving material The coordination of book collections and databases (=library) saves a lot of money for the contributors. The accessability and the service-minded library staff make training easier for the employees. The survey is convincing and easily communicated