SPECIAL LIBRARIES: INCREASING THE INFORMATION EDGE Jose-Marie Griffiths, Ph.D. University of Tennessee Donald W. King King Research SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION 1700 Eighteenth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009 Librarv of Congress Cataloglng-in-Publication Data Griffiths, Jose-Marie. Special libraries : increasing the information edge / Jose-Marie Griffiths, Donald W. King, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index. ISBN 0-87111-414-3 1. Corporate libraries—United States. 2. Libraries, Governmental, administrative, etc.—United States. 3. Libraries and industry—United States. I. King. Donald Ward. 1932- II. Title. Z675.C778G75 1993 027.6'9'0973—dc20 93-20721 CIP Published by the Special Libraries Association. ® Copyright 1993 by the Special Libraries Association. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work, in whole or in part, without permission of the publisher is prohibited. ISBN 0-87111-414-3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLES vii FIGURES xi FOREWORD xiii PART I: BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY 1 CHAPTER 1: INFORMATION EDGE IN THE INFORMATION AGE 5 INTRODUCTION ' 5 THE INFORMATION AGE 6 THE INFORMATION EDGE 8 The Information Edge Among Countries 9 The Information Edge Among Companies 11 The Information Edge Among Professionals 12 Purposes of Reading 14 Importance of Information Found in Documents 14 Savings Achieved from Reading 15 Effects of Reading on Performance of Work 15 Achievement and Amount of Reading . 17 Do Some Professionals Read Too Much? 18 CHAPTER 2: INCREASING THE INFORMATION EDGE: THE ROLE OF SPECIAL LIBRARIES 21 THE INCREASING ROLE OF LIBRARIES 21 USE AND IMPACT OF LIBRARY SERVICES 23 Use and Cost of Library Services 23 What Professionals Are Willing to Pay for Library Services 25 The Dollar Value Derived from Library Services 25 IMPACT OF LIBRARIES ON ORGANIZATION GOALS 28 Increasing Productivity Through Library Services 29 Performing Work Better and with Greater Quality Through Library Services .... 29 Performing Work Faster Through Use of Libraries 31 Other Consequences of Library Use 32 TRENDS AND EXPECTATIONS 33 Managing All Documents Purchased by the Parent Organization 33 Centralization Versus Decentralization of Library Services 34 Other Trends and Expectations 35 CHAPTER 3: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 39 BACKGROUND 39 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 42 The Trail Leading to the Framework Presented Here 42 Objects of Evaluation and Evaluation Perspectives 44 Generic Types of Evaluation Measures 48 Specific Types of Measures 48 Derived Measures 52 Interaction and Externalities 55 PART II:' THE COMMUNICATION ENVIRONMENT 57 CHAPTER 4: COMMUNICATION BY PROFESSIONALS IN ORGANIZATIONS 59 COMMUNICATION BY PROFESSIONALS 59 The Communication Cycle 59 INFORMATION-INPUT ACTTVITIES '.'. 62 INFORMATION-OUTPUT ACTTVITIES 63 MEASURES OF INFORMATION INPUT AND OUTPUT OF PROFESSIONALS ... 65 Time Spent on Primary Work Activities 65 Time Spent on Communication-related Activities 66 Measures of Information Output 70 CHAPTERS: USAGE AND IMPACT OF INFORMATION FOUND IN DOCUMENTS . 73 DOCUMENT USAGE 73 Amount of Reading 73 The "Price" That Professionals Pay for Information Found in Documents 75 Purposes for Which Reading Is Done . 76 Relative Importance of Information Found in Documents 76 IMPACT OF READING ON PROFESSIONALS' WORK 78 Savings Achieved from Reading 78 Impact of Reading on Quality of Professionals' Work 80 Impact of Reading on Timeliness of Professionals' Work and Other Beneficial Outcomes 81 Impact of Reading on Professionals' Productivity 82 Further Evidence of the Impact of Reading 84 Consequences of Reading Versus Amount of Time Spent Reading 85 PART III: PERFORMANCE, EFFECTIVENESS, AND IMPACT OF SPECIAL LIBRARY SERVICES 87 CHAPTER 6: USAGE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL LIBRARY SERVICES ... 89 USAGE OF SPECIAL LIBRARIES 89 Introduction 89 Many Small Organizations Do Not Have Libraries 90 Use of Libraries by Professionals in 21 Organizations 92 Amount of Library Use, by the Type of Work Done by Professionals 93 Usage of Library Services 94 Purposes of Use of Library Services 96 Importance of Library Services 97 Effectiveness of Accessibility (Distance) of Libraries 100 Awareness of Library Services 101 Satisfaction with Collections and Services 102 Effectiveness of Services 104 CHAPTER 7: ACCESS TO INFORMATION FOUND IN DOCUMENTS 109 INFORMATION-SEEKING BEHAVIOR OF PROFESSIONALS 109 Introduction 109 Attributes and Usage of Different Types of Documents 109 ACCESS TO INFORMATION THROUGH JOURNAL ARTICLES 112 Amount of and Sources of Journal Article Readings 112 The Trade-off Among Different Sources of Journal Articles 115 Journal Routing Service 121 Photocopying of Journals in Companies 122 iv ACCESS TO INFORMATION THROUGH BOOKS 123 ACCESS TO INFORMATION THROUGH INTERNAL REPORTS AND EXTERNAL DOCUMENTS .124 CHAPTER 8: USAGE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF REFERENCE AND RESEARCH SERVICES 127 USAGE OF REFERENCE AND RESEARCH SERVICES 127 Distinguishing Between Reference Services and Research Services 127 Growth of Database Search Services 127 Amount of Use of Database Search Services 129 Attributes of Database Search Services 130 Satisfaction with Search Attributes . 131 Effectiveness of Database Search Services 132 Comparing Value of Attributes of Database Search Services Using Conjoint Measurement 134 USAGE OF CARD AND ONLINE CATALOGS 135 Amount of Use of Card and Online Catalogs by Professionals 135 Attributes of Catalog Services 136 USAGE OF CURRENT AWARENESS SERVICES 137 Current Awareness Alternatives 137 Usage of Current Awareness Publications 138 Importance of and Satisfaction with Current Awareness Publication Attributes .... 138 CHAPTER 9: PERFORMANCE OF SPECLVL LIBRARIES 141 FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION OF LIBRARIES 141 How Well Are Organization Libraries Run? 141 Components of Library Performance 141 STAFF PRODUCTIVITY 145 Productivity of User-related Functions and Services 145 Productivity of Operational Functions and Indirect Services 147 UNIT COSTS OF LIBRARY SERVICES 150 Unit Cost of User-related Services with All Indirect Costs Allocated 158 ECONOMIES OF SCALE 162 Economies of Scale Defined 162 Economies of Scale for Database Searching 162 Economies of Scale for Access to Collection 164 Economies of Scale for Volume Discounts 166 Economies of Scale for Services 166 Some Examples of Critical Mass 168 FLOW ANALYSIS 169 Serials Tracking 169 Monograph Tracking 171 CHAPTER 10: IMPACT OF SPECIAL LIBRARY SERVICES 173 THE VALUE AND WORTH OF ORGANIZATION LIBRARIES 173 THE PRICE PROFESSIONALS ARE WILLING TO PAY FOR LIBRARY SERVICES 174 DOLLAR VALUE DERIVED FROM LIBRARY SERVICES 178 Dollar Value Derived from Using Library Collections 178 Dollar Value Derived from Using Journal-routing Services . 182 Dollar Value Derived from Using Interlibrary Loan Services 183 Dollar Value Derived from Purchasing Materials for Department Use 184 Dollar Value Derived from Photocopying by Library Staff 184 v Dollar Value Derived from Use of Card Catalog 185 Dollar Value Derived from Using Online Catalog in Library 185 Dollar Value Derived from Use of Database Searches Provided by Staff 186 Dollar Value Derived from Current Awareness Publications . 186 Dollar Value Derived from Library Translation Services 187 Dollar Value Derived from Use of a Library's Self-service and Pay Photocopiers . 187 COMPARISON OF USAGE, COST, PRICE PAID, AND VALUE DERIVED FROM LIBRARY SERVICES 187 REFERENCES 191 vi TABLES Page Table 1: Amount of Reading and Time Spent Reading, by Professional Work Role 13 Table 2: Amount of Use and Unit Cost of Typical Library Services 24 Table 3: Ratio of Price Paid by Users to Library Costs 26 Table 4: Ratio of (1) Total Cost to Use Alternatives to (2) Total Service Costs to Parent Organization 27 Table 5: Other Favorable Consequences of Reading Library Materials 32 Table 6: Number of Readings per Journal and Cost per Reading, by Source of Journal ... 33 Table 7: Average Annual Amount of Time and Proportion of Time Devoted by Professionals to Primary Work Activities 66 Table 8: Average Annual Amount of Time (Hours) Spent by Professionals in Various Activities, by Work Role 67 Table 9: Average Annual Amount of Time (Hours) Spent by Professionals in Various Communication Activities, by Work Role 68 Table 10: Average Annual Amount of Time (Hours) Spent by Professionals in Identifying, Accessing, and Reading Documents, by Work Role and Type of Document .... 69 Table 11: Estimated Average Annual Amount of Output by Professionals, by Work Role and Type of Output 71 Table 12: Average Amount of Reading: Estimated Average Amount of Reading in a Year by Professionals, by Document Type and Work Role 74 Table 13: Average Hours and Dollars Spent Acquiring and Reading Documents per Professional, by Type of Document Read 75 Table 14: Proportion of Readings of Journal Articles, Books, and Internal Reports for Various Activities 77 Table 15: Average Importance Ratings of Resources Used by Professionals for Various Work Activities by Type of Resource 78 Table 16: Proportion of Professionals Who Do Not Have a Library at Their Place of Work, by Professional Field in the U.S 90 Table 17: Organization Library Services Available to and Used by Scientists and Engineers in the U.S 90 Table 18: Proportion of Professionals Who Use Various Types of Libraries and Average Annual Uses per Professional per Year 93 Table 19: Proportion of Professionals Who Use Their Organization's Library, and Average Annual Visits per Professional per Year, by Work Role 93 Table 20: Proportion of Professionals Who Use Various Library Services and Average Annual Uses per Professional