Benchmarking

 

One of the assignments for ILS 560, College and University Libraries, was to perform a benchmarking exercise on a school of our choice. I performed the exercise on Quinnipiac University. The process of deciding how to choose comparison institutions was very enlightening. In the end I found that Quinnipiac, while larger than the other four schools in its group, was in last place in terms of the quality of its library services.

 

The following tables display some of my work:

 

                                                                                                                                                                                   

Table I

General Institutional Data

Category

Quinnipiac University

University of Hartford

Bentley College

Providence College

Roger Williams University

TOTAL FTE 12 MONTH ENROLLMENT

6,359

5,736

4,772

4,375

3,747

INCOMING CLASS

1,347

1,398

908

877

981

UNDERGRADUATE COST

$30,794

$32,895

$34,200

$31,000

$31,611

PERCENT MINORITY

9%

13%

13%

5%

4%

CARNEGIE Classification

21

16

21

21

32

HOURS OPEN, TYPICAL WEEK

110

92

98

103

92

LIBRARY BRANCHES

1

2

0

0

3

                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                   

Table II

Library Collections and Circulation Statistics

Category

Quinnipiac University

University of Hartford

Bentley College

Providence College

Roger Williams University

BOOKS, SERIAL BACKFILES, OTHER PAPER MATERIAL

105,000

459,592

220,346

397,630

181,750

BOOKS, SERIAL BACKFILES, OTHER PAPER MATERIAL PER PERSON ENROLLED FTE

16.51

80.12

46.17

90.89

48.51

CURRENT SERIAL SUBSCRIPTIONS

6,000

3,400

1,706

3,086

2,779

AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS

4,000

31,783

5,676

278

62,876

MICROFORMS

37,000

335,119

2,502

214,679

111,134

GATE COUNT, TYPICAL WEEK

N/A

11,101

6,500

N/A

6,425

CIRCULATION TRANSACTIONS

21,000

71,494

61,092

28,793

39,251

CIRCULATION TRANSACTIONS PER PERSON ENROLLED FTE

3.30

12.46

12.80

6.58

10.48

REFERENCE TRANSACTIONS, TYPICAL WEEK

400

1,569

550

291

230

ILL'S RECEIVED

3,200

3,290

1,542

1,396

2,133

TOTAL ILL LOANS PROVIDED

2,480

5,047

1,245

3,259

1,055

                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                   

Table III

Library Staff

Category

Quinnipiac University

University of Hartford

Bentley College

Providence College

Roger Williams University

TOTAL STAFF

27.5

53.0

23.5

39.0

49.9

LIBRARIANS/PROFESSIONAL STAFF

11.5

14.0

11.5

14.0

10.0

LIBRARIANS

9.5

12.0

7.5

12.0

8.0

OTHER PROFESSIONAL STAFF

2

2

4

2

2

OTHER PAID STAFF

8.0

10.0

3.0

17.0

12.4

STUDENT ASSISTANTS

8.0

29.0

9.0

8.0

27.5

TOTAL STAFF PER 1,000 ENROLLED FTE

4.32

9.24

4.92

8.91

13.32

LIBRARIANS/PROFESSIONAL STAFF PER 1,000 ENROLLED FTE

1.81

2.44

2.41

3.20

2.67

EMAIL/WEB LIBRARY REFERENCE SERVICE

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

DOES LIBRARY STAFF DIGITIZE DOCUMENTS?

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                   

Table IV

Library Expenditures

Category

Quinnipiac University

University of Hartford

Bentley College

Providence College

Roger Williams University

TOTAL EXPENDITURES PER PERSON ENROLLED FTE

$133.67

$234.39

$255.88

$495.59

$441.92

EXPENDITURES, HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

$10,000

$61,733

$1,843

$0

$41,292

EXPENDITURES, BOOKS, SERIALS, BACKFILES, OTHER PAPER MATERIALS

$384,000

$79,372

$57,603

$294,690

$431,439

EXPENDITURES, AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS

$24,000

N/A

$11,312

$0

$13,556

EXPENDITURES, BIBLIO UTILITIES, NETWORK, CONSORTIA

$80,000

$15,415

$44,765

$52,132

$19,200

EXPENDITURES, ELECTRONIC MATERIALS

$176,000

$0

$0

$31,450

$128,681

EXPENDITURES, CURRENT SERIALS SUBSCRIPTIONS

$246,000

$425,876

$309,340

$568,338

$147,025

EXPENDITURES, ELECTRONIC SERIALS

$40,000

$93,444

$217,972

$240,046

$12,923

EXPENDITURES, DOCUMENT DELIVERY ILL

$1,000

$12,025

$1,000

$590

$7,602

EXPENDITURES, PRESERVATION

$0

$6,306

$1,944

$50,055

$8,997

WAGES LIBRARIANS/PROFESSIONAL STAFF

N/A

$387,643

$528,987

$710,933

$649,233

WAGES ALL OTHER PAID STAFF

N/A

$231,211

$100,260

$319,591

$303,055

STUDENT ASSISTANT WAGES

N/A

$106,721

$98,674

$52,786

$19,438

ALL OTHER OPERATING EXPENDITURES

$129,000

$18,184

$76,635

$114,042

$28,602

                                                                                                                                                                                   

References

Bentley College. (2005). Retrieved March 2, 2005, from http://www.bentley.edu/

 

NCES. (n.d.). Compare academic libraries. Retrieved February 27, 2005 from http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/libraries/academicpeer/

 

NCES. (n.d.). IPEDS executive peer tool and peer analysis system. Retrieved February 26, 2005, from http://nces.ed.gov/ipedspas/index.asp

 

Providence College. (2003). Retrieved March 2, 2005, from http://www.providence.edu/

 

Quinnipiac University. (2005). Retrieved February 26, 2005, from http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x2559.xml

 

Roger Williams University. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2005, from            http://www.rwu.edu/About+RWU/

 

University of Hartford. (n.d.) Retrieved March 2, 2005, from http://www.hartford.edu/

 

 

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