professional issues (see Figure 1). These are the broad, over-arching areas within which more specific items are being studied. Examples of questions that are being answered are: What is the value of library collections to research, to teaching and learning outcomes, and to social and professional outcomes? How does that value differ for different stakeholders, such as faculty, students, administration, alumni, and others? What is the importance of library services and facilities and physical spaces in these three functional areas? This cognitive map reflects the foundation and structure for all of the individual studies that Lib-Value is conducting. Because it is not possible to conduct original research on every area of academic libraries in a three year study, the Lib-Value team has focused on being as innovative as possible. In some instances, this means looking at areas that have not yet been widely studied because they have only relatively recently become of significant concern, as is the case for e-books, learning/information commons areas, and environmental sustainability. Innovation in this context also means looking with fresh eyes at more traditional areas, such as journal collections, library instruction, and special collections, as well as at well-known tools such as LibQUAL+® and MINES for Libraries®. Work is already underway in several areas: • An e-books study, headed by Tina Chrzastowski, Wendy Shelburne, and Paula Kaufman of UIUC, is incorporating a portion of the Elsevier E-books Use and Value Study that is currently underway at UIUC and other institutions. This study looks at the value of e-books as presently used by faculty and graduate students how that value differs between those two groups and by publisher and subject and how e-books are used by UIUC users. • Gayle Baker, Teresa Walker, and Ken Wise of UT are leading an examination of how the information commons’ spaces and services contribute to student success on multiple levels, as well as how commons are utilized by instructors and how they affect teaching outcomes. • Bruce Kingma of Syracuse University is examining the environmental value of the library. For instance, providing online resources may yield savings in transportation and paper as users access collections from home and on their screens. Kingma, an economist, will also lend his expertise to all areas of the project, searching for ways to apply economic principles to every aspect of research. RLI 271 38 Lib-Value: Measuring Value and Return on Investment of Academic Libraries ( C O N T I N U E D ) AUGUST 2010 RESEARCH LIBRARY ISSUES: A BIMONTHLY REPORT FROM ARL, CNI, AND SPARC