Measuring Value and Impact: A Study of the UNT Digital Library Collections

In the fall of 2013, the University of North Texas (UNT) Libraries conducted a study to investigate the value of their digital repositories as perceived by UNT faculty, staff, and graduate students. The digital repositories include the UNT Digital Library, its UNT Scholarly Works institutional repository collection, and The Portal to Texas History. The research objectives measured the relationship between the perceived value of the UNT Libraries’ digital repositories and the UNT faculty, staff, and graduate students’ scholarly outcomes, awareness of available resources, contributions to date and interest in contributing to these digital repositories. In addition, statistical analysis of university position, rank, department, age and gender are correlated. This presentation discusses the results of this study, the process of measuring value and impact of digital collections, and implications for longitudinal studies and improvements in digital repository services.