Doing More, With More: Academic Libraries, Digital Services, and Revenue Generation

Abstract

This issue brief will address program development, financial principles of the program and their relationship to the institution’s budgetary practices, challenges encountered, risk assessment, and ongoing operations oversight. Fiscal management of the DDS program shares some foundational principles with responsibility center management, such as proximity, community, and transparency, and is made possible under the aegis of the University of Maryland’s encouragement of entrepreneurial initiatives fostered in campus units; while these environmental conditions help the program succeed, they are not inherently required for the initiation and advancement of the program. With careful strategic planning and financial sustainability, such a model can translate to many other research libraries with in-house technological expertise in systems management, software development, preservation, digitization, or research data management. Furthermore, such a revenue-generating model may have potential for adoption outside of technology departments--at UMD Libraries, the DDS team has been consulted about establishing fee-based services in public-facing units. Drawing from three years of data regarding project success, cost-benefit analysis, and assessment of the program, the authors will share best practices, valuation, and opportunities for growth and change. Ultimately, negotiating the tension between revenue generation and the altruistic mission of academic libraries is a challenging and reflective practice, and requires transparency, reflection, and compelling evidence of support for our mission to enable the intellectual inquiry and learning required to meet the education, research and community outreach mission of the university.