A determination of the bottom-line value of libraries and information centers has proven difficult because of the intangible nature of the value and the use of archaic accounting systems that for the most part focus on tangible or physical assets rather than intangible ones. The problem is that the intangible value of libraries and information centers may be of orders of magnitude greater than their tangible value. To overcome some of these measurement difficulties, this workbook presents four different approaches to the intangible valuation of information resources.

The development of the methodologies in this report are the result of interviews with representatives at 125 corporations and organizations almost all of whom indicated that they do not conduct valuations of their libraries and information centers. Two exceptions include a communications company that conducted a cost-benefit analysis and a major chemical manufacturer that focused on intranet team forums as a means of evaluating the intangible value of their libraries and information centers.

The four methodologies presented in this workbook include:

Return-on-investment and cost-benefit analysis
Knowledge value-added
Intranet team forums
Intellectual capital valuation.

With the exception of return-on-investment, a traditional financial ratio emphasizing tangible assets, these methodologies concentrate on estimating the intangible value of libraries and information centers. Each methodology is broken down into six subsections:

Scope
Assumptions
Benefits of the approach
What this method does not do
Who can use
Methodology steps

The methodologies presented are sufficiently flexible to account for both traditional and non-traditional activities of librarians and information professionals and are applicable in diverse environments ranging from associations and non-profits to federal agencies and for-profit corporations. These methodologies should be considered "first-generation" efforts to capture the highly elusive intangible value of library and information center services. It is hoped that with the collection of data, usage, and experience, librarians, information professionals, and senior management will be able to refine them to capture more precisely the bottom-line contributions of libraries and information center services.