These are slides presented on the Fit for Purpose project at the 2012 DLF Forum. See http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/mcpress/businesscases/ for more information.

1. FIT FOR PURPOSE: DEVELOPING
BUSINESS CASES FOR NEW SERVICES
IN RESEARCH LIBRARIES
Digital Library Federation 2012 Forum
November 4, 2012
Michael Furlough and Michele Reid

2. Who and what
Funded by CLIR/Digital Library Federation
• Research Group
§ Ted Fons, OCLC
§ Mike Furlough, Penn State
§ Carol Hunter, UNC-Chapel Hill
§ Eliz Kirk, Dartmouth
§ Michele Reid, North Dakota State
§ Advisory: Judy Luther, Informed Strategies
Article published by MediaCommons Press
http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/mcpress/businesscases/

3. http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/mcpress/businesscases/

4. Goal
Provide a flexible structure for informed decision making
• Transformative change calls for discipline and risk taking
• Planning maximizes potential for high value, high visibility
services
• New tools for library planners

5. Two-pronged approach
• Social entrepreneurship: It is up to the organization to create the
environment that its community needs
• Business case development: What happens if we do this?
• Discipline of purpose, discipline in action

6. Assumptions
• We need a business-like approach to support our mission
• Creative thinking can be learned and integrated into planning
processes
• Risk and rigor are not antithetical
• Transformation is built on sustained innovation
• Success requires a value proposition

7. Recommendations
1. Determine organizational readiness
2. Develop a business case
3. Conduct a pilot
4. Embrace the business planning life cycle

8. Go/No
Go
3. Launch
Decision
2
2.2 Pilot
4. Periodic
2.1 Business Case Reassessment
Development
Go/No Decision
Go 3
Decision
1
5.1 Service 5.2
Modification Exit
1. Organizational
Assessment
Time
Business Planning Lifecycle

9. 1. Organizational readiness
• Are the climate and capacity ready for very different kinds of
services?
• Four steps:
• Understand if you are mission-ready
• Know your risk tolerance
• Determine outcomes that promote impact and sustainability
• Make sure that you can put resources in the right places

10. 2. Developing a business case
• What happens if… ?
• Multiple steps
• Create basic outcome statement
• Identify options and analyze each
• Pinpoint and test
• Write implementation plan

11. 3. Pilot 4. Launch 5. Ongoing Assessment
• Develop a detailed plan, and implement following project
management guidelines
• Evaluate the results based on four approaches (economic,
strategic, analytical, integrated)
• Go/no-go decision
• Modify as needed
• Launch if appropriate
• Ongoing assessment and continuous improvement
• Exit if warranted

12. Case studies: Initial Findings
• Site visits conducted so far:
• Center for Digital Research and Scholarship, Columbia University
• Chronopolis, University of California, San Diego
• Parallels found
• Recommendations resonate with successful development
• Observed challenges mirror expectations
• Observing the greatest challenges
• Dramatic re-alignment of resources to match new mission/goals
• Integrating multiple resource streams
• Managing the inherent risks and uncertainties

15. Chronopolis and UCSD CI Programs
UCSD Research
Cyberinfrastructure Program
Condo Internal Facing
Co- Computing Network
Location
Storage
Data
Curation
Program
Chronopolis
External Facing

16. Revenue and Mission
CDRS at Columbia Chronopolis at UCSD
• Publishing services with • Preservation service with
some curation curation in pilot
• Inward facing service • Faces inward and outward
• Grew partially out of
• Grew out of an NDIIPP
previously existing
research project.
programs.
• Minor charges for services. • Charges for services.
• Funding is 85-90% subsidized • Funding is 70% subsidized.
• Customer funding not a • Customer funding will be a
major component. major component.

17. Creating a New Environment
“Competition would be non-sensical in the digital preservation space.
Digital preservation only makes sense in the context of other services
that support access, analysis, and re-use.”
David Minor
“The bet is this: by curating and preserving this data we will allow for
the study of ‘big questions,’ answers to which will benefit society. But
how do you measure that? When will we know?”
Brian Schottlaender
“This is the elephant in the room. Services like CDRS are seen as a
threat by some who work in libraries, as something that will force
them to change how they work. But many are very excited about
these directions and we need to work with the partners who are
ready.”
Rebecca Kennison

18. Risks and Uncertainties
• Adoption of services
• The value programs is still largely speculative
• OR – we haven’t yet figured out the metrics.
• Willingness to pay
• Institution
• Individual researchers
• Public education and research funding
• Private institutions are not fully insulated

19. How can this project be of value to you?

20. http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/mcpress/businesscases/

21. Contacts for today’s presenters
Mike Furlough, Penn State University
mfurlough@psu.edu
Michele Reid, North Dakota State University
Michele.Reid@ndsu.edu