Performance Evaluation of Medical Academic Libraries Based on DEA Approach

Medical academic libraries are required to exemplify and quantify the value of their services to their users and parent organizations. Using the Data Envelopment Approach (DEA) technique, this study reports and discusses the efficiency measurement of the 77 academic libraries in Type1 medical sciences universities in Iran. Eleven (11) input and outputs variables were selected to measure the efficiency and performance of the libraries. The selected variables were: Total volumes held, net volumes added during the research period, number of professional staff, and number of supporting staff (service, security, etc.). The total number of full-time students enrollment, full-time instructional faculties, total personal expenditures (professional and supporting staff), area of the libraries, library spaces, computers, and seating capacities. As representative variables of the services libraries provide to their users, we have selected as outputs opening hours per week, the number of registered readers/members (students, faculty, etc.), circulation transactions, and the number of reader visits or attendance. The input-oriented BCC model analyzed libraries' efficiency and benchmarked each inefficient unit by determining and introducing similar efficient units in terms of services and multiple parameters. Out of the 77 libraries analyzed, 30 libraries were efficient, and 47 were ranked as inefficient. By addressing the performance details of each of the introduced units as a benchmark, the finding of this study can help the gatekeeper of these universities to plan and modify their library work plans to improve performance and achieve full efficiency.