Final Report of the Task Force on Cost/Value Assessment of Bibliographic Control

The Task Force on Cost/Value Assessment of Bibliographic Control was charged with identifying measures of the cost, benefit, and value of bibliographic control for key stakeholder communities, and developing a plan for implementing these measures. The objective of this work was not to develop a complete model of costs and value for bibliographic data, but to begin to identify sound measures that can inform decisions by those engaged in the creation, exchange, and use of bibliographic data. Given the lack of research in this area and our desire to move forward discussions about quantifying the value of bibliographic control in an environment where the vocabulary for doing so does not yet exist, the Task Force on Cost/Value Assessment of Bibliographic Control proposes seven operational definitions of value and offers suggestions for research in these areas. The seven operational definitions of value are: (1) Discovery success; (2) Use; (3) Display understanding; (4) Ability of our data to operate on the open web and interoperate with vendors/ suppliers in the bibliographic supply chain; (5) Ability to support the FRBR user tasks; (6) Throughput/Timeliness; (7) Ability to support the library's administrative/management goals.