The Associations between University Rankings and Resource Sharing among Academic Libraries

The academic library plays multiple roles in the university, making even a nuanced analysis of service numbers inadequate for assessing the complexity of the library's value and contributions to the university's mission and success. This exploratory study uses social network analysis and a unique interlibrary loan (ILL) data set to examine associations between a library's centrality in ILL networks and the performance of its parent university in U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) rankings. The study findings show that two types of network centrality, outdegree and betweenness, are significantly and positively associated with USNWR rankings. Resource sharing, such as ILL, is not only an essential but also an overlooked function of an academic library that, moreover, relates to a university's ranking and prestige. University administrators should therefore reconsider the "library-as-cost-center" budgetary approach.