This reader provides a starting point and introductory resource for anyone wishing to engage with certain key issues relating to the heritage, museums and galleries sector.

This is the first book to consider the development of all three cultural heritage institutions – libraries, archives, and museums – and their interactions with society and culture from ancient history to the present day in Western Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The text explores the social and cultural role of these institutions in the societies that created them, as well as the political, economic and social influences on their mission, philosophy, and services and how those changed throughout time. The work provides a thorough background in the topic for graduate students and professionals in the fields of library and information science, archival studies, and museum resource management, preservation, and administration. Arranged chronologically, the story begins with the temple libraries of ancient Sumer, followed the growth and development of governmental and private libraries in ancient Greece and Rome, the influence of Asia and Islam on Western library development, the role of Christianity in the preservation of ancient literature as well as the skills of reading and writing during the Middle Ages, and the coming of the Renaissance and the rise of the university library. It continues by tracing the gradual division between archives and libraries and the growth of governmental and private libraries as independent institutions during and after the Renaissance and through the Enlightenment, and the development of public and private museums from the “cabinets of curiousities” of private collectors beginning in the 17th century. Individual chapters explore the further growth and development of libraries, archives, and museums in the 19th and 20th centuries, exploring the public library and public museum movements of those centuries, as well as the rise of the governmental and institutional archive. The final chapter discusses the growing collaboration between and even convergence of these institutions in the 21st century and the impact of modern information technology, and makes predictions about the future of all three institutions.

This important reference volume covers developments in aspects of British library and information work during the five year period 2001-2005. Over forty contributors, all of whom are experts in their subject, provide an overview of their field along with extensive further references which act as a starting point for further research. The book provides a comprehensive record of library and information management during the past five years and will be essential reading for all scholars, library professionals and students.

The report recommends that the government invests up to GBP267.2 million over 5 years to revitalize England's regional museums. The proposal is to create a centre of excellence or 'hub' in each of the nine English regions. These 'hubs' would consist of a leading museum and up to 3 partner museums or 'satellites' which would work together to provide leadership and set new standards in the museum sector. The new money is intended to be additional to present local authority and other funding, and will be used to raise core staffing levels by 25%, create new access, outreach and education programmes, finance new exhibition initiatives, and develop new information technology resources. The report forecasts that visits to leading regional museums could double, reaching 100,000 visits per year.

Get informed answers to your questions and concerns about integrating the materials in your library’s collection Library collections have always included materials in many formatshandling a mix of material types is an accepted part of library work. And in recent years, the very concept of collection has been significantly redefined by the addition of electronic resources. But are print and digital materials really merged in library collections or are they treated and maintained as separate entities? Integrating Print and Digital Resources in Library Collections examines a variety of collection management issues, combining practical theory, research findings, how-to articles, and opinion pieces to encourage efforts in establishing fully integrated and accessible collections. While achieving a truly integrated collection can be difficult, the failure to do so can lead to duplication of access, effort, and expense. Integrating Print and Digital Resources in Library Collections can help guide you through the difficult aspects of keeping your collection up-to-date, including the Big Deal and consortial purchasing, shifting the emphasis from purchasing print to procuring online resources for library reference work, analyzing use patterns of electronic versus hard copy resources, serials workflow studies, and review projects. Integrating Print and Digital Resources in Library Collections examines: the implications of electronic resource licenses future directions of academic reference collections technologies that can help integrate electronic resources into reference collections the Big Dealthe purchase of access to large aggregations of materials in electronic formats integrating electronic resources into the collections of ARL libraries a corporate library’s progression to an all-digital collection how to decide what canand can’tbe digitized how large e-book collections affect the circulation of comparable print collections and much more! Integrating Print and Digital Resources in Library Collections is an invaluable resource for librariansexperts and beginnersseeking to develop the best collections for their patrons.

This guide provides library directors, managers, and administrators in all types of libraries with complete and up-to-date instructions on how to evaluate library services in order to improve them. It's a fact: today's libraries must evaluate their services in order to find ways to better serve patrons and prove their value to their communities. In this greatly updated and expanded edition of Matthews' seminal text, you'll discover a breadth of tools that can be used to evaluate any library service, including newer tools designed to measure customer and patron outcomes. The book offers practical advice backed by solid research on virtually every aspect of evaluation, including quantitative and qualitative tools, data analysis, and specific recommendations for measuring individual services, such as technical services and reference and interlibrary loan. New chapters give readers effective ways to evaluate critical aspects of their libraries such as automated systems, physical space, staff, performance management frameworks, eBooks, social media, and information literacy. The author explains how broader and more robust adoption of evaluation techniques will help library managers combine traditional internal measurements, such as circulation and reference transactions, with more customer-centric metrics that reflect how well patrons feel they are served and how satisfied they are with the library. By applying this comprehensive strategy, readers will gain the ability to form a truer picture of their library's value to its stakeholders and patrons.

What is the future of libraries? This question is frequently posed, with widespread research into the social and economic impact of libraries. Newspapers play an important role in forming public perceptions, but how do newspapers present libraries, their past, present and future? Nobody has yet taken the press to task on the quantity and quality of articles on libraries, however Libraries and Public Perception does just this, through comparative textual analysis of newspapers in Europe. After a comprehensive and useful introductory chapter, the book consists of the following five chapters: Wondering about the future of libraries; Measuring the value of libraries; Libraries in the newspapers; Contemporary challenges and public perception; Which library model from the newspapers: a synthesis. - Provides an alternative means to evaluate the impact of libraries - Compares different countries and societies regarding their representation of libraries - Pursues its subject through active research, rather than self reflection