Economic Considerations for Libraries, Archives and Museums provides insight into the economics of collaboration across Libraries, Archives, and Museums (LAMs) and cultural heritage funding. Drawing together a series of global reflections on the past, present and future of cross-sector approaches to preserving and promoting cultural heritage, this volume examines the economic prospects of LAMs from a variety of facets. Divided into five sections, the book covers the five most important areas in the development and sustainability of collaborative LAM projects: the digital environment; collaborative models; education; funding issues; and alternate sources of funding. Responding directly to the issue of a lack of adequate funding for maintaining and providing access to cultural heritage resources globally, the book argues that cultural heritage institutions must seek creative methods for funding and collaboration at all levels to achieve shared goals. Economic Considerations for Libraries, Archives and Museums will be of interest to all those engaged in the study of library and information science, archival studies, museum studies and digital preservation. Administrators and practitioners will also find much to interest them within the pages of the book.

Libraries are included in the widely accepted definition of Cultural and Creative Industries, together with heritage, performing arts, museums, visual arts, and archives, and they play an important role in the creative value chain. The Economics of Libraries highlights the economic importance of the library sector. Providing an accessible and concise expert overview of the most important economic features and diversified functions of libraries, the authors also summarise the challenges and opportunities deriving from digital technologies, the management of cultural infrastructures, and audience development. This unique short-form book fills a longstanding gap in our understanding of the demand and supply of library services. This book will be of interest to researchers and scholars in the fields of economics and the creative and cultural industries. It also provides useful insights for students and lecturers, as well as topics of discussion for professionals.

“Short essays about the [250] most significant developments in economic history . . . accessible [and] beautifully illustrated.” —Booklist From the philosophical dialogues of Ancient Greece and the moral contemplations of Medieval Europe to deregulation and cryptocurrency, The Economics Book presents 250 milestones in the science of the production, sale, and purchase of goods and services. These concise, engaging, informative essays examine the full gamut of subjects, revealing both the entertaining stories and the world-changing developments in the field. Shedding thoughtful light on the field’s significant subdisciplines—including: mercantilism, the Enlightenment, communism, econometrics, Keynesianism, macroeconomics, game theory, cliometrics, market design theory, and the Keynesian Resurgence that emerged in the wake of the Great Recession—this vibrant, colorfully illustrated collection will captivate you with a bird’s-eye view of the development of the world’s markets, what has shaped and affected them, and what drives them today.

Digital Library Economics covers key aspects of the management and development of the digital library from an economic viewpoint. The work is a collection of essays by leading international authorities and provides an overview of current and future positions with regard to the economics of digital library management and development. Key contextual aspects are described, providing a history of the growth of digital libraries, with special reference to financial issues, current and possible future economic models and costing methodologies and challenges, themes and issues in the field. Incorporates past developments, current good practice and future trends Written by recognized national and international authorities There is little else in the field: it fills a major gap in the literature

Contains 168 alphabetically arranged essays that provide information about topics related to economics, and includes biographical profiles of nearly one hundred noted economists.

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.

In this book, first published in 1998, world-renowned experts on the subject of contemporary librarianship analyse the problems associated with coping with an ever-expanding knowledge base, given their current economic constraints and budgets. It examines challenging marketplace solutions to problems in the economics of information; economic modelling of investments in information resources at academic institutions; the economics of resource sharing, consortia, and document delivery; and measuring the costs and benefits of distance learning.