Evaluating and Measuring the Value, Use and Impact of Digital Collections

Lorna Hughes editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Facet Publishing

Published:20th Nov '11

Currently unavailable, our supplier has not provided us a restock date

Evaluating and Measuring the Value, Use and Impact of Digital Collections cover

An authoritative examination of current issues, themes and techniques on the use of digital collections by an international team of well-respected librarians, archivists and scholars.
Although a huge investment has been made in digitizing scholarly and cultural heritage materials there has been limited examination of actual use and impact. As the creative, cultural and educational sectors face a period of restricted funding, it is critical to consider their value to the institutions that host them and to the communities of users they serve in order to encourage quality, longevity and further investment. This edited collection provides a snapshot of theory and practice internationally, interweaving global case studies with up to date coverage of policy concerns, best practice, evaluation criteria and metrics.
The following key issues are dealt with:

  • What is the role of digital resources in the research life cycle?
  • Do the arts and humanities face a ‘data deluge’?
  • How are digital collections to be sustained over the long term?
  • How is use and impact to be assessed?
  • What is the role of digital collections in the ‘digital economy’?
  • How is public engagement with digital cultural heritage materials to be assessed and supported?

Readership: This book will be invaluable to academics, librarians, archivists and the staff of cultural heritage organizations, as well as funders and other key stakeholders with an interest in the development and long term sustainability of digital collections.

"This book is important for all those involved in digitization programmes. Its main strength is that it covers libraries, archives and museums to give an overall perspective."

-- Journal of Librarianship and Information Science

"Evaluating value and impact is the Holy Grail for all involved in the provision of information. How do we know that we are making a difference? This book attempts to answer the question in a series of independently written but structured chapters covering the range of issues across the libraries, museums and archives sectors. The chapters form in effect a series of examples of how different institutions and sectors have approached digitisation, attempted to evaluate them and seek to enhance their value."

-- Managing Informa

ISBN: 9781856047203

Dimensions: 234mm x 157mm x 14mm

Weight: 144g

218 pages