National Library of Australia Staff Papers, 2005

Font Size:  Small  Medium  Large

Libraries and economic value: a review of recent studies

Roxanne Missingham

Abstract


This paper outlines the development of research into the value of libraries over the past decade. Recent studies using contingent valuation for the British Library, South Carolina Public Libraries, Florida Public Libraries and St. Louis Public Libraries are summarised both in terms of methodology and findings. Studies into two national bibliographic services ( Canada and New Zealand) are reviewed to demonstrate the application of value studies to specific services. Discussion of the contingent valuation studies focuses on comparing the results and to determine how the results could be interpreted to understand whether the libraries provided a positive return on investment. Consideration is then given to alternative uses of the contingent valuation and potential areas for further research such as analysis of the optimum return on investment for libraries by sector or service.

Full Text: HTML