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

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.

Professor Lorna Hughes is the University of Wales Chair in Digital Collections, based in the National Library of Wales. She is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies.