Newsletter 1

Survey of libraries' activities begins.

Libraries have the potential to develop an ever increasing role in the supply of knowledge. It is estimated that at the beginning of the decade in the main countries of Europe, total expenditure on libraries amounted to ecu 8.45 billions (equivalent to 0.17% of GDP). As we approach the end of the century, rapid progress in methods of distributing knowledge by electronic means is being made and librarians are playing a key role in managing this information revolution.

In this context, there is an obvious concern to monitor the economic place that libraries occupy. It is the objective of LibEcon 2000 to provide the appropriate statistical evidence to better inform policy judgements and investment appraisals by international, national and local governments. A network of contacts representing the 474,000 staff employed in the libraries industry* has been established to co-ordinate the return of statistical information on a regular basis. These data, and other useful source references, are to be maintained on the LibEcon 2000 web-site:

To obtain a list of national contacts, click on National Contacts on the left, where further information about the ways in which you can assist in providing data or obtaining the statistics you require can be found. Funding by the European Commission is assured until 2001, by which time a rich source of important research material will have been collated. This will provide the basis for a "Millennium Study" of the economic importance of libraries. Associated with this study are UNESCO, IFLA and Eurostat. The work is being progressed by the National Library Information Statistics Unit, Loughborough University, United Kingdom, with overall co-ordination by the Institute of Public Finance, London.

The web site

A statistical database will be held on the web-site containing historic data, for countries included in previous LibEcon surveys, since 1981. In addition, estimates are included to make-up for missing elements so that informed judgements can be made about the probable totals. The historic coverage relates to the six sectors of libraries which are: National; Public; Higher Education; School; Special; Other Major (non-specialised) Libraries.

Data for some of these sectors are particularly weak. Changes are being developed to improve the future statistical treatment of the categories: "Special Libraries" & "Other Major (Non-specialised) Libraries".

This web-site also acts as the focal point for information about the more detailed sources of statistical information held in each country. Site visitors can hold discussions and obtain useful pointers to relevant information sources held by the European Commission and other international agencies.

Consistent definitions

A major problem in assembling meaningful statistics is to obtain information prepared to consistent definitions. The international standard for Library Statistics (IS 2789) is currently under revision by a working group within a technical committee (TC46) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). International organisations, governmental and non-governmental, also take part - in liaison with ISO - in the work of refining the definitions, and LibEcon 2000 will be well placed to inform this debate about standards.

Generating debate

Statistics are a sterile commodity unless served in context. Therefore, it is important that useful data are presented to those who control the resources in a digestible way so they can make effective decisions in support of library managers. The wider availability of up-to-date and consistent information at an international level, will assist policy makers and provide opportunities for benchmarking on an international level. The LibEcon web-site will assemble examples of the more innovative and impressive presentations made by contributor nations.

Objectives

The library world can claim to be one of the most advanced "not for profit" sectors in the economy for maintaining information about its activities. In previous studies conducted by DGXIII, it has appeared that every country had well established frameworks for gathering detailed statistical information about many library sectors. Often, the Bureau of National Statistics or the responsible Ministry for Libraries will collect the data, in which case there are an established series of statistics to which the new data are appended. In other instances, a lead Librarian (usually at the National Library or one of the Institutions of Higher Education) undertakes the task.

What is noticeable, however, is that most national survey operations collect the activity data (e.g. stock, usage, staffing) separately from the financial accounts. The LibEcon 2000 initiative aims to combine the international collation so that appropriate financial indicators can be made available to:

• Library policy makers who wish to consider the need for service resources;
• Managers of libraries who are interested in comparing their performance;
• Users of libraries who welcome feedback on the services they receive;
• Auditors of libraries who need to evaluate the service direction;
• Suppliers to libraries who need a measure of the market opportunities.

The overall objectives of the LibEcon 2000 project are to:

• Provide an appreciation of the current position occupied by each country in the development of statistical monitoring of library activities;
• Recommend an agreed protocol for co-operation between the major agencies for lessening the survey burden on providers of statistics about libraries;
• Create an awareness of the use of international comparisons in framing measures of performance;
• Generate co-operation in developing more rapid developments in the consistency of definitions.