This book will explore ways of establishing value and measuring in the archives and specials collections.

There is a vast literature about ways of measuring value for cultural heritage assets as a whole, particularly museums and visitor attractions, but archives and special collections in libraries have largely been overlooked. They have been very poor at garnering statistical data and devising ways of measuring the impact of what they do, unlike museums and visitor attractions with their much heavier footfall.

Do Archives Have Value? discusses the various valuation methods available, including contingent valuation, willingness to pay and value chain, and assesses their suitability for use by archives and special collections. The book also assesses the impact of the transition to the digital in archival holdings, which will transform their character and will almost certainly cost more. The discussion will be set in the context of changing societal expectations of the archive in the wake of numerous scandals where records to address grievances must be kept irrespective of cost.

Value is explored in a range of different cultural and organizational contexts with case studies from a range of countries, including Australia, China, Japan, Malawi, Kenya, Russia and Thailand. There are contributions from Nancy Bell, Head of Conservation at The National Archives, Louise Craven, one of the leading UK archival scholars, Paul Lihoma, National Archivist of Malawi, Helen Morgan from the University of Melbourne, Pak Te Lee of the University of Hong Kong and Richard Wato from the National Archives of Kenya.

About the Author

Michael Moss is Professor of Archival Science at the University of Northumbria. Previously, he was research professor in archival studies in the Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute at the University of Glasgow, where he directed the Information Management and Preservation MSc programme. He is a non-executive director of the National Records of Scotland and until 2014 a member of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council on National Archives and Records. In 2015 he was Miegunyah distinguished fellow at the University of Melbourne.
David Thomas is a Visiting Professor at the University of Northumbria. Previously, he worked at the National Archives where he was Director of Technology and was responsible for digital preservation and for providing access to digital material.

Reviews

'Comprised of ten impressively informative articles by experts on their subjects, Do Archives Have Value? discusses the various valuation methods available, including contingent valuation, willingness to pay and value chain, and assesses their suitability for use by archives and special collections...A unique, seminal, and expressly organized and presented work of collective scholarship, Do Archives Have Value? will prove to be an essential, core addition to professional, college, and university "Library Science & Technology" collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.'

-- James A. Cox * Midwest Book Review *

'The question the editors of this collection of essays ask seems beguilingly simple: do archives have indeed value? But as Moss and Thomas point out in their introduction to the diverse contributions from across the world, the answer is not as straightforward as it seems.'

-- Danielle Westerhof * InforPro *



Book Information
ISBN 9781783303328
Author Michael Moss
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Facet Publishing
Publisher Facet Publishing