Preface

Despite the extensive developments over the last ten years, there is remarkably little published on the economic and financial management of digital libraries, their operations, collections and services. This book aims to address this gap by attempting to provide a ‘manual’ for all those involved – or expecting to be involved – in the development and management of digital libraries. While it is based on theory and research, it takes a practical approach to the subject, focusing on the key challenges associated with the economic and financial aspects of digital developments.

The handbook therefore concentrates on the ‘how to’ of managing digital collections and services of all types with regard to their financing and financial management. The emphasis is on case studies and practical examples drawn from a wide variety of contexts. We hope that the book – designed as a companion to our 2009 title Digital Library Economics: An Academic Perspective, from which we have drawn extensively – will be of particular value to the practitioner or the student of practice of the various topics, though we expect that it will also be of interest to all involved in digital library developments and digital collections and services, whether or not library based.

All web links were correct at the time of checking (April 2013).