The Role of Libraries in Economic Development: : Papers from the Conference Held in Ljubljana, April 1997

Philip Calvert (Victoria University of Wellington)

Asian Libraries

ISSN: 1017-6748

Article publication date: 1 September 1999

267

Keywords

Citation

Calvert, P. (1999), "The Role of Libraries in Economic Development: : Papers from the Conference Held in Ljubljana, April 1997", Asian Libraries, Vol. 8 No. 9, pp. 368-369. https://doi.org/10.1108/al.1999.8.9.368.14

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited


In his introduction to this volume, Graham Cornish says:

the argument as to whether economic growth proceeds or follows library and information development has yet to be resolved (p. iii).

It is clear that most of the participants at the conference believed library growth could stimulate economic development, and Cornish also says that:

although many people believe that the library has a role to play in economic growth and development, this has rarely been demonstrated by actual case studies or hard evidence. The papers from this conference go some way to filling that gap (p. iii).

Well, do they? Because it is such heresy for a librarian to suggest that the contribution of libraries to economic development may not be significant, the best place to start reading this volume is with Sturges’ contribution, “A sceptical review of the library and technology transfer”. As he so pertinently points out, writers from the business and industrial environment very rarely ascribe any place to libraries in the take‐up of innovative technology. The key aspects of know‐how and know‐who are not the forte of traditional library work. Sturges points out that librarians have a role to play in support of research, but he sees little actual evidence of libraries contributing to more mundane problem solving in industry.

Zarjan Fabjancic, a Slovenian economist, also casts some doubt on the effectiveness of libraries as a deliverer of economic development, though he says that they may play a role in the creation of new knowledge and in support of education. There are many librarians who have contributed to the conference and this volume who have described the provision of services to the industrial sector. Few have provided a clear evaluation of the effect of their services. It seems a rather “if we build it, they will come” approach, and not one that will easily convince hard‐headed funding agencies.

This volume has some value, but it has failed to convince this reviewer that libraries have so far made a significant impact on economic development. Where they may yet do so in the future is in the growth of the information society, in the use of information as a resource in itself that has a value and can be traded. This, unfortunately, is not a theme developed by writers at the conference.

Those interested in Slovenian libraries will find many useful papers here. The book, though visually attractive, lacks an index and cumulated bibliography.

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