1986

Repo, Aatto J.

The report describes and analyzes studies on the economics of information during the past two decades from the point of view of the library and information service community. First, some of the basic concepts and issues of importance are described and defined briefly. Empirical studies on the economics of information are presented in nine categories: (1) costs of information products and services; (2) price of information; (3) evaluation of effectiveness and efficiency of library and information services; (4) cost-benefit analysis of information transfer, (5) value of information (case-studies); (6) information service as a value-added process; (7) economics of information retrieval; (8) macro-economic studies of information and productivity; and (9) economics of information processing. Some comments on the need for future research in the area are also presented: basic information on international and national information markets; awareness of costs and benefits of services within the library and information service community; and case-studies of the value of information within the organizations.