Libraries Shift Spending Away from Content to Technology, Says Outsell
Burlingame, CA and London, UK—October 15, 2009—What’s new at your corporate or city library? Rather than a new journal, or the latest Stephen King novel, it might be technology for finding collections online, according to Outsell’s second annual “Library Market Size, Share & Forecast Report.”
The report show libraries shifting content spending to technology spending—digitizing collections, acquiring native digital content, and developing digital storage and retrieval systems. As the Google Books Library Project continues, and new vendors scan and package content, further disruptions are afoot.
That’s just one of several trends revealed in the Outsell report, which sizes and segments the content controlled by the global library market. The analysis covers government, public, academic, school and corporate libraries—physical as well as digital. Overall, it projects a reduction in spending from $24.8 billion last year to $24.4 billion in 2011, driven by the economic slowdown. It also covers:
- The market for library content across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia/Pacific, and Africa/Middle East;
- Content spending by library and information type (scientific, legal, etc.);
- Analysis of key market drivers;
- Essential actions for content vendors looking to maintain or increase market share.
The report also references another Outsell study of business information users, showing a surge in respondents who prefer to start research through their organizations’ intranets—up from 5 percent in 2001, to 25 percent in 2008—rather than through the open Web.
“This profound shift in searching behavior means digital libraries and repositories will increasingly become go-to contacts for relevant, high-quality, and easily accessible business information. Libraries will remain vital in driving and managing content to meet this user demand,” said Ned May, Director and Lead Analyst, Outsell, Inc., who led the research.
To interview Ned May, please contact Dawn Ringel, Warner Communications, at 781-449-8456 or dawn@warnerpr.com. Companies can obtain the report at
http://www.outsellinc.com/store/products/874?refid=pr874.
ABOUT OUTSELL, INC.:
Outsell is the only research and advisory firm focused on advancing the publishing, information, and education industries. Our international team provides independent, fact-based analysis and actionable advice about competitors, markets, operational benchmarks, and best practices, so our clients thrive and grow in today's fast-changing digital and global environment. Outsell’s headquarters are in Burlingame, CA, US and London, UK. Visit us at www.outsellinc.com.
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