초록

Abstract

Economic impact analyses have not been widely conducted in archives. This article reports on a two parallel surveys in the US and Canada to assess the economic impact of government archives (state, provincial, territorial, county, and municipal). The surveys utilize indirect measures of economic impact. Responses from 2,534 people in 66 archives were analyzed. Findings indicate that archives were the primary reason that respondents visited an area and that visitors exhibit specific patterns of visiting the archives in conjunction with other cultural organizations in an area. Furthermore, while many respondents used local eateries, fewer rented lodgings or spent money on theater or sporting events. As a result, the archives participating in this survey did have a modest impact on local economies. The article concludes by discussing three major questions about the evaluation of the economic impact of archives which were raised by the findings: 1) Are indirect measures the most appropriate means of assessing economic impact in archives or should archives employ direct measures as used by public libraries? 2) How should government archives formulate their value proposition and should those value propositions focus on other aspects of archives’ impact, such as the social impact, to demonstrate archives’ important role in society? and 3) Since visitors exhibited distinct visitation patterns, should archives work more with these other aligned organizations and work on larger forms of collective impact that benefit the entire cultural heritage sector in an area?