Framing thinking

This chapter expands on the definition of impact through specific examples of impact in memory institutions.

The use of ‘memory institutions’ as a collective term for libraries, museums and archives dates back at least to 1994, with the first usage attributed to Swedish information scientist Roland Hjerppe (Hjorland, 2000). In using the term ‘memory institution’ this book assumes a common aspiration across multiple sectors in preserving, organising and making available the cultural and intellectual records of their societies. It also reflects the confluence with the growth in digital. While this book uses the term as a convenience to refer collectively to libraries, museums and archives it does not assume any primacy in their role as memory institutions, as other places such as schools, universities, media corporations, government or religious bodies are also included within this book's conception of memory institution.

Debate on value and thus on impact in memory institutions has a long history, but became a focal point for strategic thinking in the early 1990s (Griffiths and King, 1994). As definitions of information developed from information as process or knowledge (intangible) to ‘information as thing’ (tangible) (Buckland, 1991), so too did its valuation. A collection of books or curated objects may be valued as a body of knowledge but not be very meaningful to any tangible measure of knowledge until some person(s) has access to the object or reads the book. This understanding that knowledge is personal and individual is fundamental to value, and thus to impact. The value of the individualised knowledge is attributed by a person and is individually understood, but the outcomes of extended knowledge are collectively shared: thus magnified and tangibly apparent. It is capturing that transition from the personal to the shared that sits at the heart of impact value in memory institutions.

Considering a beneficial change in someone's life or life opportunity means that the intervention in their life through engagement with a digital resource may deliver benefits that are, at heart, advantageous from many perspectives, such as:

• • education and learning

• • engagement and increase of knowledge

• • economy and wealth generation

• • health and well-being

• • social and community cohesion

• • environment and sustainability

• • politics and democracy

• • technology and innovation

• • entertainment and participation

• • equality and equity.