Abstract:

This paper discusses the orientation and indicators of library under the whole cultural context from the perspective of cultural statistics. The cultural domain affiliation of library, the cultural function of library and the cultural statistics dimension of library are analysed and compared with in the frameworks for cultural statistics from UNESCO, European Union, New Zealand and Canada. It states their enlightenments to the work of cultural statistics and to the orientation and the design of evaluation indicators of library in China. Library is a part of the cultural field, and the statistics should be located in the cultural statistics system. The economic and social dimensions of statistical indicators of  library, such as the cultural domain affiliation of library, library products and services, the professional attribute of librarian and the social participation of library, can be extracted from the industrial classification, the product and service classification, the occupation classification, the population census and economic survey. This will improve the comparability of library statistics, and will benefit the evaluation of library’s contribution to the development of culture, economy and society under the same standard framework.

Key words: Orientation of library, Statistical indicators of library, Cultural statistics, Categories of cultural domains, Cultural functions, Cultural participation, Cultural occupation