Accountability and demonstration of the value of information services in South African law firms

The value of library and information services in the incorporated South African law firm was investigated with regard to accountability to corporate management. A cost accounting exercise was developed and tested in seven South African law firms of varying size. Cost per practitioner was calculated in order to correlate data from the participating organisations so that average relative spending might be determined. Attempts to relate the unit cost of library and information services to use and usefulness were inconclusive and these efforts were unable to demonstrate the value of the corporate investment. Recognised business practices relating to corporate accountability were considered with regard to the relevance to corporate support services. These included ISO 9000 and the practice of internal auditing. An information services audit was proposed in accordance with a recognised management process.