This paper discusses an Australian perspective of digital library economics. Introduction: definition and scope In 1998 the Digital Library Federation offered the following definition of 'digital libraries': "Digital libraries are organizations that provide the resources, including the specialized staff, to select, structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, and ensure the persistence over time of collections of digital works so that they are readily and economically available for use by a defined community or set of communities".(Council on Libr...