: Predicting Long Term Digital Preservation Costs

As we develop our ability to preserve digital collections through techniques such as migration and emulation, the decision process of what action to take and when to take it becomes increasingly complex. Cost is a crucial factor to consider but the financial implications of preservation planning decisions are not typically well understood. At a strategic level, there are also significant challenges to contend with as the world moves rapidly to a world of both non-digital and digital information provision. What is the appropriate size and make up of an organisation’s preservation department? A new phase of the LIFE Project is aiming to improve our understanding of the financial aspect of these questions, ensuring preservation risk is minimised and preservation activity can be conducted within the boundaries of our financial constraints. The LIFE Project created a digital lifecycle model based on previous work undertaken on the lifecycles of paper-based materials. It applied the model to real-life collections, modelling their lifecycles and studying their constituent processes. The LIFE approach supported comparison and analysis of digital preservation activity across the complete lifecycle. LIFE is now beginning to look to the future with the development of a predictive costing model that will support more effective decision making and planning for digital preservation. The LIFE Project, Phases 1 and 2 The British Library (BL) and University College London (UCL) were co-funded by JISC in the first two phases of the LIFE Project. Beginning in 2005 with LIFE 1 and continuing in 2007 with LIFE 2 , the Projects explored a lifecycle approach to mapping out and costing digital preservation activities. LIFE 1 focused on developing a usable approach to lifecycle costing and drew on a number of case studies that examined the costs of digital preservation activity at UCL and the BL. LIFE 2 evaluated and refined this approach through external review and the application of LIFE techniques to a wider range of lifecycles at different organisations. Background and Research Review The LIFE work began with a comprehensive review of existing lifecycle models and digital preservation costing activities (Watson 2005). The concept of lifecycle costing, which is used within many industries as a cost management or product development tool is concerned with all stages of a product’s or process’s lifecycle from inception to retirement. The review looked at applications of the lifecycle costing approach in several industries including construction and waste management, in order to identify, assess and potentially reuse an appropriate methodology. It was within the Library sector that the greatest synergy and potential for adaptation to the digital problem area was found. A model for estimating the total cost of keeping a print item in a library throughout its lifecycle provided a useful starting point (Stephens 1988). Although developed for the paper world, there were interesting parallels between the stages of analogue and digital asset management that would subsequently prove useful. The original model was later extended to cover preservation costs (Shenton 2003). The lifecycle stages start with selection, acquisitions processing, cataloguing and pressmarking and continue through to preservation, conservation, storage, retrieval and the de-accession of duplicates. Three key “life stages” were selected as useful reference points at which to calculate costs. Year 1 provided an indication of initial costs following the significant selection and acquisition stages. Year 10 represented a review point and possible technological change or surrogacy. Year 100 was chosen as the symbolic “long-term” point, useful for forecasting downstream costs. Building on the foundations of this primarily print-focused lifecycle approach, LIFE developed a costing model and methodology for digital materials.