This section of the guidelines discusses the costs and risks associated with back-capture digitisation projects, along with ways to mitigate the risks.
Introduction
Back-capture digitisation projects can have many potential benefits. See Why undertake back-capture digitisation? for more information.
It is important, however, that your organisation also examines the costs and risks of digitisation. These should be outlined clearly in business cases along with risk mitigation strategies, where relevant. See Planning back-capture digitisation projects for more information on business cases.
Back to topCosts of digitisation
Do not be misled by advice that digitisation is cheap. Costs can be considerable and may vary according to the scope and aims of a project and the quality of digital images required. Common costs include:
- digitisation software and hardware and upgrades
- training and support for staff involved in digitisation work (some training may be offered as part of contractual agreements with software and hardware suppliers)
- space for digitisation to occur
- health and safety assessments and measures
- conservation work for any fragile records (where relevant)
- staff time to plan, establish and document the project with suitable parameters and benchmarks
- staff time to retrieve and prepare records, digitise, apply metadata, do quality control checks, return original paper records to storage, monitor and evaluate projects etc.– costs of manual metadata collection if required for back-capture projects can be particularly high
- managing variables like non-uniform or poor quality originals
- the technical infrastructure and storage space for maintaining new digital copies
- providing software on desktops to view digital images
- training and change management strategies for all relevant staff including those accessing digital images
- ongoing maintenance and update of systems
- managing digital images over time (where relevant) e.g. costs of migration.[1]
If your organisation is out-sourcing the digitisation project, your cost assessments will need to include costs provided by outsourced providers (often based on number of pages digitised) but also the staff time required to:
- plan, establish and document the project with suitable parameters and benchmarks
- select contractors that can meet project needs and negotiate terms
- prepare (and possibly transport) records to and from the service provider
- liaise with contractors throughout the project
- perform checks and monitor and evaluate services provided
- train contractors in how to safely handle your records, particularly if they are required as State archives.
See Inhouse or outsource? for more information.
Costs can be compared in the business case to:
- costs of inaction, e.g. if we don’t do anything, what might that cost the organisation?
- cost savings that can be made by destroying original paper records (where relevant) and thereby reducing paper storage costs
- cost savings brought about by improving practices, providing better access to the records etc.
Note: Technology and data storage costs may be able to be reduced somewhat by trading quality for speed and smaller file sizes. However, in projects where the records have long-term value or are required as State archives, or need to be used as evidence of business activity, a high degree of quality must be maintained. This is to promote the longevity of the images and ensure they are authentic representations of the original paper records. See Managing digital images as records for more information.
Risks of digitisation
The following table outlines some potential risks and means to mitigate them.
Risk... | Can be mitigated by... |
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That money will be wasted or additional risks incurred by poor selection of records (e.g. low use records or records that could be destroyed) |
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That the complexities of digitisation can be underestimated See Planning back-capture digitisation projects and other relevant parts of these guidelines |
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That the costs of digitisation can be underestimated |
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That original paper records cannot be destroyed after digitisation e.g. due to legal reasons to retain them in original format, intrinsic value or other reasons |
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That original paper records, including State archives, will be destroyed without authorisation |
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That original paper records will be damaged during the digitisation process |
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That digitisation will not produce an authentic representation of the original paper record that is fit for purpose See Benchmarks and quality assurance |
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That digital images are not stored or protected appropriately |
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That duplicates or derivatives are not managed appropriately See Metadata requirements for more information |
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That digital images will not survive and remain accessible and useable for as long as they are required |
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That there will be problems experienced with service providers (in contracting-out arrangements) |
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Organisations should define in business cases which of these and other risks apply to their projects and how the risks will be managed.
Footnotes
[1] The Europeana project, an initiative of the European Union, examined the costs of digitising Europe’s cultural heritage and concluded that the costs of preserving and providing access to a digital asset for a period of 10 years would be 50-100% of the initial cost of creating it. Collections Trust, The cost of digitising Europe’s cultural heritage. A report for the Comité des Sages of the European Commission. Prepared by Nick Poole.
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