Alastair Dunning recently presented on JISC’s digitisation sustainability processes at a funders’ forum discussing policies on the long-term maintenance of digital resources. The presentation is available here.
Various bodies were represented at the meeting including Arts Council, Big Lottery Fund, Canadian Heritage Information Network, Institute of Museum and Library Services
Internet Archive, Ithaka, Centre for Research Libraries, Cornell University and the Danish Agency for Libraries and Media
Some of the key points are listed below:
* Increasing need for resource creators need to work with business development and knowlege transfer offices within universities so as to come up with creative ways of deriving value and developing income. The funding raised by the eBird project (http://ebird.org/) might not be replicable by everyone but its ways of finding multiplie incomes sources are fascinating
* But those projects that are unlikey to derive external income need to work harder at aligning themselves with institutional strategies
* Sponsorship of digital resources is underused (the $20k the eBird gets from Zeiss is interesting)
* Greater need for transparency of costs
* Is there any role for funding bodies in giving loans instead of grants? Could funding bodies operate more like Venture Capitalists?
* All parties need to work harder at reducing the costs of digital projects
* Do funding bodies need to work more closely with institutions rather than just individual project teams? Can centres of innovation for business development in this area be constructed?