For some time now, heritage organisations and other institutions have been in agreement about the need for the long-term preservation and accessibility of valuable digital resources. What is much less clear, however, are the costs of preserving digital heritage for the long term. A group of heritage institutions within the Dutch Digital Heritage Network therefore designed a cost model for analysing and controlling the cost of digital preservation. The development of the model, its main outcomes so far and the user experience from one of the institutions (EYE Film Museum) are described in the article Controlling the cost of digital preservation [PDF].
About the model
This model is firmly based on previous international work on cost modelling, brought together in the EU funded 4C project. It is an activity-based cost model focusing on activities that need to be performed as part of a process of long-term preservation and access. With it, institutions can more easily make certain policy decisions, including decisions on collection policy, on the use of staff and other resources, on partnerships with other institutions and on the necessary infrastructure. At this moment, the model itself [PDF] is available in Dutch language only.
More information
This article was originally published in the Annual on Digital Preservation, published in 2018 by the Dutch Foundation of Archives Publications (S@P), and has now been translated into English by popular demand.
The Digital Preservation Cost model is a result of a project in the Sustainable Digital Heritage work programme. Focusing on digital preservation, it is carried out by the Dutch Digital Heritage Network (DHN). For more information, please check the DHN website or contact Marcel Ras on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..