Sponsorship or philanthropic assistance

Cross subsidisation by other activities within an organisation

A combination of approaches.

Each of these models may be more suited or feasible for particular kinds of programmes.
There may also be other models that can be established to provide sustainability.

10.5 What programme managers need to do their job

10.5.1 Information
Standards and practices in digital preservation are evolving rapidly (though perhaps not as
rapidly as they are needed), and programme managers must find ways to keep their
knowledge up to date.

There are a number of international initiatives dedicated to just such a purpose, including the
journals, websites and subject gateways included in the Reading List. Despite some overlap,
these initiatives complement each other; they offer excellent ways of keeping abreast of
developments.

There also appears to be an opportunity to explore solidarity relationships between

programmes with different levels of experience and expertise. Most existing programmes are
willing to share information and ideas but often find themselves overwhelmed with requests.
Formal information sharing arrangements may ease that burden while offering real benefits to
those developing new programmes.

10.5.2 Corporate support

Digital preservation programmes often start as experiments and projects with a speculative
mission and an uncertain future. They can be easily dismissed as important but bothersome
add-ons to already over-stretched organisations. It often takes some time for a definite set of
workflows to emerge and for the programme to take shape.

Fledgling programmes particularly need in-house mentors or sponsors to champion their

cause and speak for them in corporate forums. They also need ways of connecting with others
in the organisation, such as management committees, that can keep the programme aligned
with corporate directions while also providing feedback on progress and problems. This
corporate support must take account of the fact that preservation programmes are likely to be
resource intensive and to involve complex technical and organisational issues.

10.5.3 Resource costs

Availability of resources is always a critical constraint. It is important to tailor the ambitions
of the programme to a reasonably realistic idea of what can be achieved: it may not be
possible to do everything!

It is difficult to estimate the long-term costs of digital preservation. While unsatisfactory from
a planning point of view, it may be necessary to estimate expected costs over a short- to

55