Cost/benefit analysis for digital library projects: the Virginia Historical Inventory Project (VHI)

Abstract

Since 1995, the Library of Virginia’s Digital Library Program (DLP) has created digital images of more than 700,000 original document pages, 1,100 maps, 36,000 photographs, and 1.6 million catalog card images, and has created 32 bibliographic databases with more than 330,000 MARC records, 50 electronic card indexes, and numerous electronic finding aids. The bulk of the DLP’s funding comes from the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) federal program, but in 1997 the Library received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to catalog and digitize the Virginia Historical Inventory Project (VHI). After an introduction to the DLP and VHI, this article will discuss the costs and benefits of creating the online version and will compare the one‐time development cost and subsequent delivery of the digital resource to the long‐term costs and benefits of providing access to these materials via traditional means.

Digital library research 1997‐2007

“…There were two prominent articles on cost-benefit analysis for DLs in our sample. Byrd et al (2001) introduced Virginia's Digital Library Program (DLP) and Virginia Historical Inventory Project (VHI), discussed the costs and benefits of creating the library and compared the one-time development cost and subsequent delivery of the digital resource to the long term costs and benefits of providing access to these materials via traditional means. Moreover, Kollofel and Kaandorp (2003) described the development of a model for academic libraries that is a cooperative venture between the libraries of the universities of Utrecht in the Netherlands, Lulea in Sweden and Bremen in Germany.…”

Evaluating digital libraries in the health sector. Part 2: measuring impacts and outcomes

“…Although some of these humanities–based e‐libraries may seem to have little bearing on the documents required in a health‐based digital library, this is not so. The Virginia library (for example) includes an extensive range of bibliographic references, digitized manuscript materials, audio‐visual resources, and some e‐journals—a similar mix of resources as might be found in any substantial health library 4 . The costs of creating the online version of the Virginia Historical Inventory Project are analysed, using data for staff time and overheads and equipment, etc.…”

“…Although the authors conclude that methodologies for implementing cost/benefit analysis are in their infancy and that no standards have been developed, they are able to demonstrate that it is already possible, and that over time it will become easier, to identify the proportional reduction in cost to the online patron, and to compare these reductions with the costs associated with serving the onsite and surface mail user. The development cost per transaction, they maintain, will be offset over time 4 …”