Transcript OCLC Online Computer Library Center Sustainability for Digitization Programs January 20, 2006 Laurie Gemmill ALA Mid-Winter.

OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Sustainability for
Digitization Programs
January 20, 2006
Laurie Gemmill
ALA Mid-Winter
Agenda
Welcome and introductions
Mini-workshop - Laurie Gemmill
– Sustainability Issues
– Business Planning
• Guiding Principles
• Needs Assessment and Evaluation
• Financial Plans
Break
Panel Discussion of Practice
– Bettina Meyer - Western Michigan University
– Nancy Allen - Collaborative Digitization Program
– Geri Ingram - DiMeMa
Q & A - panel
Thanks to Contributors
Indebted to:
– IMLS Web Wise 2005 Pre-Conference Workshop:
Business Planning for Digital Asset Management in
Cultural Heritage Institutions, Feb 2005
– Business Planning for Cultural Heritage Institutions
• Authored by Liz Bishoff and Nancy Allen, January 2004
• Published by Council on Library and Information Resources
Sustainability
Projects start with grant funding
– short term
– funding is intended as seed money or only used to fund
innovative projects
Projects to programs
– Projects: limited in scope, self-contained
– Programs:
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ongoing
long-term strategic plan
integrated into institutional workflow
economically sustainable
Ongoing projects not as competitive for funds
Sustainability
What is sustainability?
What does it mean to be sustainable?
Why it is so important to us?
– Particularly for digital and preservation initiatives?
Sustainability - Definition
“Sustainability . . . refers to all the considerations
that go into maintaining the institutional context for
creation and maintenance of digital objects and
resources, and supporting . . . long-term viability”
National Institute for Networked Cultural Heritage (2002)
What Does It Mean To Be Sustainable?
Sustainable Organizations
Adapt to changing environments and client needs
Develop independent, diversified and dependable
sources of revenue
Wean themselves from dependency on external
funds
Develop and grow programmatically
Why Is Sustainability So Important For
Digital Initiatives?
The investment of resources is greater
The promise is greater
The expectations are greater
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Sustainability Issues for Digital
Cultural Heritage Initiatives
A Tale of Woe and Intrigue
CLIR Survey - 2003
“Survey of Digital Cultural Heritage Initiatives and
Their Sustainability Concerns”
To identify factors compromising sustainability
among Digital Initiative (DI’s)
To develop recommendations on ways to counter
these factors
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub118/contents.html
Participants and Process
33 DCHIs – a cross-section of the cultural community
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Performing arts organizations
Scholarly and professional organizations
Museum, archive and visual resource organizations
Publishing groups
Standards initiatives
Humanities centers and projects
5 Funding Agencies
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Institute of Museum and Library Services
National Endowment for the Humanities
National Historical Publications and Records Commission
Getty Grant program
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
“Woes”
The Economy – 2003
– Domino effect
• Memberships, dues, fundraising
• Moratoriums – setback to creativity
Funding Trends and Dependencies
– Funding pool diminishing
– DCHI too dependent
– Serving $ master instead of mission
Digital Initiatives as Organizational
“Projects”
– “Special projects” rather than programs
“Woes”
Missions and Overlapping Domains
– Passion projects
– Outdated or changing missions
Lack of Standards, Practices, and
Preservation
– Huge editing and integration costs
– Risk of Obsolescence
Unproven Business Models
– Various models
“Woes”
Growing Pains
– Transition periods – high stress
Internal Tensions
– Lack of clarity
– Competition with other programs/projects
– Staff changes
Uncertain Market Needs
– Absence of user needs
Recommendations
Planning
Training
Repositories for digital assets
Intrigue: the Secrets to Sustainability
Create a product (digital initiative) worth
sustaining
Develop well-defined programs with discrete
objectives and measurable goals
Continually reassess your organization and
its programs
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Business Planning Overview
Business Planning
A business plan is a “high-level description of how
an organization will implement its strategic plan,
for the organization as a whole or from the
perspective of a specific project or product”
“Planning Process (Bryson, 1995)
Business Planning
Before start a project, program or product
Process of determining costs, expectations and
financial goals
– What are the financial expectations?
• Make revenue?
• Support project?
• ???
Parallels to grant writing
– Components
– Experience
Business Planning
Cultural heritage repositories/Non profits do
many aspects of business planning
The natural outgrowth of organizational
planning process
Early days digitization explored technology;
today used to advance mission/goals
Need to incorporate at beginning
No single recipe for success
Partnerships
Collaboration increasingly common element of
sustainability strategy, particularly for digital
initiatives
Funders strongly encourage
Can leverage funding
Show governmental bodies and others
– CHI work with community for greater good
– Higher profile for all involved
Successful Partnerships
“The key is to find a compelling shared goal with
real added value and to orient the partnership and
its opportunity seeking activities around it.”
University of Washington and Eastern Washington
Historical Society
– UW - expertise in scanning and metadata, technology
– EWHS - expertise on Plateau Indians, selection and
marketing
Consortial digitization endeavors
– Museum Online Archives of California (MOAC)
– CDP (Colorado Digitization Program)
– Ohio Memory
Environmental Scanning
Knowing about:
Economic
Social
Technological
Environmental
General business trends
Examples:
– Amount of leisure time available for cultural heritage
visits
– Families are having fewer children
Models for Sustainability
Subsidy
– For specific period or long term support
– Support from operating funds
• Understood to contribute to overall institutions sustainability
– University of Michigan
• Supported by library funds, grants, and revenue sources
Grants (foundation & government)
Self sustaining
– Nebraska Historical Society Digital Imaging Lab
• Generate own funding to support staff and infrastructure
Combination
– Begin with subsidy or grant funding, supplemented in other ways
Identifying a Sustainable Competitive
Advantage
Services or programs of highest quality available
Most reasonably prices services/programs
Most experienced staff
Most variety of services offered
Most highly endorsed services or programs
– Barry McLeish – Successful Marketing Strategies for
Non Profit Organizations, 1995, 31
Identify a Competitive Advantage
You need to build new revenue streams
– Need to be creative but follow mission
Digitization Examples
– Facilitating photo-duplication
• sell images?
– Digitization lab
• cost recovery
– Licensing
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Mission, Vision, Values, & Goals:
Your Guiding Principals
Guiding Principles
Mission or Vision Statements
Values
Goals
McCarter – Field Museum’s Four Tasks
Continue to believe in the strength of our core
missions
Know how generation X, Y, and now Z use
information and what they expect
Lead our businesses not only responding to
change but also anticipating change
Take seriously the challenge of information
overload
Museum Institutional Trajectory
19th Century
20th Century
21st Century
Focused on:
Focused on:
Focused on:
Disciplines
Multidisciplinary
Interdisciplinary
Inventories
Researched Plans
Educational Tools
Object
Presentation
Object
Interpretation
Engagement
(stories)
Descriptive Info
Hands On
Layered (multimedia)
Staged Scenes
Behind the Scenes
Inside Out
Exotic and
Remote Locales
Memorable
Transforming
AVAILABLE
ACCESSIBLE
RELEVANT
Bill Barnett, Field Museum
Mission
Remain true to mission
Capitalize on strengths
Utilize technology
Mission, Vision, and Values
This should express the purpose of the
organization and describe what is distinctive about
it
What is the organization trying to accomplish
– Marketplace niche
– Quality of products/services
Example: Washington Resource Library
Consortium
– “We saw this idea as a natural extension of the digital
library system we were already providing. We have a
plan for integrating the new service into the existing
organization”
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Assessment
Needs and Program Measures
Assessment Categories
Before Beginning Product/Program
– Needs assessment or market research
• learning about user needs and market characteristics
Measuring Product/Program
– Outcomes assessment
• how have you changed individual lives/behaviors, or
organizational practice, and what difference your
program made
– Output assessment
• data providing information on success in goals
Needs
Assessment
Develop
Objectives
to meet
Needs
Design
Program Activities
To Meet
Objectives
Adjust Program
to
Reflect Assessment
Evaluation
Did Activities meet Objectives?
Did Objectives meet Needs?
Who Are The Users?
College students, faculty, researchers
General public in the region
International web-using public
Physical visitors
K-12 students and teachers
Hobbyists
Businesses
Library organizations and their staff
Museums and their staff
Individuals with disabilities
How to Find Out About User Needs and
Preferences
Expert opinion (librarian or
curator judgment)
– Based on anecdotal
evidence
– Based on curator subject
knowledge
– Often based on knowledge
of existing users rather than
potential or future users
http://www.imls.gov/pubs/pdf/us
erneedsassessment.pdf
Research based
knowledge of user
preferences:
– Do-It-Yourself Market
Research
• Web Surveys
• Phone or in-person
interviews
• Focus group research
– Social Science-Based
Methodologies
• Demographically targeted
• Quantitative measures
• Controlled research
Needs Assessment or Market Research
Determine the data elements to be covered
Develop the procedures for collecting the data and
monitoring the process
– Careful development of focus group and survey
questions
Collect and analyze the data
Prepare reports and present the results
– Include conclusions
Environment and Competition
Basic info on environment and competition
Who are major competitors?
How many customers does each competitors
have?
What are their strengths/weaknesses
Demographic trends
Key
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Evaluation
Outcomes Assessment
“Benefits or changes for individuals or populations
during or after participating in program activities,
including new knowledge, increased skills,
changed attitudes or values, modified behavior,
improved condition, or altered status.”
“Documenting the Difference: Demonstrating the Value of Libraries Through
Outcome Measurement, by Peggy D. Rudd, in Perspectives on OutcomesBased Evaluation for Libraries and Museums, Washington, DC: IMLS.
Congruence of Objectives and
Assessment
Each objective must have measures of
success:
– Objective: “Improve teacher awareness of
digital resources for classroom use”
– Measure: “Though pre- and post- testing,
measure workshop participant learning”
http://www.cdpheritage.org/about/grants/2001/imls_p
rop_edu_2001.pdf (further examples, pages 2-7)
Project Outcomes Assessment
Techniques
“How did you change behavior, organizations, lives?
What difference did you make?”
Surveys
– Written surveys
– Telephone surveys
– Email surveys (home-done or corporate)
Case study or interview
Focus groups (formal, structured discussions)
Output Measures: Data Collection
Some indicators of success are measures you
can collect without surveys or focus groups
How many uses were there?
Who used it?
How many resources are available?
Were activities completed as promised?
Example
Decide that your targeted user group is teachers
Do surveys or focus groups to ask what they need
or would use in the classroom
Create digital resources to meet those needs
Follow up with additional focus groups to find out
how teachers actually used the digital resources
Modify program depending on results
Summary
Base your predicted outcomes on research about
user needs and preferences
Build in activities that let you know if you
succeeded in achieving the outcomes you
planned
Be ready to change course depending on
measured results
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Financial Plans/
Costing Analysis
Financial Goals
You need to work with senior management to
determine financial goals:
– What is your margin target? (i.e. profit)
• 10%, 20%, 50% ?
– Do you need to
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Cover fixed costs?
Cover fixed and variable costs?
Just need to break even for now as beginning
Or do you need to earn a 20% margin immediately?
Financial Plans
Should outline finances for 3-5 years
Include revenue and expense components
– Salaries and fringe
• Training
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Legal and accounting
Equipment
Promotion costs
Sales costs
Exhibit costs
Financial Considerations
Work with Legal and Accounting offices to
determine your institution’s specific policies on:
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Amortization
Overhead
Benefits
Indirect cost rates
Wrap-Up
Business planning is essential for long term
sustainability
Remember to create a product/service that is true
to your institutions’ mission and goals
Do your research!
– Define your competitive advantage
– Conduct Needs Assessment, Product Evaluation and
Usability Assessments
Be prepared to change!
– Businesses must
Practitioner Presentations
Bettina Meyer – Assistant Dean for Resources,
Western Michigan University Libraries
Nancy Allen – Dean and Director of Penrose
Library at the University of Denver
Geri Bunker Ingram – Customer Service
Specialist, DiMeMa
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Questions?
Don’t Forget Evaluations!
Laurie Gemmill
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
800-848-5878 ext. 6160
[email protected]