Cost v value
Technical solutions already exist, but they’re not well known and relatively expensive. How much are we prepared to pay to ensure that digital stuff today is usable in the future? Because if there’s cost involved, inevitably what has value that makes it worth keeping.
How can we calculate that value? As an example, the holdings of the UK Data Archive include machine-readable versions of all of the General Household Surveys (GHS) carried out between 1971 and 2011. This laos rcs data was a continuous national survey of people living in private households conducted on an annual basis. The cost of the GHS in 2001 was reported as £1.43m, making the value of the survey and its data at least that. As it was the thirtieth year of this survey the value could be said to be higher as it was part of a series, so we could say they survey was worth more than it cost.
The Office for National Statistics transferred the 2001 data to the UK Data Archive in 2002, where we prepared them for preservation and access and published them. Up until today this survey data has been downloaded by 426 people working in government departments, 759 staff working in education, 1,331 students and 109 others for various uses. So benefits accrue from making the data available even after its creators have exhausted their primary value – re-use is a significant benefit from preserving data and adds value.