The Cost of Inaction Calculator
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COLLECTION DETAIL PARAMETERS
Last year of magnetic media
Number of objects in collection
Collection's audio-video percentage
Investment to date for media
Annual cost per media item moving forward
Digitization cost per item
Year you will start digitizing items
Annual digitization budget
Storage service
Annual decrease in cost of storage
Annual increase in cost of digitization
COLLECTION ANALYSIS REPORT DETAIL PARAMETERSTop
Year
Media
Content Saved
Excess Items Digitized
Investment Made
Content Lost
Investment Lost
Investment Saved
Digitization Expense
Storage Expense
Digitization + Storage Expense
Investment Saved per $1 of Expense
Quality of Selection
START IMPLICATIONS REPORT DETAIL PARAMETERSTop
Year Digitization Started
Annual Digitization Budget Required
Total Spent by 2028
Investment Lost
Spent + Lost by 2028
Spent + Lost Difference
Content Lost
% More Spent + Lost
% More Content Lost

COLLECTION DETAIL PARAMETERS

This is the section where the user enters the details for a particular scenario. Multiple scenarios can be saved in order to perform comparative analysis of various possible paths.

Last year of magnetic media:

The year that we will lose physical AV materials to obsolescence and degradation, meaning that it will be too costly to digitize at scale with sufficient quality. Expert consensus places this between 2023 and 2028.

Number of objects in collection

This is the number of audiovisual items in the collection under review. Depending on the analysis you would like to perform, this may be all items in your collection regardless of priority for preservation, or it may be only the items that have been prioritized for preservation. As long as the other questions are answered with this same collection of materials in mind then everything should align accordingly.

Collection's audio-video percentage:

To calculate storage costs we need to estimate how much data is being stored. We first do this by identifying the Collection's audio-video percentage. After this, the following assumptions are used:

Target formats for video: Preservation Master - Uncompressed, 10-bit, standard definition file; Mezzanine - 25Mbps file; Access copy - 5Mbps file. Average length of video item: 1 hour Size of all target formats for each video item: 121.1 GB

Target formats for audio: Preservation Master - Uncompressed 24-bit, 96kHz file; Mezzanine - Uncompressed 24-bit, 96kHz file; Access copy - 256kbps file Average length of audio item: 1 hour Size of all target formats for each audio item: 4.11 GB

The number of items digitized are multiplied by the appropriate storage numbers in order to arrive at the total storage required in a given year. This is then multiplied by the underlying numbers in the "Storage service" and "Annual decrease in cost of storage" parameters in order to arrive at a storage cost.

Investment to date for media:

Every organization that has a collection of media has invested in that media from the point of acquisition to the present. For a collecting institution these costs could include acquisition costs, curatorial staff, administrative and management staff, archivist and preservation staff, processing, description, reformatting, rehousing, moving, equipment, furniture, real estate, HVAC, software and hardware systems, provision of access, and more. For production oriented organizations you could include the cost of production and post production. Some organizations may choose to delve deeply into this in a great level of detail. Others may wish to take a simpler path by assigning a percentage of capital and operational expenses to audiovisual materials. Whatever method of calculation makes sense, a value for the investment made to date in physical audiovisual collections should be assigned here. One consideration when using a "Number of objects in the collection" that only represents items that are prioritized for preservation is whether or not to burden them fully with the cost to maintain all items over time. If the intent in collecting all of the materials was to ultimately produce the results represented by digitizing the items prioritized for preservation then it is arguable that the cost for making that happen included all of the collection activities and costs leading up to that.

Annual cost per media item moving forward:

This parameter is similar to "Investment to date for media", but instead projects the cost into the future, estimating a dollar amount per year that will be spent per physical audiovisual item. This is important because for the foreseeable future, even after digitization, most organizations will continue to invest in their physical audiovisual collections according to best practice. An estimate of this number should be assigned here.

Digitization cost per item:

This number establishes the average cost per item for digitization. The default value of $60 per item is based on analysis across a wide range of recent projects and conferring with other experts in the field. Of course, there are a wide range of variables that dictate cost, and this parameter is adjustable to suit the particulars of any given institution across a variety of formats.

Year you will start digitizing items:

The start date for digitization has significant implications on the results of this analysis. Set this parameter to the digitization start year to see the implications.

Annual digitization budget:

The annual digitization budget, in combination with the annual increase in the cost of digitization parameter, directly relates to the number of items that will be digitized each year. Set this parameter to see the implications of annual digitization budget.

Storage service:

This parameter is tied to "Collection's audio-video percentage" and "Annual decrease in cost of storage".

Selecting "Other" will prompt you to enter in an annual cost per GB for an alternate storage system. This may be an internal storage system or another storage service provider. Providing this information will incorporate the data into the equation to calculate storage costs using the alternate storage cost instead of one of the provided storage service providers.

Annual decrease in cost of storage:

The cost of storage has declined steadily for years. Historically this has been quoted as being a 50% reduction every 18 months. Recent years have shown that the severity of this decline has slowed dramatically. Additionally, at scale organizations are not able to leverage this cost decrease on an annual basis, as significant investments in storage infrastructure are typically made every 5 - 10 years. Recognizing these considerations the default is set to an annual decrease in storage costs of 15%.

Annual increase in cost of digitization:

The cost of Digitization today is as little as 10% of what it was 3-5 years ago. The cost of AV Digitization is currently at historic lows. Experts believe that market factors accompanied by scarcity of equipment, parts and expertise will cause prices to rise significantly over time. This percentage modifies the annual increase in the cost of Digitization. 16% is an average selected as the default based on analysis and feedback from other experts in the field.


COLLECTION ANALYSIS REPORT

The collection analysis reporting shows the results based on the collection details provided by the user.

Year

Identifies the year pertaining to the data reported in the same row.

Media

Indicates the total number of physical media items remaining that have not been lost to obsolescence or degradation.

Content Saved

Identifies the cumulative content that has been saved because it has been digitized before the physical media it is stored on is lost to obsolescence or degradation. The number used to express Content Saved is equivalent to the number used to express Media items for the sake of easy comparison. However, whereas physical media will be lost for certain, content can persist through digitization. Therefore the distinction between media and content is an important one.

Excess Items Digitized

The cumulative number of items digitized in excess of the number of items lost. This is calculated annually and carried forward.

Investment Made

The cumulative money spent to date in maintaining the collection of physical media. This is calculated using the number entered for Investment to date for media and cumulatively adding on the Annual cost per media item moving forward.

Content Lost

The cumulative content lost due to digitization efforts being outpaced by the loss of physical media items. In other words, it is when the number of items lost cumulatively over time exceeds the number of items digitized over time. The resulting loss of physical media that has not yet been digitized means that the content on that media is also lost – permanently.

Investment Lost

When content is lost, so is the investment made in that content and media. This number assigns the proportional share of Investment Made that is lost when content is lost. It is reported cumulatively over time.

Investment Saved

When content is saved through digitization, so is the investment made in that content and media. This number assigns the proportional share of Investment Made that is saved when content is saved. It is reported cumulatively over time.

Digitization Expense

The cumulative expense for digitization over time. This number factors in the digitization cost per item along with the Annual increase in cost of digitization.

Storage Expense

The cumulative expense for storage of digital files over time. This number factors in the initial storage cost analysis along with the Annual decrease in cost of storage.

Digitization + Storage Expense

This number simply adds Digitization Expense and Storage Expense to arrive at a combined cumulative expense for both.

Investment Saved per $1 of Expense

The result of dividing Investment Saved by Digitization + Storage Expense. It answers the statement, “for each $1 we expended on digitization and storage, we saved $X of our past investment.” With no expense all investments would be thrown out the window and lost.

Quality of Selection

This is a measure of how great your selection of materials is at a given point in time. Obsolescence and degradation does not discriminate based on content, so one way to think about this using this is to say "In x year, there is a y% chance that the materials we prioritize as important will not have been permanently lost."

START IMPLICATIONS REPORT

Start Implications Analysis answers 4 primary questions:

  1. If I start digitizing in year x, how much will I have to spend per year to digitize all items that have not been permanently lost already? See Annual Digitization Budget Required.
  2. If I start digitizing in year x, how much more money will I spend than if I start digitizing in year y? See Total Spent by 2028, Spent + Lost by 2028, Spent + Lost Difference, % More Spent + Lost.
  3. If I start digitizing in year x, how much more investment will I lose than if I start digitizing in year y? See Investment Lost, Spent + Lost by 2028, Spent + Lost Difference, % More Spent + Lost.
  4. If I start digitizing in year x, how many more items will I lose than if I start digitizing in year y? See Content Lost, % More Content Lost.

Unlike Collection Analysis Reporting which is intended to be read from top to bottom, this report is meant to be read from left to right. Each row stands on it’s own.

Year Digitization Started

The year that digitization begins. The data in the same row is based on the assumption that digitization is started in this year.

Annual Digitization Budget Required

The budget that is required to digitize all of the content that has not yet been lost between the digitization start year and 2028.

Total Spent by 2028

The total amount expended on digitization by 2028 based on the Year Digitization Started and the Annual Digitization Budget Required.

Investment Lost

The money lost due to content being permanently lost to obsolescence and degradation of physical media before the Year Digitization Started.

Spent + Lost by 2028

The sum of Total Spent by 2028 and the Investment Lost as of 2028.

Spent + Lost Difference

The difference between Spent + Lost by 2028 for a given digitization start year minus Spent + Lost by 2028 when using 2014 as the Year Digitization Started.

Content Lost

The content permanently lost to obsolescence and degradation of physical media before the Year Digitization Started.

The difference between Content Lost for a given digitization start year minus Content Lost when using 2014 as the Year Digitization Started.

% More Spent + Lost

Spent + Lost Difference expressed as a percentage.

% More Content Lost

Content Lost Cumulative Difference expressed as a percentage.

The Cost of Inaction Calculator is a service of AVPreserve, a consulting and software development firm that provides resources needed by content caretakers to preserve, access, and distribute their assets.