1. OCLC Online Computer Library Center “HTTP 404: Not Found” Incentives to Preserve Government Information Brian Lavoie OCLC Research Sixth Annual State GILS Conference, April 3, 2004

2. Roadmap Background: Digital preservation and sustainability Step 1: Incentives Framework for thinking about incentives Implications for preserving government information Strategies for overcoming incentive gaps

3. Rising Digital Tide Equivalent of 5 exabytes of new information created in 2002; 92 percent stored on magnetic or optical media Rush to digitize: –Cultural artifacts (images, audio, video, text) –Electronic publishing (books, journals, databases) –Communication (listservs, blogs, chat rooms) –Government information (reports, data, forms, records, legislation, proceedings,...) Growing proportion of society’s record exists exclusively in digital form

4. Opportunities and Challenges Digital technologies offer new opportunities to create, share, re-purpose, and link information … … but introduce new challenges in managing information Immediate, ongoing commitment required to secure long-term retention of digital materials Building sustainable digital preservation solutions... –Technical issues –Economic/organizational issues

5. Fundamental Economic Questions “IF we preserve, how much will it cost?” But: “WILL we preserve?”... or, “What are the incentives to preserve?” Particularly important in digital realm: –Expensive, sustained commitment –Decision-makers with no formal mandate to preserve Imperative to preserve increasing; preservation resource requirements increasing... –But incentives to preserve less assured

6. Incentives to Preserve (1) Recognition of value/benefit in preserving set of digital materials... i.e., “Need to preserve” (2) Willingness to implement and carry out processes necessary to preserve digital materials... i.e., “Willingness to preserve”

7. Decision-Making Roles Rights Holder Beneficiary Archive Public domain: has or can obtain custody of materials Proprietary: holds right to preserve; can grant right to another entity Benefits from preservation Directly: as end user Indirectly: on behalf of end-users Implements and manages preservation process

8. Roles and Incentives Decision-makers are roles, not distinct entities –Multiple roles can reside with one entity –Multiple entities can share the same role Beneficiary: embodies need to preserve Archive: embodies willingness to preserve Rights Holder: empowers incentives

9. Core Scenarios of Digital Preservation Beneficiary 1 2 5 3 4 Archive Rights Holder Rights Holder Rights Holder Rights Holder Rights Holder Archive Beneficiary

10. Back to Incentives... Core scenarios highlight: –Relationships among decision-making roles associated with digital preservation –Relationships between need to preserve, willingness to preserve, and right to preserve Can map any digital preservation activity to one of the core scenarios Provides context for thinking about preservation incentives

11. Rights Holder Distinct From Beneficiary Right to preserve separate from need to preserve Rights holder of digital materials does not benefit from long-term preservation Diminishes incentive for Rights Holder to participate in preservation process Example: –Content on government agency Web sites Models 2, 3, and 5

12. Rights Holder, Beneficiary Same Entity Right to preserve combined with need to preserve AND multiple entities fill this dual role in regard to a particular set of digital materials “Free-rider” problem: –Preservation for one is preservation for all –Who wants to be “the one” to preserve? –Diminishes willingness to preserve Example: –Content on government agency Web sites (again!) Models 1 and 4

13. Back to Core Scenarios … Unrecognized Benefits “Free-riding” Model 1Model 2Model 3Model 4 Model 5

14. “Textbook Solutions” Rights Holder obtains no benefit from preservation (1) Legal Environment (legislation, directives, mandates): –Force Rights Holder to undertake activity –Force Rights Holder to grant right to preserve to another entity (2) Negotiation/Bargaining: –Beneficiary persuades Rights Holder to undertake preservation, or grant right to preserve to another entity –Distribution of costs determined through relative bargaining power “Free-Rider” problem Government Intervention: –Provide the activity directly –Subsidize private provision of activity

15. Summary Incentives to preserve fundamental to developing economically sustainable digital preservation programs To understand incentives: –Map digital preservation activity to core scenarios –Identify relationships between incentives to preserve (need to preserve, willingness to preserve) and right to preserve –Use these relationships to identify potential misalignment of preservation incentives and objectives This informs: –Organization of digital preservation activities a priori –Policies to enhance incentives ex post

16. More Information … Lavoie, B.F. (2003) “The Incentives to Preserve Digital Materials: Roles, Scenarios, and Economic Decision- Making” OCLC Research White Paper, available at: http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/digipres/incentives-dp.pdf Lavoie, B.F. (2004) “Of Mice and Memory … Economically Sustainable Preservation for the 21 st Century” (CLIR publication, forthcoming) lavoie@oclc.org