PREFACE
Nearly every organization whose mission includes promoting access to information is well aware of the value of digital collections. To cultural organizations and funders alike, the prospect of making collections available to new and distant audiences is compelling. Digital technology is finding its way into cultural organizations, and it offers great promise for enhancing access. However, digitization efforts, despite everyone's good intentions, rise and fall on the waves of external funding.
New organizations have been created to promote and manage a growing number of digital initiatives. Some traditional organizations have added projects to accommodate the digital agenda, but they often treat these projects as special initiatives, rather than long-term programs that will require an ongoing commitment of funding, staffing, and time. The economic downturn has increased the vulnerability of many digital programs, especially those run by very small organizations that lack the human or financial resource cushion to sustain "add-on" programs.
The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) has been watching these developments with concern. After Charles Henry, of Rice University, and Stanley Katz, of Princeton University, developed a working paper, American Cultural Heritage Initiatives: A National Review, which called for a detailed study of the situation, CLIR decided to support a study that would explore how the many small cultural organizations that have been launched in recent years will be sustained. CLIR commissioned museum consultant Diane Zorich to conduct the study. A steering committee composed of Charles Henry, Stanley Katz, Samuel Sachs, Patricia Williams, and Deanna Marcum provided guidance and advice throughout the study.
We believe the work presented here will be invaluable to all cultural organizations as they struggle to find the rightful place for digital initiatives in their agendas. We hope that funding agencies will also find the study useful.
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