The Digital Preservation Coalition and Jisc as part of the 4C post-project consortium, are seeking community input to help decide the future of the Curation Costs Exchange (CCEx).
The CCEx is a website (https://www.curationexchange.org) which was created as an output of the 4C project (https://www.4cproject.eu). It provides information about some fundamental concepts relating to costing digital preservation, as well as providing a Cost Comparison Tool (CCT) that allows registered users to analyse a breakdown of their own costs and make comparisons, either with their own previously entered data or with peer organisations.
“Understanding the type and magnitude of the costs relating to digital preservation, or digital curation, both at the time of ingest into a preservation system and ongoing—is one of the thornier problems in digital preservation,” explains Paul Stokes, Digital Preservation Subject Matter Expert for Jisc, and former 4C Project Manager. “The CCEx site addresses this problem well, but 7 years after its release we need to understand the community’s interest in this tool and how best to maintain it.”
Since its launch in 2014, technologies (both web and preservation) have moved on and additional concerns have arisen in the area of digital preservation; carbon cost for example. There are also new, good practice resources and methodologies available to be signposted.
Currently the interactive cost comparison area of the site (the CCT) is offline, and the underlying web framework and modules need to be updated to restore functionality.
However, there is still cost data in the system which could be updated and/or used by researchers if the appropriate permissions were obtained. And even many years after the project concluded, 4C and its outputs are still being referenced in contemporary publications and products.
The 4C post project consortium has therefore identified 4 options for the future of the CCEx and the CCT, each of which will require investment and resources:
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Extract the data, back-up the site, and take it off line
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Do nothing—leave the CCEx site operating without the CCT
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Fix the basic problems that prevent the CCT from operating and then do nothing
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Redevelop the CCT to add new functionality that addresses current/new concerns
Please complete this short survey to tell us which option you would be interested in seeing for the future of the Curation Costs Exchange:
The survey will remain open until 30th April 2023