RT @Jam3sMac: @calraoshea Do you need f2f for PostGrad study? #mscidel
RT @Jam3sMac: @metaself @calraoshea Do you need 2 be f2f for a PhD or Post PhD work? #mscidel
@Stephenbenzzina Dreyfus' sequence makes sense in his contexts: trad. US edu system! Other sys 1st - 3stages could be different! #mscidel
JISC-led Strategic Content Alliance and Ithaka S+R release final report on their Case Studies in Sustainability, revealing how different business models fared during the economic downturn.
6 October New York, NY and London, UK – Ithaka S+R, with funding from the JISC-led Strategic Content Alliance, released today “Revenue, Recession, Reliance: Revisiting the SCA/Ithaka S+R Case Studies in Sustainability,” a report that reviews the impact of tumultuous times on the business models of 12 digital projects first profiled by S+R in 2009.
Some of the projects profiled include the UK’s National Archives’ Licensed Internet Associates programme, which has shown major revenue growth in recent years despite budget cuts felt by the entire institution; Cornell University’s eBird, which has experimented with partnerships to develop new revenue generating offerings for users; and the University of Southampton’s Library Digitisation Unit, which has made strategic choices to better align its mission with that of the university.
Nearly all of the projects profiled live under the umbrella of larger institutions. One of the key findings to emerge is that many of these projects are relying on their host institutions for support to an even greater extent than two years ago. Whether this is a good arrangement and what this means for their future remains to be seen.
“While some project leaders have pursued an aggressive awareness-building strategy within their host institutions as a way of ensuring ongoing support, others have preferred to fly under the radar,” commented co-author and Ithaka S+R program manager, Nancy Maron. “Either way, where host support is a major part of the sustainability plan, aligning project goals with the host’s mission is especially important.”
Listen to a podcast with Nancy Maron (Duration 13:25)
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The report notes that difficult economic times have called for deep across-the-board spending cuts at many organizations, which can deny digital resource projects the capital investment they need just as they are beginning to grow. Many of the projects studied had the intention of contributing revenue to their host, but only some were successful in doing so, and even those were unable to fully support their ongoing costs.
"This research concentrates on organizations coming to terms with the long term liabilities incurred in digital projects and post grant funding,” stated Stuart Dempster, Director of the JISC-led Strategic Content Alliance. “It’s not just the actions the project teams have taken but the reasoning behind those choices that will help others start to determine which strategies, or parts of them, might serve as models for their own projects.”
The projects that had the most success did not follow one particular business model but rather spent a tremendous time understanding all of their stakeholders – from their users to university administrators and volunteers.
“There is no single path to sustainability,” stated Kevin Guthrie, president of ITHAKA. “Successful projects understand the value they offer to their most important constituents and are able to adjust their approaches to meet new challenges and changing conditions.”
The cases covered include scholar-led initiatives (Electronic Enlightenment, eBird, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s College London, the National Science Digital Library MSP2: Middle School Math and Science Pathway, the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae), library and museum projects (The National Archives, L’Institut national de l’audiovisuel, the University of Southampton Library Digitisation Unit, V&A Images), and publishing projects (Hindawi, DigiZeitschriften) with a diverse range of revenue models (e.g., subscription-based projects, endowment-funded resources, and open access digital libraries).
These case studies form part of a long term commitment by the Strategic Content Alliance to provide empirically-based evidence freely to education, research and cultural bodies in the development of digital content. This research is ongoing with the development of a new digital entrepreneurship syllabus due for delivery in summer 2012.
V&A Images: Scaling Back to Refocus on Revenue
The Thesaurus Linguae Graecae®: How a Specialised Resource Begins to Address a Wider Audience
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Launching a ‘Freemium’ Model
Electronic Enlightenment: Outreach or Outsource? The Benefits and Challenges of Partnership
L’Institut national de l’audiovisuel: Balancing Mission-based Goals and Revenue Generation
DigiZeitschriften: A Niche Project at a Crossroads
University of Southampton Library Digitisation Unit: Reimagining the Value Proposition
The National Archives (UK): Enhancing the Value of Content through Selection and Curation
The Middle School Portal 2: Math and Science Pathways, National Science Digital Library: The Challenges of Sustaining a Project as the End of a Grant Approaches
eBird: Driving Impact through Crowdsourcing
The Department of Digital Humanities (DDH) at King’s College London: Cementing Its Status as an Academic Department
Hindawi Publishing Corporation: Growing an Open-Access Contributor-Pays Business Model
@cmsinclair How would you express yourself without words... 140 characters hard enough, or am I missing the point? #mscidel
#mscidel interesting point about wordiness @adgonuh. Are wordiness and online participation incompatible?
#mscidel - good framework for thinking abt whatx important in education but the wordiness reveals a lack of deep interaction with the medium
hello all #mscidel - for me Dreyfus wrote one huge overgeneralised chapter – narrow thoughts and opportunistic arguments
RT @metaself: @jackie8008 agree - difficult to learn dance outside of a dance studio.. #mscidel That's true!
@jackie8008 agree - difficult to learn dance outside of a dance studio.. #mscidel
#mscidel A totally online cookery course I guess would be possible but difficult to get feedback from tutor on what was produced!
#mscidel Sorry, didn't send comment again. I just wanted to agree and say that successful use of DE also depends on subject matter.
RT @metaself: but still highly subjective - I wouldn't choose DE for Art&Design - heavy cultural identity #mscidel
but still highly subjective - I wouldn't choose DE for Art&Design - heavy cultural identity #mscidel
@stephenbezzina Culturally Dreyfus pragmatism makes sense - but chooses to ignore benefits of DE and ubiquitous nature of the web #mscidel
RT @JanetDonaldson1: #mscidel First time Tweeting - hope this works. F2f would be great right now Yes, it would be!
#mscidel Whoops! Did a re tweet wihtout any comments. Wanted to say that I don't think Dreyfus's stages are so clear cut
RT @Edin_Ana: @Jackie8008 I think the last 2 / 3 stages could be combined #mscidel
@claraoshea @metaself not a diminishment but an enhancement to f2f – no inferiority involved #mscidel
@JanetDonaldson1 I like your F2f would be great right now :D #mscidel
@JanetDonaldson1 I like for F2F would be great right now :D #mscidel
@CMSinclair yes, twitter is about connectivity and communication – no body issues involved #mscidel
@Edin_Ana @Jackie8008 I don't agree with order of the staging - starting by giving facts it's not productive in sciences at all #mscidel
@claraoshea #mscidel I understand embodiment as being in the moment. From this perspective being online doesn’t preclude being embodied.
@claraoshea #mscidel From this perspective online doesn’t fulfill what he finds important.
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