Report on Library and Museum Digitization Projects

James Moses posted to the SHARP-L list some interesting numbers from the Primary Research Group’s new report on library and museum digitization projects. The first one was probably the most surprising to me: 60% of the funds for digitization projects come from the library’s budget; in the U.S., the number is closer to 64%. I’d have thought grants accounted for a lot more of that.

You know what would be interesting? To see whether Google and Microsoft’s digitization projects were cheaper in real terms. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that they’re more efficient and knowledgeable and therefore wind up spending less in order to digitize comparable amounts.