Earlier this year, “Sustaining Digital Resources: An On-the-Ground View of Projects Today,” a study by Ithaka was published. They analyzed “the strategies being used to support digital initiatives over the long term. Twelve detailed case studies present the steps project leaders have taken to achieve this, with special attention paid to their strategies for cost management and revenue generation. These studies include financial data, and explore the decision-making process that project leaders undertake when experimenting with different strategies to find the best fit for their organization.” You can find a review in the Inside Higher Ed blog. The study is available online:

Full Document

Download full document, including the Final Report and all 12 case studies, 135 pages (high resolution, 4.5MB)
Download full document, including the Final Report and all 12 case studies, 135 pages (low resolution, 2.8MB)

Final Report

Sustaining Digital Resources: An On-the-Ground View of Projects Today
Nancy L. Maron, K. Kirby Smith, Matthew Loy
Foreword by Kevin Guthrie and Laura Brown

Case Studies

BOPCRIS Digitisation Centre: Experimentation with Sustainability and Partnerships for Library Digitisation Projects
Hartley Library, University of Southampton
Southampton, United Kingdom

Centre for Computing in the Humanities: Leveraging Shared Infrastructure and Expertise to Develop Digital Projects in an Academic Department
King’s College London
London, United Kingdom

DigiZeitschriften: Library Partnership and a Subscription Model for a Journal Database
Göttingen State and University Library, University of Göttingen
Göttingen, Germany

eBird: A Two-sided Market for Academic Researchers and Enthusiasts
Cornell University Lab of Ornithology (Information Science Department)
New York, United States

Electronic Enlightenment: Subscription-based Resource Sold Through a University Press
Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom

Hindawi Publishing Corporation: The Open-Access Contributor-Pays Model
Cairo, Egypt

L’Institut national de l’audiovisuel: Free Content and Rights Licensing as Complementary Strategies
Bry-sur-Marne and Paris, France

The Middle School Portal 2: Math and Science Pathways, National Science Digital Library: Early Sustainability Planning for a Grant-Funded Digital Library
The Ohio State University
Ohio, United States

The National Archives: Digitisation with Commercial Partnerships via the Licensed Internet Associates Program
London, United Kingdom

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Building an Endowment with Community Support
Stanford University
California, United States

The Thesaurus Linguae Graecae®: Specialised Historical Content for a Niche Audience
University of California, Irvine
California, United States

V&A Images: Image Licensing at a Cultural Heritage Institution
Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom