I stand, they don't deliver: or why the highwayman approach to funding digital preservation doesn't work

摘要

'Its absolutely essential that we do this.' All too often projects or developments in the information world (particularly in the digital information world) are put forward with an explicit or implicit threat that if the money is not handed over, something unpleasant will happen: 1. a regulator will come and get us; 2. we face enormous risks if we don't; 3. we will fall behind our peers or competitors, because they are all doing it, or about to do it; 4. the current systems will stop working because they just can't cope; 5. everything will stop on 1 January 2000; 6. etc.