The budgets for preservation of computer-based art can vary wildly. The basic areas that should be taken into account are below. Consider these questions as a guide to shaping the budget demanded by the work you're preserving.

Research/documentation

Equipment

Programming

Conservators

Data Storage

Research/documentation

• How much technical information is currently on hand for the work?
• How much research will need to be done on its specifications, history, etc.?
• Who will be responsible for this research?
• If the artist is living, and willing to assist, are there expenses associated with his/her participation--travel costs, stipends/honoraria?
• Has another institution done preservation work on this piece? Can another institution contribute research/expertise to the project?

Equipment

• Will it be necessary to purchase new equipment for the project? Consider the following categories:
• Display equipment/monitors
• Hard Drive/CPU
• Cables/wires
• Playback devices (i.e., DVD players)

Programming

• What degree of new programming will be necessary to keep the work viable?
• Will the work need to be
• Migrated
• Emulated
• Encapsulation
• Approximately how much time will be needed for a programmer to re-create or otherwise work on the item in question?
• What level of programming expertise will be necessary? Is it a matter of working with widely-used software such as Flash or Director, or does it involve dealing with custom or artist-designed software?
• How much will a programmer of the necessary expertise charge?
• Can economies of scale help with budgeting--will it be cheaper in the long run to have a number of works with similar problems be conserved all at once?

Conservators

• Will the services of a conservator be required?
• How much time will the conservator need to spend with the project to successfully complete it?
• At what stage will the conservator need to come onto the project (see research, above)?

Data Storage

• How much storage will be necessary once the project is completed?
• Will you be storing only the completed work, or will you also be storing elements, files, software, etc.?
• What type of storage is best for the project (often determined, of course, by what the institution can afford)?
• Independent hard discs
• Server
• Removable hard drive
• CD-ROM (not preferred)
• Will it be necessary to provide for the physical storage of hard drives, etc.?
• Can the storage space be properly climate-controlled?

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