|
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
- Encapsulated?
- 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?
|
