Session 13

Outsourcing and Vender Relations, Robin Dale, Research Libraries Group

Outsourcing can be a great way to deal with the oftentimes overwhelming task of tackling the many issues inherent to the digitization process. Outsourcing is commonly viewed as an either/or option versus working in-house, but in fact this is a false dichotomy. Certain aspects of the digitization process cannot be outsourced, including selection, the determination of user needs, benchmarking and quality control.

Advantages of digitizing in-house:

• The potential to learn by doing
• The ability to define requirements incrementally
• The ability to maintain quality requirements
• The retention of direct control
• Security and proper handling is insured
• Library requirements are insured

Disadvantages of digitizing in-house:

• Larger investment and ramp-up time (good technical infrastructure takes a while to build)
• No set price per image
• Limited production capabilities and facilities
• Range of staffing experience

Advantages of Outsourcing

• Broad range of options and services
• Investment and technical infrastructure is the responsibility of the vendor
• Obsolescence costs are borne by the vendor
• Set per-image cost
• Low labor costs
• Expertise/staffing is incurred by the vendor
• Limited risk

Disadvantages of Outsourcing

• One’s institution is removed one step from the imaging
• Vendors are sometimes adept at “the hard-sell”.
• Not all vendors are experienced with library needs
• Contracts with vendors must spell out needs clearly and at the beginning of the process
• Transportation and handling of fragile or rare materials
• Vulnerability due to vendor instability

The keys to getting around the challenges of outsourcing lie primarily in knowing your materials and project well, thoroughly researching and evaluating potential vendors and always keeping in mind the goals of one’s project.

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