Towards a National Collection: Total Economic Value of a unified digital collection

Alma Economics was commissioned by Towards a National Collection (TaNC) to estimate the Total Economic Value of a future unified digital collection of cultural heritage assets in the UK. The outputs from this work will be used to provide evidence to feed into the business case for funding for a UK digital collections infrastructure.

Our approach involved the deployment of contingent valuation surveys to elicit respondents’ willingness to pay for a hypothetical unified digital collection of cultural heritage assets. The surveys were rolled out to three distinct groups to test how respondents’ valuations varied depending on the nature and extent of individuals’ interest in and engagement with cultural heritage, namely:

a. The general population, consisting of individuals with either a general interest in cultural heritage collections or no or little demonstrable interest in these collections.

b. Academics and researchers who might use the unified digital collection as part of their research, including those specialising in fields directly related to cultural heritage as well as adjacent subjects such as in the humanities.

c. Individuals with a “special interest” in cultural heritage, who were identified through referrals from
cultural heritage organisations.