Management of this storage of information on a long-term basis when the technology has a life of perhaps ten years makes current problems with the impermanence of paper seem small by comparison. On the other hand, the cost of the technology and the information density of storage media is continuing to change in a favourable direction, and it is possible to construct realistic scenarios in which the cost of conversion of paper to electronic storage and its subsequent maintenance over a long period could have payback periods of less than a decade. Overall, because this cost of archiving is amortised over many years, and is not obvious to end-users, it is generally ignored. However, it probably represents the best opportunity for the electronic model of publishing to reduce costs over the next decade. One can be reasonably sure that real estate values, staff costs to preserve and access materials, and the cost of providing a controlled environment will continue to rise at the long-term rates observed.
Online service provides for searching, downloading and so on.
Obviously, interactive use such as searching and browsing would reduce the size of retrieved data. The costs here reflect a variety of pressures. The marginal costs of providing data via the Internet are much lower than producing paper and moving it in a reasonable time from the USA to Australia. Conclusions Moving data for an electronic publication via the Internet, even if it is charged for, is really a very minor part of the total cost. Unfortunately, for those accustomed to the free use of a research library, it might be the only visible cost.