Hi, On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 10:37 AM, Cab Vinton <bibliwho@gmail.com> wrote:
This service is closed, by the way - the website is just an archive now.
I don't know how much of a stumbling block this would be, but these types of collaborative services naturally require full disclosure of the fundraising target. I'm wondering if vendors would view the cost associated with a specific development project as proprietary information ...
Some would, some wouldn't. For a small project, i.e., something that wouldn't take more than a day or two of programming time, it would suffice to get a couple ballpark estimates, set your fundraising target, then make your final selection of a programmer once you have the funding. In fact, choosing to try out collective funding on something small would make a lot of sense, as it reduces the risk both for the libraries and the vendors. A larger, multi-week or multi-month development project would be a different kettle of fish, though. Estimating development projects is *hard*, and gets harder the bigger the project is. A hypothetical project whose ballpark estimates come in at an average of USD 50K, for example, would require a *lot* more administrative and contractual work and possibly a formal competitive bidding process, to say nothing of possible contractual guarantees *between* the libraries who want to fund it. To sum up: smaller, incremental projects would be a good way to dip your toes into this sort of funding model. Regards, Galen -- Galen Charlton gmcharlt@gmail.com