Some commonly used questions that help in setting priorities include:

What is most important to support or fulfil the responsibility accepted by the

programme (including any legal requirements)?
What is most at risk?
What material is most likely to be in demand but likely to become unusable?
What risks will be easiest to do something about?
What action would make life easier if attended to now, and what will make life harder
if not attended to?

10.6.4 Service providers

There may be alternative paths for achieving the preservation commitments of the
programme. Organisations should consider whether they will get a better result from doing
the work in-house, or by contracting with someone else to do it, or by a combination of
approaches. Many processes such as storage and documentation may be amenable to
contracting, which may offer access to specialised expertise and facilities that would not be
available otherwise. In many cases, programmes may not be able to afford the initial
investments involved in setting up and maintaining infrastructure, so paying for someone else
to provide services may be attractive.

Contracting may present some potential risks, including:

Creating a distance between programme objectives and service provision
The possibility of being locked into the service providers services because the cost of
seeking alternatives is greater than the cost of continuing
Less control over what happens on a day-to-day basis
Higher costs (they may also be lower) than in-house arrangements over the long term
Fewer learning opportunities that might suggest better ways of doing things.

The success of contracting may depend on the programme managers ability to define what is
needed; finding a reliable supplier who can offer the services required at a suitable price;
being able to negotiate a suitable contract with adequate safeguards; and skills in managing
the contract.

In working with service providers, preservation managers must ensure they:

Understand their business and what they need to achieve
Communicate their needs
Rigorously assess the capabilities, motivations, and understandings of potential
suppliers
Prepare and negotiate an appropriate contract
Ensure communication channels are open so that any problems that be reported early
Monitor performance closely and evaluate arrangements regularly

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