ReStore guidance principles for sustainability of online resources.

These guidelines are specifically concerned with how to maximise the value of online resources created with ESRC funding, particularly by considerations of sustainability from the very outset of the project. Many ESRC-funded projects include the creation of resources designed to assist other researchers and promote specific research methods. Typically, the development of an online resource is time-consuming and expensive and the full value of the resource only comes into play close to the point at which funding ends. This document is concerned with both:

1. Those web resources for which the initial funding is complete and which are at risk of deterioration at exactly the point where they are beginning to be used and valued.

2. Resources which are in the early stages of creation and for which there is therefore the greatest opportunity to increase future impact by thinking about sustainability issues now.