For any organisation that has an audiovisual collection, large or small, and is considering moving some or all of it to a digital format, one first key step is to clearly think through and delineate the reasons why digitisation is right for that particular collection. 

There may be many reasons why an organisation might embark on a digitisation project; these reasons can all be broadly grouped into three key drivers – access, commercialisation and preservation. While these are not mutually exclusive, it is important for the organisation to understand and prioritise them. For example digitising to commercialise your collection will result in file requirements widely different to a preservation objective. Defining the drivers of a digitisation project underpins successful and cost-effective management of the media and can assist in maximising the value of the audiovisual assets for an organisation.