Costs of digitization

Why is it so hard to find costs for digitization? If you do research, you'll find wildly different costs, from $.04/page to $20/page, and different costs for text vs. images (which I can understand). But you'd think that people who do grant-funded projects would have published this info. Don't granting orgs want this kind of information? "So, Ms. Soandso, how EXACTLY did you spend the money we gave you?" Also, you have to put costs in your grant proposals. Are those figures just pulled out of... [ahem] the air?

This looks ok: The Price of Digitization: New Cost Models for Cultural and Educational Institutions

I like this quote from the end of the summary for the above-linked symposium report:

"I ended by quoting Voltaire, "the best is the enemy of the good," and urging people to go for more material at lower costs and quality levels. I also think we urgently need help demonstrating why we need these projects. Institutions don't quantify the value of new information and fear that it is used by those outside their community; we may need a new definition of community." (http://www.ninch.org/forum/price.lesk.report.html)

Let's remember that: The best is the enemy of the good. Let's make it our mantra. I may have it tattooed on my butt. Or at least put it on my office door. (No one would see the tattoo.)