Digitization

The question of Digitization's worth can be answered best not by counting the cost but rather by the impact it has on the user. The ability to deliver readable copy, vibrant images, to capture and thus preserve sounds, text and video in a medium that is less destructible that the original source, is in my opinion worth the time and cost.
For example, an out of print book item is sought online as a birthday gift for a family member who loved the story as a child. If someone, somewhere, at some time made a digital copy of this item the digital version (say it's a .pdf file) could be located, purchased and downloaded for reading on a computer or other reading device. Without Digitization, this item would remain unavailable.
The same argument would be made for saving family photos, Reunion videos, song collections, important instructional methods and other teaching tools.
Digitization cuts down on the dependence on paper copy. The movement to "Go green" may embrace the technology as a "tree-saver". Digital books are one of the Philadelphia Free Library's fastest growing collections, second only to the DVD collection for "current Blockbuster" movies (personal observation only).
Finally, as no method of medium delivery is flawless, problems with going digital may be reduced as the methods and technology mature.