5 1/2" floppy disks?. Didn't they supersede the Edison cylinder?

Sorry to sound facetious but that exactly encapuslates the problem. Technology is changing at such a rapid rate that it's impossible to gauge how long digital copies, in whatever format they're genereated, will remain readable.

Re., Microfiche. You're probably right about the durability. However, I once had to read an entire thesis from microfiche. The experience nearly drove me mad.

The other point to bear in mind is that, with handwritten materials especially, it may be much more difficult to decipher digitised copies than the orginals.

I agree that Ruskin will not have entered on this lightly, and it's probably their response to a funding cut. But that doesn't make the deed any less reprehensible.