Standards
Limit to:
File formats | Format registries
| Format standards
The use of standards is one strategy which may be used to assist in preserving the integrity of and access to digital information. Adherence to standards can assist by facilitating the transfer of information between hardware and software platforms as technologies evolve. Use of standards can also help ensure best practice in the management of digital information. Resources which are encoded using open standards have a greater chance of remaining accessible after an extended period than resources encoded with proprietary standards (unless these standards are very widely used).
There are different levels of standards with varying degrees of authority. The Guidelines on Best practices for Using Electronic Information (DLM Forum, 1997) define the following three levels of standards:
- De facto standards: these are standards that are commonly accepted by the marketplace; they are established by common practice or dominant market share.
- Publicly available specifications (PAS): these standards are developed when "several leading firms on the market join together in a consortium to define an interface standard". For example, specifications produced by the Internet Engineering Task Force.
- De jure standards: these are standards that are formally established by law, or by a recognised standards-setting body such as the International Standards Organisation (ISO).
In a study of fifteen institutions (A Strategic Policy Framework for Creating and Preserving Digital Collections, July 2001 update), including national libraries, museums and universities, all of the respondents emphasised the importance of using standards throughout the lifecycle of the digital resource. For example, the United Kingdom's Public Records Office (PRO) has an Electronic Records in Office Systems (EROS) Programme which recognises certain standards as approved data preservation formats. Through the use of standards the PRO "aims to reduce the frequency of data reformatting that may be required to migrate data through different standards and technology regimes" and therefore minimise the cost of data preservation.
However, another study (Digital Preservation Needs and Requirements in RLG Member Institutions, December 1998) found that out of 34 institutions creating digital materials through conversion only seven had adopted standard formats for preservation master files, and that there were a wide variety of formats present across the institutions.
A number of problems associated with using standards for preserving access to digital information have been noted. The eLib Standards Guidelines (October 1998) lists four of the main problems as being:
- Several versions of a standard may be in use, with earlier versions no longer being compatible;
- Suppliers may offer "value added" versions of standards in their implementations;
- A standard that is not well specified may be differently implemented in software; or
- Some standards may have more features than are likely to be used, resulting in different subsets being used in different implementations.
Jeff Rothenberg (Avoiding Technological Quicksand, January 1998) argues against standards as a long-term solution; however he concedes that "converting digital documents into standard forms, and migrating to new standards if necessary, may be a useful interim approach while a true long-term solution is being developed".
Recently, there appears to have been a move away from relying solely on standards to solve digital preservation problems. It has been recognised that the diversity of needs, the pressure for change which limits market support for long-term standards, and the difficulty in predicting future changes in technologies, all mean that we are likely to continue to see a plethora of standards of short-term applicability. Although the development of standards has been critical to interoperability and to automating processes, standards are likely to play a role in facilitating preservation rather than being a complete solution.
There are standards for the many different aspects of storing and accessing digital information, including standards for: interoperability, data format, resource identification, resource description, data archiving and records management. Following are some examples of different sorts of standards which are relevant to preserving access to digital information.
Interoperability standards
This type of standard allows communication between different systems, facilitating the discovery of and access to digital information. For example, ISO 23950 Information Retrieval Standard (equivalent to ANSI Z39.50) defines a standard way for two computers to communicate and share information. It has been designed to support resource discovery and information retrieval of full-text documents, bibliographic data, images and multimedia. The standard is based on client-server architecture and, being independent of specific systems, is fully operational over the Internet. The Z39.50 Profile for Access to Digital Collections, developed in 1995 by a working group convened by the Library of Congress, now forms the basis of a family of Z39.50 profiles addressing access to digital collections, the best-known of which is: The CIMI Profile: Z39.50 Application Profile for Cultural Heritage Information.
Resource encoding standards
These standards define formats for the different types of digital information. They include standards for page description formats (eg, postscript, PDF); graphics formats (eg, TIFF, GIF); structured information (eg, SGML); moving images and audio formats. Adherence to this type of standard allows data compatibility across a wide range of systems. Choice of standards will depend upon whether digital documents are to be preserved in a formatted form, a processable form or in both. A table of standard processable and standard formatted forms for a variety of categories of digital resources has been provided in Tony Hendley's report to the British Library, "Comparison of Methods & Costs of Digital Preservation". Increasingly, archiving agencies are looking to markup languages for the preservation of predominantly textual material (see, for example, SGML as a Framework for Digital Preservation and Access (1997) Washington: Commission on Preservation and Access.)
Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and Extensible Markup Language (XML) are examples of resource encoding standards for structured information. They are markup languages that "provide for the structuring and hypertext linking of document and database information in a vendor-neutral, machine-independent, and human-readable format" (The XML Cover Pages).
The World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) specifications for XML describe it as "a subset of SGML". XML is designed to be easier for creators to use than full SGML, while still being interoperable with both SGML and HTML. A good source of information about XML is Frequently Asked Questions about the Extensible Markup Language, which is maintained by Peter Flynn on behalf of the W3C's XML Special Interest Group.
The potential for sorting collection items into categories of similar materials for batch preservation action is attractive, as is the encapsulation effect of mark-up languages that separates the content from the structure and formatting. While this is a big step forward (and XML promises to be applicable to many different format types) marking up documents to comply with standards is highly resource intensive.
Resource identification standards
A way of uniquely identifying digital resources is desirable to ensure long-term and reliable access to resources while they are available over the Internet (see Persistent identifiers on this site).
Resource description standards
Resource description standards can facilitate effective resource discovery. These include description standards such as AACR2, a set of rules used for describing library material, and the semantic aspects of Dublin Core, a descriptive metadata standard developed for resource description on the Internet. There are also a group of standards which relate to metadata syntax, such as: MARC (Machine-Readable Cataloguing), a descriptive metadata standard originally developed for bibliographic purposes; the Encoded Archival Description (EAD), used by archivists for encoding finding aids; and the syntax aspects of Dublin Core.
As different groups of creators and providers of digital information will have different metadata needs, one standard metadata set such as the Dublin Core is not going to be suitable for everyone. This is one of the reasons that the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is currently involved in developing the Resource Description Framework (RDF). This framework will provide the infrastructure to support the coexistence of many different metadata sets, or "schemas", of which the Dublin Core will be one example.
Data archiving standards
The Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model is a model for an archival system for the long-term preservation of and access to digital information. OAIS has been developed by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) and is expected to be released as a draft ISO standard in the future. Projects investigating the use of the OAIS model include NEDLIB in Europe, CEDARS in the UK, and PANDORA in Australia.
Records management standards
Records management standards provide guidance on how to implement records management strategies, procedures and practices. The AS ISO 15489 series of standards (supersedes AS 4390 series) produced by Standards Australia are an example of records management standards. This series includes standards relating to the following aspects of records management: responsibilities, strategies, controls, storage, appraisal and disposal.
Text last updated: Sep 2000
Articles
| Books
| Events
| Organisations and Websites
| Online tutorial
| Policies, Strategies & Guidelines
| Projects and Case Studies
| Bibliographies
| Glossaries
| Journals & Newsletters
| Discussion Lists
| Surveys
| Tools
| Evaluations
-
2003 RLG-CIMI Symposium : Ready to Wear : Metadata Standards to Suit Your Project
Research Libraries Group
(Date Created: 29 Jul 2003)
- This is a report of a forum sponsored by RLG (Research Libraries Group) and the CIMI Consortium held May 12-12, 2003. The forum discusses the major metadata standards. Presentations available.
- http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/OCC/2007/09/28/0000073852/viewer/file7
05.html
- Addressing the Limitations of Open Standards
Guy, Marieke; Kelly, Brian
(Date Created: 31 Mar 2007)
(United Kingdom)
- This paper given at Museums and the Web 2007 (April 11-14, 2007 San Francisco, California) outlines a contextual model for the selection and use of open standards which was developed to support JISC’s development programmes within the UK higher and further education community. It considers the background and implementation of the model and how a community based approach to the acceptance of open standards could be beneficial.
- http://archimuse.com/mw2007/papers/kelly/kelly.html
- Available in J. Trant & D. Bearman (eds.) Museums and the Web 2007. Proceedings
- aDORe: A Modular, Standards-Based Digital Object Repository
Balakireva, Luda; Bekaert, Jeroen; Liu, Xiaoming; Schwander, Thorsten; Van de Sompel, Herbert
(Date Created: 24 Jun 2005)
- Description from abstract - This paper describes the aDORe repository architecture designed and implemented for ingesting, storing, and accessing a vast collection of Digital Objects at the Research Library of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
- http://comjnl.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/48/5/514
- Computer Journal, Vol. 48, no. 5, 2005. Subscription required for full text.
- AONS II: Continuing the Trend Towards Preservation Software 'Nirvana'
Pearson, David
(Date Created: Oct 2007)
(Australia)
- This paper presented at IPRES 2007, reports on the AONS II project undertaken by the National Library of Australia in conjunction with the Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories.The AONS software tool allows users to automatically monitor the status of file formats in their repositories and receive notification of obsolescence risks.
- http://ipres.las.ac.cn/pdf/David%20Pearson-AONS%20II_%20continuing%20t
he%20trend%20towards%20preservation%20software%20'Nirvana'%20-%20.pdf
- Screenshots of presentation and paper available from the the IPRES2007 website. http://ipres.las.ac.cn/
- AONS II: Continuing the Trend Towards Preservation Software 'Nirvana'
Pearson, David
In: iPRES2007 - Special issue
(Date Created: 25 Jan 2008)
(Australia)
- This paper was originally presented at iPRES 2007 in Beijing China. It reports on the AONS II project undertaken by the National Library of Australia in conjunction with the Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories. The AONS software tool allows users to automatically monitor the status of file formats in their repositories and receive notification of obsolescence risks.
- http://www.infotech.ac.cn/CN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType
=PDF&id=510
- New Technology for Library and Information Service, iPres2007 Special Issue, Vol1, 25 Jan 2008.
- AONS System Documentation
Curtis, Joseph
(Date Created: 29 Sep 2006)
(Australia)
- This is a technical document providing system documentation for AONS (Automatic Obsolescence Notification System). AONS is a software system that provides automatic notification of digital objects in a repository that may become obsolescent by using preservation information about the file formats. The document covers the architecture, registry and repository interface, AONS core and database structure.
- http://www.apsr.edu.au/publications/aons_report.pdf
-

Archival Data Format Requirements
Christensen, Steen S.
(Date Created: Jul 2004)
(Denmark)
- This document discusses the requirements of the Netarkivet in terms of both file formats and metadata. The document outlines the basic requirements for storage formats that can be used for long term preservation. Different storage formats are then evaluated in relation to Netarkivet specifications and a recommendation for a suitable long term storage format is made.
- http://netarkivet.dk/publikationer/Archival_format_requirements-2004.p
df
- Archive With Care
Rees, Peter
(Date Created: Jun 2005)
- This article covers the problems of a lack of open format standards from the perspective of the research data recorded in ELNs (Electronic Laboratory Notebooks), in particular their use by the pharmaceutical industry. Although formats like PDF/A can solve some problems, there is still reliance on proprietary file formats used in analytical instruments and other scientific software.
- http://www.scientific-computing.com/features/feature.php?feature_id=40
- Issue 82 (June 2005), Scientific Computing World
-

Archiving and Preserving PDF Files
Ockerbloom, John Mark
In: RLG DigiNews
(Date Created: Feb 2001)
- This article examines the long-term preservation of Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Possible migration strategies for PDF documents are outlined and appropriate techniques for archiving are discussed.
- http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/OCC/2007/08/08/0000070513/viewer/file5
58.html#feature2
-

Attributes of File Formats for Long Term Preservation of Scientific and Engineering Data in Digital Libraries
Barkstrom, Bruce R.; Folk, Mike
(Date Created: 2002)
- This paper was produced as part of the Investigating Scientific Data Management Applications with Electronic Records Project sponsored by NARA (National Archives and Records Administration). The paper discusses the characteristics of file formats that can be advantageous in the preservation and storage of scentific and engineering data. File formats are discussed in the context of archival storage and access, usability, data integrity and maintainability and durability.
- http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/NARA/Sci_Formats_and_Archiving.doc
-

Automatic Exposure: Capturing Technical Metadata for Digital Still Images
Research Libraries Group
(Date Created: Jan 2004)
(United States of America)
- This article explores a Research Libraries Group (RLG) initiative that seeks to enable cultural heritage institutions capture the data elements proposed by the draft standard, NISO Z39.87 Technical Metadata for Digital Still Images. This standard provides a set of data elements, essential to an institution’s ability to manage and preserve its digital images. Included in the article are ways cultural heritage institutions are dealing with the capture of technical metadata and gives examples of harvesting tools that have been employed by cultural heritage institutions world-wide.
- http://www.oclc.org/programs/ourwork/past/automaticexposure/ae_whitepa
per_2003.pdf
- Automatic Format Identification Using Pronom and DROID. Digital Preservation Technical Paper No. 1
Brown, Adrian
(Date Created: Oct 2005)
(United Kingdom)
- This technical paper describes DROID (Digital Record Object Identification), an open source software tool that performs automated identification of file formats.
- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/aboutapps/fileformat/pdf/automatic_
format_identification.pdf
-

Automating Preservation : New Developments in the PRONOM Service
Brown, Adrian
In: RLG DigiNews
(Date Created: 15 Apr 2005)
(United Kingdom)
- PRONOM 4 is due to be launched in June 2005. This article discusses the revisions and enhancements available in the new version, including technical registry enhancements, automatic file format identification and the development of PRONOM unique identifiers (PUI).
- http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/OCC/2007/08/08/0000070519/viewer/file9
59.html#article1
-

Best Practices for Digital Archiving: An Information Lifecycle Approach
Hodge, Gail
In: D-Lib magazine
(Date Created: Jan 2000)
- This report is based on a study commissioned by the International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI), in March 1999 to highlight the importance of digital archiving (long-term storage, preservation and access to information that is "born digital"). Project managers from a selection of projects including web archives were surveyed about the methods they were using in their project regarding: Creation; Acquisition and Collection Development; Identification and Cataloguing; Storage; Preservation; Access.
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1045/january2000-hodge
- http://www.dlib.org/dlib/january00/01hodge.html
-
Bits and Bites of Data Formats : Stainless Design for Digital Endurance
Aschenbrenner, Andreas
In: RLG DigiNews
(Date Created: Feb 2004)
- This paper analyses the use of XML as a preservation format, particularly in those areas which may be problematic. The article discusses the ideal design criteria for the development data types and then concentrates on the shortcomings or concerns of XML in preserving data formats.
- http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/OCC/2007/08/08/0000070511/viewer/file3
683.html#article2
-
Building a Robust Knowledge Base for Digital Formats
Ockerbloom, John Mark
(Date Created: 21 Apr 2004)
(United States of America)
- FRED (Format REgistry Demonstrator) is a proof-of-concept prototype format registry which is part of the Mellon-funded TOM (Typed Object Model) project. This is a brief overview of FRED and includes characteristics of the registry, how formats are described and future challenges.
- http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:MS2-0fFViSkJ:www.diglib.org/forum
s/spring2004/powerpoint/ockerbloom0404.ppt+Building+a+Robust+Knowledge +Base+for+Digital+Formats&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1
- Capturing Analog Sound for Digital Preservation : Report of a Roundtable Discussion of Best Practices for Transferring Analog Discs and Tapes
Council on Library and Information Resources and the Library of Congress
(Date Created: Mar 2006)
(United States of America)
- This report, commissioned by the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, assesses current standards and practices in capturing analog sound for digital preservation. The report is based on a meeting of audio experts held in January 2004. The report includes summaries of the meeting discussions and recommendations on practices and procedures for transferring analog discs and tapes. It also includes a 'road map' for analog to digital conversion.
- ISBN: 1932326251
- http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub137abst.html
- CLIR publication no. 137
-
CODA Curation of Digital Assets 2007. Version 2: English translation of parts from the final report (2009)
LDB-Centrum
(Date Created: 02 Apr 2009)
(Sweden)
- This document (20 p.) is an English version of one chapter plus an appendix (3) from the 2007 report in Swedish. It reports on the evaluation of the ability of four programs to identify the format of a file and version. The programs tested were: DROID, JHOVE, TriID and File Identifier. In the tests DROID and JHOVE scored best. The full report in Swedish (113 p.) which reports on both this project and another CODA_POP is available from the CODA-FORM website.
- https://ldb.project.ltu.se/main.php/ldb.project.ltu.se/main.php/projec
ts/portalproject/docs/Publikationer/Svenska%20publikationer/CODA-2007_ English.pdf?fileitem=7475395
-
Collaboration between RLG and OCLC With Digital Archiving Initiatives
Bellinger, Meg; Dale, Robin
In: RLG DigiNews
(Date Created: Dec 2001)
(United States of America)
- An interview with Robin Dale of the Research Libraries Group and Meg Bellinger of OCLC Digital & Preservation Resources, in which they discuss the collaboration of RLG and OCLC in digital archiving initiatives, including the joint preservation metadata intiative, characterisation of reliable digital archives and long-term digital archiving programs. Anticipated future collaborations and perceived obstacles to digital preservation are also noted.
- http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/OCC/2007/08/08/0000070513/viewer/file1
628.html#interview
-
Conversion & Document Formats : Backfile Conversion and Format Issues for Information Stored in Digital Archives
Hewlett Packard; Romany, Nancy
(Date Created: 2002)
- AIMM Industry Whitepaper on Records, Document and Enterprise Content Management for the Public Sector. First ed.
- ISBN: 3936534020
- http://web.archive.org/web/20050720133806/http://h30046.www3.hp.com/up
loads/whitepapers/conversion_formats_wp.pdf
- AIIM Industry Whitepaper vol. 2 . Archived by the Internet Archive
- Corporate Alzheimer's : Coping With Forgotten File Formats
Waters, John K.
(Date Created: 04 Apr 2006)
(United States of America)
- This brief article describes the latest developments in XML based 'open file' formats that claim to free documents from the restrictions of proprietary software for long term access.
- http://www.law.com/jsp/PubArticle.jsp?id=900005450719
-
DARE : A New Age in Academic Information Provision in the Netherlands
Van der Vaart, Lilian
(Date Created: 01 Jul 2003)
(Netherlands)
- The DARE programme (Digital Academic Repositories), which runs from 2003-2006, was instigated in the Netherlands as a joint programme between all Dutch Universities, the National Library of the Netherlands, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and the Netherlands Organisation of Scientific Research. The aim of DARE, is to “ enable universities to better fulfil their own role and responsibility in the preservation and accessibility of the academic information produced in their own institute.” This paper describes the processes and developments of the first stage of the programme (up to June 2003).
- http://www.surffoundation.nl/SFDocuments/Paper_EUNIS_2003.pdf
- This paper was given at the 9th International Conference of European University Information Systems (EUNIS) in Amsterdam, 4 July, 2003
- Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata : Final Report of the PREMIS Working Group
PREMIS (PREservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies) Working Group
(Date Created: May 2005)
(United States of America)
- In 2003, the OCLC and RLG established the PREMIS Working group of which this is the final 237 page report. The report explains and contextualises the data dictionary which is a set of core preservation metadata applicable to digital preservation. Included in the report are the data model, the PREMIS Data Dictionary version 1.0 and examples for describing various media.
- http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/pmwg/premis-final.pdf
-

Database Preservation Issues
Verdegem, Remco
(Date Created: 2003)
(Netherlands)
- This paper, based on the the work of the Digital Preservation Testbed, was presented at the ERPANET workshop on Long-term preservation of databases in Bern, Switzerland in April 2003. The progress in developing strategies for database preservation is discussed within the context of migration, emulation and in particular, XML conversions. XML, identified as an approach in its own right, is compared to alternate strategies. The Digital Preservation Testbed's XML conversion tool and schema is considered.
- http://www.digitaleduurzaamheid.nl/bibliotheek/docs/longterm_preservat
ion_of_databases.pdf
-
DCC DIFFUSE Standards Frameworks: A standards Path Through the Curation Lifecycle
Higgins, Sarah
In: International Journal of Digital Curation
(Date Created: Oct 2009)
(United Kingdom)
- This article (based on a paper originally given at the 4th International Digital Curation Conference, December 2008) provides an overview of the DCC DIFFUSE Standards Frameworks project which aims to provide domain-specific advice on standards relevant to digital preservation and curation. So far searchable standards frameworks based on the DCC Curation lifecycle model have been prepared for the digital repository, archives and records management sectors.
- http://www.ijdc.net/index.php/ijdc/article/viewFile/118/136
- Defining File Format Obsolescence : A Risky Journey
Pearson, David; Webb, Colin
In: International Journal of Digital Curation
(Date Created: Jul 2008)
(Australia)
- This paper describes the process of defining file format obsolescence at the National Library of Australia for the AONS II project which was undertaken in conjunction with the Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories. File format obsolescence is a major risk for digital repositories. The project refined a software tool to help managers decide if preservation action is required.
- http://www.ijdc.net/ijdc/article/view/76/78
- Developing a Trusted Digital Repository: the OCLC Experience
Lawson, Dawn; Spies, Phyllis B
(Date Created: Jan 2004)
(United States of America)
- This article focuses on the OCLC’s (Online Computer Library Centre) experience in developing a digital archive. The development of standards for digital archiving and preservation metadata with RLG (Research Libraries Group) in defining the main attributes of a trust digital repository is described, as are the main tools and functions of the archive including the harvest, ingest and dissemination of archived objects. The Connecticut State Library’s use of OCLC’s Web archiving tools is also discussed.
- http://ninetta.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/03055720410530960
- Also available in PDF version and in VINE, Vol 34, No 1, 2004, pp. 27-32, ISSN 0305-5278 (Special Issue: Digital Preservation and Libraries. Part One).
-
On DigiPaper and the Dissemination of Electronic Documents
Huttenlocher, Dan; Moll, Angela
In: D-Lib magazine
(Date Created: Jan 2000)
- This article describes DigiPaper, which enables documents to be disseminated with the formatting fixed in place, as intended by the creator. It is a new image-based document representation which combines the compression technologies of Mixed Raster Content (MRC) color image model and token-compression to achieve much smaller files than current image formats.
- http://www.dlib.org/dlib/january00/moll/01moll.html
- In D-Lib Magazine, Vol 6, No. 1
-
Digital Formats for Content Reproductions
Fleischhauer, Carl; Library of Congress
(Date Created: 13 Jul 1998)
(United States of America)
- This document was prepared, in part, to offer guidance to applicants in the Library of Congress/Ameritech competition. Guidance for digitisation projects is offered under the following headings: Pictorial Materials, Textual Materials Reproduced as Searchable Text and Images, Textual Materials Reproduced as Images, Maps, Sound Recordings, Moving-image Materials, and Headers for Computer Files.
- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/formats.html
- Digital Negative (DNG)
Adobe Systems Inc.
(Date Created: Oct 2004)
- Adobe has announced a new public format for raw digital camera files, the Digital Negative (DNG) file format. DNG offers an open format for archiving proprietary raw files from a diverse range of cameras by different manufacturers, which has positive implications for their long-term preservation. Adobe has also launched a freely available software tool, the Adobe DNG converter, which can translate many of the proprietary files in use today into the new format. Both the Adobe DNG converter and the DNG file format specification are available for download.
- http://www.adobe.com/products/dng/main.html
- Digital Preservation : Architecture and Technology for Trusted Digital Repositories
Giarlo, Michael J.; Jantz, Ronald
In: D-Lib magazine
(Date Created: Jun 2005)
- This article discusses the importance of establishing and maintaining trust and authenticity throughout the lifecycle of records within academic digital repositories. It gives an overview of technologies for enabling permanence and trust such as Persistent Identifiers, PIDs and naming conventions. The digital preservation architecture at Rutgers University Libraries digital repository is used to demonstrate this approach.
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1045/june2005-jantz
- http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june05/jantz/06jantz.html
-
Digital Preservation : Problems and Prospects
Hedstrom, Margaret
(Date Created: Mar 2001)
- This paper provides an outline of the major issues that long-term preservation raises for digital libraries and describes the main technical strategies upon which digital preservation has up to now relied upon, identified as standards and migration. The author provides an assessment of emulation as a preservation strategy and notes other strategies such as 'print-to-paper', 'computer museums' and 'digital archaeology'. She also comments on some major operational models and research projects including the Open Archival Information Systems (OAIS) Reference Model, Project NEDLIM and the CEDARS Project. The article is published in issue no. 20 (March 2001) of Digital Libraries (Dijitaru toshokan).
- http://www.dl.slis.tsukuba.ac.jp/DLjournal/No_20/1-hedstrom/1-hedstrom
.html
- Digital Preservation : Will Your Files Stand the Test of Time?
Anderson, Cokie
(Date Created: 2005)
- This article canvasses various file formats and storage media and gives an oveview of their sustainability and vulnerabilities. The article proposes that preservation planning is the key to ensuring digital longevity.
- http://iris.emeraldinsight.com/vl=7964756/cl=55/nw=1/rpsv/cgi-bin/link
er?ini=emerald&reqidx=/cw/mcb/07419058/v22n6/s3/p9
- Also available in pdf. Library Hi Tech News incorporating Online and CD Notes, Vol. 22, no. 6 (2005) and by subscription online at Emerald Fulltext - http://iris.emeraldinsight.com
- Digitizing Audio for the National Gallery of the Spoken Word and the African Online Digital Library: Working Paper
Michigan State University
(Africa)
- This paper outlines some of the key concepts in speech digitization and a working model for digitizing speech for archival purposes.
- http://www.aodl.org/westafrica/audio.php
-
DoD-NARA Scanned Images Standards Conference
MacTavish, Sue
In: RLG DigiNews
(Date Created: 15 Apr 1999)
(United States of America)
Reviewed by: DoD-NARA Scanned Images Standards Conference
- This technical feature reviews the proceedings of a Scanned Images Standards Conference, sponsored by the US Department of Defense (DoD) and National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The conference reviewed imaging standards and examined the status of selected imaging projects.
- http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/OCC/2007/08/08/0000070513/viewer/file3
585.html#technical1
-

Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Progress Report and Workplan for 2002
Dekkers, Makx ; Dublin Core Metadata Initiative; Weibel, Stuart L.
In: D-Lib magazine
(Date Created: Feb 2002)
- This report summarizes the accomplishments and changes that took place in the Initiative during 2001 and outlines the workplan for 2002.
- http://www.dlib.org/dlib/february02/weibel/02weibel.html
-

E-Government and Digital Preservation
Dumortier, Jos
(Date Created: May 2003)
- This paper was presented at the Workshop on
E-Government: Legal, Technical and Pedagogical Aspects at Albarracín (Spain), 8-10th May 2003.
The paper discusses digital signatures within the context of digital archiving. Digital signatures are used to authenticate the originator and the integrity of information. The article discusses the long term validation of digital signatures and the implications of this for emulation and migration preservation strategies.
- http://www.unizar.es/derecho/fyd/lefis/documentos/Albareccin_JosDumort
ier.pdf
-

E-Journal Archive DTD Feasibility Study
Inera Incorporated
(Date Created: 05 Dec 2001)
- This report, commissioned by the Harvard University Library E-Journal Archiving Project under a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, provides recommendations for the development of a common SGML structure for representing the intellectual content of archived journal articles and examines the challenges to be faced in transforming such content. It is based on examination of DTDs from ten publishers and the experiences of organisations that have worked with multiple publishers and DTDs.
- http://www.diglib.org/preserve/hadtdfs.pdf
-

E-Science Curation Report : Data Curation for E-Science in the UK : an Audit to Establish Requirements for Future Curation and Provision
Lord, Philip; Macdonald, Alison
(Date Created: 2003)
(United Kingdom)
- This report, prepared for the JISC Committee for the Support of Research (JCSR), endeavours to establish the current provision and future requirements for curation of digital primary research data generated within e-science in the UK. The report consists of strategic and policy level recommendations. Questionnaires and interviews were used to ascertain current provisions for data curation, in areas including such as repositories, libraries, funding, costs, preservation, and standards.
- http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/e-ScienceReportFinal.pdf
-

Encoded Archival Description : An Introduction and Overview
Pitti, Daniel V.
In: D-Lib magazine
(Date Created: Nov 1999)
- This article provides an overview and introduction to the emerging communication standard, Encoded Archival Description (EAD)
- http://www.dlib.org/dlib/november99/11pitti.html
-

Ensuring the Longevity of Digital Information
Rothenberg, Jeff
(Last Updated: 22 Feb 1999)
- This paper is an expanded version of the article "Ensuring the Longevity of Digital Documents" that appeared in the January 1995 edition of Scientific American (Vol. 272, No. 1. pp 42-7). It discusses the fragility of digital material and strategies for preserving access.
- http://www.clir.org/pubs/archives/ensuring.pdf
- Establishing a Global Digital Format Registry
Abrams, Stephen L.
(Date Created: 2005)
- This article beings by discussing format dependencies in digital repository operations, including ingest, migration, emulation and Universal Virtual Computer (UVC) dependencies. The author then discusses the data model, the service model and the governance and business model of the Global Digital Format Registry (GDFR).
- http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/library_trends/v054/54.1abrams.html
- Library Trends, Vol. 54, no. 1 (2005)
- Evaluating File Formats for Long Term Preservation
Rog, Judith; van Wijk, Caroline
(Date Created: Feb 2008)
(Netherlands)
- This paper outlines the Koninklijke Biliotheek's recently developed file format risk assessment methodology for long term preservation. The paper discusses whether it is possible to obtain universal agreement on a methodology particularly with the added challenges of web archiving. The authors seek feedback from other institutions.
- http://www.kb.nl/hrd/dd/dd_links_en_publicaties/publicaties/KB_file_fo
rmat_evaluation_method_27022008.pdf
-
File Formats for Preservation : Final Report
ERPANET (Electronic Resource Preservation and Access Network)
(Date Created: May 2004)
(Austria)
- This is a report of the activities of the File Formats for Preservation Seminar at the Austrian National Library, 10-11 May 2004. Papers included information on a general and introductory level as well as papers dealing with specific areas including text, image and audiovisual formats.
- http://www.erpanet.org/events/2004/vienna/Vienna_Report.pdf
-
Gap Analysis: A Survey of PA Tool Provision
Houtman, Frank; van Bussel, Sara
(Date Created: 12 Oct 2009)
- This report (26 p.) prepared for the Planets project discusses the findings of a survey of file formats archived by cultural and scientific organisations; case studies of three specialised formats (DAISY, FITS, and sheet music formats); and considerations for determining gaps in the availability of preservation action (PA) tools. The report recommends that gap analysis needs to be undertaken every 2-3 years. It notes that individual organisations may have differing perceptions on whether a gap exits, based on their individual circumstances. Appendixes include: List of found file formats; and, List of migration tools.
- http://planets-project.eu/docs/reports/PA2D3gapanalysis.pdf
- Deliverable PA2/D3
- General Study 11 Final Report : Selecting Digital File Formats for Long-Term Preservation
McLellan, Evelyn Peters
(Date Created: Mar 2007)
- This report prepared for the Domain 3 project unit of the InterPARES 2 Project analyses the current issues and trends in the selection of file formats for preserving digital records in the e-government, sciences and arts sectors. The report reviews documentation on the web sites of 20 repositories and 4 multi-national collaborative groups.
- http://www.interpares.org/display_file.cfm?doc=ip2_file_formats(comple
te).pdf
- Also available in French http://www.interpares.org/display_file.cfm?doc= ip2_file_formats_fichiers_numériques.pdf
-

Handling File Formats
Clausen, Lars. R.
(Date Created: May 2004)
(Denmark)
- This report describes a part of “Internetbevaringsprojektet” (the Internet preservation project), which is a joint project between Statsbiblioteket (The State Library) and Det Kongelige Bibliotek (The Royal Library) in Denmark. The aim of the project is to archive the Danish part of the Internet. As part of this project, this report specifically deals with strategies in handling file formats to ensure long term preservation and accessibility. Some of the main ways to preserve access to information stored as digital objects are discussed, including capture, sequential conversion to new formats, conversion on demand, emulation and hardware preservation. The report concludes with a suggested strategy for dealing with file formats in an archival system, file preservation workflows and general recommendations for handling file formats.
- http://netarchive.dk/publikationer/FileFormats-2004.pdf
- Identifier Interoperability : a Report on Two Recent ISO Activities
Paskin, Norman
In: D-Lib magazine
(Date Created: Apr 2006)
- This article reports on two ISO activities which have implications for content management in digital libraries. Firstly, the investigation of the practical implications of interoperability across the family of ISO TC46/SC9 identifiers (better known as the ISBN and related identifiers); and secondly, the implementation of an ontology-based data dictionary that could provide a mechanism for this, the ISO/IEC 21000-6 standard.
- http://www.dlib.org/dlib/april06/paskin/04paskin.html
-

Integrating Metadata Schema Registries With Digital Preservation Systems To Support Interoperability: A Proposal
Day, Michael
(Date Created: 2003)
- A paper presented by Michael Day at the 2003 Dublin Core Conference in Seattle argued that metadata registries may assist in managing metadata in repositories and may also support the re-use and exchange of metadata and/or information packages. The paper describes the development of metadata schemas by national libraries, research initiatives, recordkeeping institutions and digitisation programs and notes that interoperability between these schemas is desirable. Day suggests that metadata registries may be a useful tool that provide authoritative information on schema and element specifications and inter-scheme mappings. They could possibly also support the re-use of metadata and the exchange of information packages between trusted repositories.
- http://www.siderean.com/dc2003/101_paper38.pdf
-
International Organisation for Standardisation : Organisation Internationale De Normalisation : ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11: Coding of Moving Pictures and Audio : MPEG-21 Overview v.5
MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group)
(Date Created: Oct 2002)
- "MPEG-21 aims at defining a normative open framework for multimedia delivery and consumption for use by all the players in the delivery and consumption chain. This open framework will provide content creators, producers, distributors and service providers with equal opportunities in the MPEG-21 enabled open market. This will also be to the benefit of the content consumer providing them access to a large variety of content in an interoperable manner."
- http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/standards/mpeg-21/mpeg-21.htm
- JHOVE2 : a Next-Generation Architecture for Format-Aware Digital Object Preservation Formatting
Harvard University Library
(Last Updated: 01 Jun 2006)
(United States of America)
- The paper discusses the scope of the JHOVE2 (JSTOR/Harvard Object Validation Environment) project proposal. This project will seek to retain existing JHOVE functionality and refactor the existing architecture, support enhancements, increase the range of supported formats, and develop modules for supporting key preservation processes. Input from the JHOVE user community will be sought as part of the design phase. The proposal was submitted by Harvard University, Portico, and Stanford University to the Library of Congress under the National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Program (NDIIPP) initiative.
- http://hul.harvard.edu/jhove/JHOVE2-proposal.doc
- JSTOR/Harvard Object Validation Environment (JHOVE)
Donnelly, Martin
(Date Created: Mar 2006)
- JHOVE is an open source framework for the identification, validation and characterisation of various file formats, including html. xml, gif, tiff, jpeg2000, and wave. The article looks at how formats are identified, validated and characterisated as well as system development, standards and legal factors. Also included are sample records.
- http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resource/case-studies/jhove/jhove.pdf
- DCC Case Studies and Interviews, ISSN 1749-8767
- Large Scale Data Sharing in the Life Sciences : Data Standards, Incentives, Barriers and Funding Models : the Joint Data Standards Study
Bioinformatics Research Centre, University of Glasgow; Digital Archiving Consultancy; National e-Science Centre
(Date Created: Aug 2005)
- This report examines the data sharing practices in the large-scale life-sciences and environmental data resources. The study is sponsored by MRC, BBSRC, NERC, Wellcome Trust, Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and the Department of Trade and Industry. The report includes recommendations on standards, tools, life cycle management, legal issues, core models for data sharing and case studies.
- http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Utilities/Documentrecord/index.htm?d=MRC002552
-

Like Russian Dolls : Nesting Standards for Digital Preservation
Waibel, Gunter
In: RLG DigiNews
(Date Created: 15 Jun 2003)
- This article discusses three standards for digital preservation, the Open Archival Information System (OAIS), the Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS) and the NISO Data Dictionary - Technical Metadata for Digital Still Images. The article describes what the standards do and how they can be utilised, noting especially the hierarchical relationship of the three standards, such that the higher level one provides a framework for those below it.
- http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/OCC/2007/08/08/0000070519/viewer/file9
26.html#feature2
-
Linking Preservation Metadata and Collection Management Policies
Calanag, Maria Luisa; Sugimoto, Shigeo; Tabata, Koichi
(Date Created: 2004)
- This article focuses on the link between institutional policies and successful long term preservation of digital data. The study has found that in order to do this it is crucial to develop preservation guides that address the metadata granularity issues. The study highlighted a need for flexible approach when determining preservation metadata levels, since highly structured metadata can be set at a higher, collection level, while lower confidence in stability of digital data would require file level metadata. This approach leads to a concept of metadata encapsulated objects, which although representing primarily technical requirements, need also to be addressed at policy level in order to render successful preservation strategies.
- http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mcb/171/2004/00000023/00000002/a
rt00002
- in Collection Building (0160-4953), Vol. 23, no. 2 (2004) pp 56-63.
- Logic-Based Approach to the Formal Specification of Data Formats
Botchak, Arsene; Hartle, Michael; Mühlhäuser, Max; Schumann, Daniel
(Date Created: 30 Sep 2008)
- This paper given at iPRES 2008 (British Library Conference Centre, 29-30 September 2009) presents a logic based approach for the formal specification of data formats as a possibly infinite set of data format instances building upon the Bitstream Segment Graph model. To illustrate the approach a small subset of Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image format is used and described using a relatively small number of rules.
- http://www.bl.uk/ipres2008/presentations_day2/46_Hartle.pdf
-
Lossy or Lossless? File Compression Strategies Discussion at ALA
Dale, Robin
In: RLG DigiNews
(Date Created: 15 Feb 1999)
- This 'technical feature' summarises discussions which took place at the American Library Association midwinter meeting in Philadelphia about lossy versus lossless file compression techniques. Six practitioners: Carl Fleischhauer, Louis Sharpe, III, Howard Besser, Peter Hirtle, Joy Paulson and Steven Puglia give their opinions on factors which
affect the decision to use different compression techniques.
- http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/OCC/2007/08/08/0000070513/viewer/file1
380.html#technical1
-

Managing Digital Collections: AHDS Policies, Standards and Practices.
Beagrie, N.; Greenstein, D.; Pressler, C.
(Date Created: Dec 1998)
(United Kingdom)
- This publication, within the Managing Digital Collections series, is being revised to reflect changing technologies, emerging best practice, and experience. The AHDS has adopted a standards based approach to fulfilling its aims of preservation, access, consistency and interoperability and therefore standards form a major focus of this publication.
- http://ahds.ac.uk/collections.doc
- National Library Standards Activities
National Library of Australia
(Regularly Updated)
(Australia)
- The library and information community has adopted a range of standards which facilitate the interchange of library data, which promote the interoperability of library systems, and which support the operation of national and international networks of libraries.
This statement sets out the National Library of Australia's current standards activities, and the directions and priorities which it wishes to pursue in the medium term future.
- http://www.nla.gov.au/services/standards.html
- NCD Recommendation for the National Standard for Describing Digitized Heritage in Serbia
Butigan-Vuˇcaj, Tamara; Marinkovi´c, Bojan; Ognjanovi´c, Zoran
(Date Created: 11 Oct 2007)
(Serbia)
- This paper delivered at MTSR'07 (2nd International Conference on Metadata and Semantics Research, 11-12 October 2007, Corfu, Greece) presents a proposal for the national standard for describing digitized assets of movable heritage in Serbia which was made by the Serbian National Center for Digitization.
- http://www.mtsr.ionio.gr/proceedings/ognjanovic.pdf
- In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Metadata and Semantics Research (CD-ROM), Ionian Academy, Corfu, Greece.”
-

Next stage: moving from isolated digital collections to interoperable digital libraries
Besser, Howard
In: First Monday
(Date Created: 03 Jun 2002)
- In this paper, Howard Besser of UCLA notes that many existing digital library developments are primarily collection based and that they often lack service or preservation components. He then discusses various ways in which we may be able to move from these isolated digital collections to a network of interoperable digital libraries. In doing so, he emphasises that libraries are not just collections but organisations that provide a variety of services (including their long-term stewardship over collections) and uphold ethical traditions (e.g. on privacy and equal access).
- http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view
/958/879
-

OAI Rights White Paper : September 26 2003
Lagoze, Carl; Nelson, Michael; Van de Sompel, Herbert; Warner, Simeon
(Date Created: 26 Aug 2003)
- Instigated by the Open Archives Initiative and Project RoMEO, the OAI-rights white paper describes the scope and issues in OAI rights. The goal of OAI rights is to investigate and develop means of expressing rights about metadata and resources in the OAI framework. This paper is intended as a foundation for work aimed at incorporating structured rights expressions into the OAI-PMH. This work will be undertaken by a technical group called oai-rights, and will result in a set of OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) guidelines scheduled for release in second quarter 2004
- http://www.openarchives.org/documents/OAIRightsWhitePaper.html
- OAIS as a Reference Model for Repositories : an Evaluation
Allinson, Julie
(Date Created: Jul 2006)
- This draft for comment evaluates the applicability of OAIS across different types of repositories. The evaluation includes the OAIS functional model, adapting and conforming to OAIS, and measuring compliance. The author concludes that complaince to OAIS is achievable by various repositories due to its flexibility.
- http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/repositories/publications/oais-evaluation-20060
7/Drs-OAIS-evaluation-0.5.pdf
-
PDF-A : a New Digital Preservation Format
LeFurgy, William G.
(Date Created: May 2003)
(United States of America)
- Since 2002, a committee of government, business, and academic representatives has been exploring an approach to long-term preservation of text-based digital documents and working to establish an archival standard for Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF). Known as PDF-A, the potential standard intends to specify a limited, stable subset of PDF that must remain valid for a number of years. PDF-A is designed to meet three basic requirements: the needs of document producers, document users and archivists, while excluding features that hinder archival viability. The committee is sponsored by the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) and The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies (NPES).
- http://www.archivists.org/saagroups/gov/newsletters/May2003.asp#digita
l
- in Government Record News : the newsletter of the Government Records Section of the Society of American Archivists, May/June 2003
-

PDF/A: Developing a File Format for Long-Term Preservation
LeFurgy, William G
In: RLG DigiNews
(Date Created: 15 Dec 2003)
(United States of America)
- This article looks at current developments in the USA into the long-term preservation of text-based digital documents. A working group has prepared a draft preservation standard for Adobe�s Portable Format Document (PDF). Known as PDF/A, the standard �intends to specify the use of PDF in a manner that is specifically geared to long-term management and use. PDF/A would be ideally suited for documents whose content and appearance must remain stable over long periods of time�.
- http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/OCC/2007/08/08/0000070511/viewer/file1
491.html#feature1
- Preservation of Digital Objects
Galloway, Patricia
(Date Created: 2004)
- This article provides an overview of issues and international projects that have been undertaken in the area of digital preservation. It looks at practical examples of ongoing digital preservation; the roles of library, archives and museums in the preservation of digital objects; a summary of research on the preservation of digital objects since the year 2000; different record keeping standards; genre-specific preservation problems (such as web pages, databases); repository standards, preservation methods (such as emulation, migration and serial conversion); preservation metadata standards, as well as future directions for digital preservation.
- In: Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST), Vol 38, 2004 pp. 549-590 (Chapter 11), ISSN 0066-4200, ISBN 1-57387-185-0 http://www.asis.org/Publications/ARIST/
- Preservation of TeX/LaTeX Documents
Barnes, Ian
(Date Created: 21 Jul 2006)
- TeX is a mathematical typesetting programme language and LaTeX is based on TeX. The report addresses the suitability of TeX/LaTeX as a preservation format. The author maintains that in the long term these documents should be converted to an XML format such as Doc Book XML with embedded MathML.
- http://www.apsr.edu.au/publications/LaTeX-preservation.pdf
-
Preserving Digital Documents : Choices, Approaches and Standards
Lynch, Clifford
(Date Created: Sep 2004)
- This article is intended as an introduction to policy and curatorial issues in digital preservation. The article examines two approaches to preserving born digital objects- migration and emulation. Standards are also briefly canvassed.
- http://www.aallnet.org/products/pub_llj_v96n04/2004-40.pdf
- Law Library Journal, Vol. 96, no. 4, Fall 2004, pp. 609-617, ISSN 0023-9283. Available online from AALL publications
- PRONOM
National Archives (UK)
(United Kingdom)
- PRONOM is a database system that stores and provides information about file formats and the application software needed to open them. It stores detailed descriptions of software applications, including what file formats an application can read and write to, any dependencies that may exist in order to run the application
- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pronom/
-

PRONOM : a Practical Online Compendium of File Formats
Darlington, Jeffrey
In: RLG DigiNews
(Date Created: 15 Oct 2003)
(United Kingdom)
- PRONOM is a database established by the National Archives (UK) that stores and provides information on file formats and the software applications needed to read them. This article provides an overview of the purpose, content development strategies and future development plans for PRONOM. The latest version, the web-enabled PRONOM 3, is also described.
- http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/OCC/2007/08/08/0000070511/viewer/file1
925.html#feature2
-
Provision of Digital Preservation Metadata : a Role for ONIX?
Brindley, Gavin; Muir, Adrienne; Probets, Steve
(Date Created: Jul 2004)
- ONIX is a metadata standard used in the publishing industry for data exchange. This article examines the suitability of ONIX metadata for digital preservation metadata requirements. The article describes the background to digital preservation before analysing whether ONIX could be integrated into and help populate the existing preservation metadata frameworks.
- http://www.emeraldinsight.com/rpsv/cw/mcb/00330337/v38n4/s3/p240
- in Program : Electronic Library and Information Systems, ISSN 0033-0337, Vol. 38, issue 4, 2004, pp. 240-250.
-
Re-inventing the Wheel? Standards, Interoperability and Digital Cultural Content
Gill, Tony; Miller, Paul
In: D-Lib magazine
(Date Created: Jan 2002)
- This article focusses on the concept of interoperability for digital cultural content, the rise of multiple standards seeking to achieve wide usefulness, portability and longevity for such content, and the aim for agreement on a common framework of standards, supported by UKOLN, CIMI and Resource in hosting the International Seminar on National Digital Cultural Content Creation Strategies. Links to the meeting documents and an invitation to join the interoperability public mailing list are included.
- http://www.dlib.org/dlib/january02/gill/01gill.html
-
Report on the Sixth European Conference on Digital Libraries
Buchanan, George
(Date Created: Oct 2002)
- A report on the 6th European Conference on Digital Libraries (ECDL 2002), held in Rome, 15-18 September, 2002. A greater focus on the technical aspects of digital libraries is noted, with web archiving, architecture, standards and usability included as major topics.
- http://www.dlib.org/dlib/october02/buchanan/10buchanan.html
-

Risk Management of Digital Information : A File Format Investigation
Arms, Caroline R.
In: RLG DigiNews
(Date Created: 15 Jun 2000)
(United States of America)
- This article is a review of the CLIR sponsored Cornell University Library study of the same name. The study concentrated on migration as a digital preservation strategy. There were seen to be three different categories of risk related to the infrastructure, file format and conversion process. Different methods and tools were applied to assess risk included workbooks, reader software and test migrations. It was found that risk could be quantified and access to the original file format specifications was crucial to evaluating risks.
- http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/OCC/2007/08/08/0000070513/viewer/file1
579.html#technical1
- Robust Technologies for Automated Ingestion and Long-term Preservation of Digital Information
JaJa, Joseph
(Date Created: 2006)
- Description from abstract - this is an overview of the DIGARCH project and report on a number of significant advances achieved thus far. In particular, we highlight our contributions to the development of a novel architecture for the Global Digital Format Registry, the design of a highly reliable and scalable deep archive, and the development of the underpinnings of a policy-driven management of preservation processes. Challenges and future plans are briefly outlined.
- http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1146598.1146674
- ACM International Conference Proceeding Series; Vol. 151, Proceedings of the 2006 international conference on Digital government research. Available via subscription.
-
Role of format in Digital Preservation
Abrams, Stephen L.
(Date Created: 2004)
- The author argues that without a thorough understanding of the formats in which digital objects are encoded, long term preservation will be difficult. Within this context, the GDFR (Global Digital Format Registry) and JHOVE (JSTOR/Harvard Object Validation Environment), projects are discussed as examples of services and systems providing support to long term preservation. The development of a GDFR where formats will be available from a central source is explored. JHOVE, a project to automate the identification and validation of file formats, is also discussed.
- http://oberon.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/03055720410530997
- Also available in pdf version and in Vine. Digital Preservation and Libraries. Part Two. Vol. 34, no. 2, 2004. pp. 49-55. ISSN 0305-5728
-

SDS Final Report
Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, University of Virginia
(Date Created: 2004)
(United States of America)
- This is the final report from the Supporting Digital Scholarship project at the University of Virginia. The Mellon Foundation-funded project’s goal was to support the creation and long-term maintenance of digital scholarly projects, with emphasis on cooperation between creators and the collectors to ensure its implementation. The report highlights issues and problem areas, including legal and policy matters, without necessarily providing all the solutions. Preservation policies are discussed with special detailed examination of ‘significant properties’, which identify the unique properties of digital works.
- http://www.iath.virginia.edu/~spw4s/sarah/SDS/SDS_AR_2003.frame.html
- Also available in .html - http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/sds/SDS_AR_2003.html
- Significance is in the Eye of the Stakeholder
Dappert, Angela; Farquar, Adam
(Date Created: Jun 2009)
- This paper prepared for ECDL 2009 examines the concept of significance in digital preservation and presents a new model that places significance in the hands of stakeholders.
- http://www.planets-project.eu/docs/papers/Dappert_Significant_Characte
ristics_ECDL2009.pdf
- Significant Properties of Vector Images
Oxford Brookes University; System Simulation Ltd
(Date Created: 2008)
(United Kingdom)
- This 74 p. report looks at Vector Images to identify their most important characteristics (Significant Properties) in the context of their long-term preservation and future re-use. It is one of four studies funded by JISC to investigate Significant Properties of Digital Objects.
- http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/preservation/vector_i
mages.pdf
-
Standard for the Legal Deposit of Online Publications
Bergamin, Giovanni
(Date Created: 4 Jun 1999)
- Abstract in English; abstract in Italian available at: http://www.aib.it/aib/commiss/cnur/dliberga.htm
- http://www.aib.it/aib/commiss/cnur/dleberga.htm
-

Standards for Electronic Publishing : An Overview
Bide, M. and Associates
(Date Created: Aug 2000)
- This report was commissioned by the NEDLIB project as a supplement to its Process Model for a Deposit System for Electronic Publications. The report, based on interviews with 14 European publishers, is intended to assist librarians to understand some of the issues in managing the deposit and preservation of electronic publications.
- http://nedlib.kb.nl/results/e-publishingstandards.pdf
- Standards Framework for Digital Library Programmes
Dunning,Alastair; Hollins, Paul; Johnston, Pete; Kelly, Brian; Phipps, Lawrie; Russell, Rosemary
(Date Created: 2005)
(United Kingdom)
- This paper discusses some of the issues in using open standards and uses case studies to illustrate them. The author supports the use of open standards and proposes a 'layered' model for selection and use of these standards which involves the consideration of contextual, policy and compliance issues.
- http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/papers/ichim05/html/
- Also available in MS WORD format.
-
Standards, ever changing!
Payne, Geoff
(Date Created: Jan 1999)
- This paper describes some of the standards relevant to libraries dealing with digital information, including Z39.50, SGML and XML, and the Resource Description Framework (RDF).
- http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23308/20030815-0000/www.csu.edu.au/speci
al/online99/proceedings99/104a.htm
- Standards-based Solution for the Accurate Transfer of Digital Assets
Bekaert, Jeroen ; Van de Sompel, Herbert
In: D-Lib magazine
(Date Created: Jun 2005)
(United States of America)
- This article describes the results of a collaboration between the Research Library of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the American Physical Society (APS) to produce a system for the transfer of digital content from the APS collection to LANL. It discusses the standards involved including: MPEG-21 Digital Item Declaration (MPEG-21 DID), MPEG-21 Digital Item Identification (MPEG-21 DII), the W3C XML Signature Syntax and Processing standard, and OAI-PMH and includes the schema in appendices.
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1045/june2005-bekaert
- http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june05/bekaert/06bekaert.html
-

State of the Art and Practice in Digital Preservation
Lee, Kyong-Ho ; Lu, Richang ; McCrary, Victor ; Slattery, Oliver ; Tang, Xiao
(Date Created: Jan 2002)
- This paper published in the Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (vol. 107, no. 1, pp. 93-106, Jan-Feb 2002) is a survey of ideas and practice in digital preservation as of late 2001. It first elaborates the various proposed strategies for digital preservation (including emulation and migration) before introducing a number of projects from Australia, Europe and North America. A final section recommends the development of preservation standards based on XML, and outlines some critical issues that still need to be resolved.
- http://nvl.nist.gov/pub/nistpubs/jres/107/1/j71lee.pdf
- Strategies for Managing Digital Content Formats
Williamson, Andrew
(Date Created: Jun 2005)
- This article discusses an open standards based approach to digital preservation. The author canvasses some of the problems inherent in using proprietary formats as opposed to open formats. A strategy for managing digital formats is outlined, including documentation, emulation, refreshment, migration, controlled storage and backup/recovery procedures.
- http://hermia.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/00242530510629515
- Library Review, ISSN 0024-2535, vol. 54, no. 9 (2005)
-

Survey and Assessment of Sources of Information on File Formats and Software Documentation : Final Report
Representation and Rendering Project, University of Leeds
(Date Created: 2003)
(United Kingdom)
- This report was published by the UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) as part of their Digital Preservation and Records Management programme. The report canvasses issues of rendering, migration and obsolescence; identifies sources of information for file format and software documentation; and lists a series of recommendations to combat software and hardware obsolescence.
- http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/FileFormatsreport.pdf
-

Syntax for the Digital Object Identifier
National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
(Date Created: 12 Dec 2000)
- This National Information Standards Organization (NISO)-American National Standards Institute (ANSI) resource, defines the US national standard for the DOI persistent identification system. Later version published in 2005.
- http://web.archive.org/web/20051223054820/http://www.niso.org/standard
s/resources/Z39-84-2000.pdf
- ANSI/NISO Z39.84-2000
-
Three Manufacturers form PASS Group to Safeguard Files
Digital Photography Review
(Date Created: 27 Sep 2004)
- Konica Minolta, Fuji Film and Eastman Kodak have formed the Picture Archiving and Sharing Standard (PASS) Group.This press release outlines this important step in the development of a set of storage standards which will enable viewing of digital photos that are saved on CDs, DVDs and other media in the long term. Although initially aimed at the consumer market, the standard could have implications for all sectors.
- http://www.dpreview.com/news/0409/04092705pass_group.asp
- Tomorrow's File Endings : On Archiving Principles and Archiving Formats
Uneson, Marcus
(Date Created: 2005)
(Sweden)
- This paper discusses general digital archiving principles, such using open standards and text based formats, particularly in regard to the archiving of scientific and scholarly publications. The efficacy of using various file formats in an archival setting are also discussed. These formats include pdf, pdf-a, tex/latex and xml.
- http://www.sciecom.org/ojs/index.php/sciecominfo/article/viewFile/31/3
2
- Towards a Curation and Preservation Architecture for CAD Engineering Models
Ball, Alexander; Ding, Lian; Patel, Manjula
(Date Created: 29 Sep 2008)
- This paper given at iPRES 2008 (British Library Conference Centre, 29-30 Sept. 2008) discusses preservation requirements of CAD models and presents two proof of concept tools developed to aid in their curation and preservation. RRoRIfe - Registry/Repository of Representation Information for Engineering - uses Representation Information, as defined by the OAIS Reference Model to advise on suitable migration strategies for migrating CAD models to archival or exchange formats. It is a simple preservation planning tool incorporating a registry of format characteristics and a registry of migration software. The second tool LiMMA -Lightweight Models with Multilayered Annotations - is an architecture for layering non-geometric information on top of a geometric model. It is a series of individual tools based around a common XML schema and workflow.
- http://www.bl.uk/ipres2008/presentations_day1/17_Ball.pdf
-

Towards a Global Digital Format Registry
Abrams, Stephen L; Seaman, David
(Date Created: Aug 2003)
- Based on a preliminary working group of members from the international library and archive sector, this paper traces the group’s efforts in investigating the establishment a new global format registry for the purposes of supporting the long-term preservation of digital materials. The authors claim that the digital format registry “will maintain persistent, unambiguous bindings between public identifiers for digital representation formats and the significant syntactic and semantic properties of those formats”. The paper covers areas such as the registry’s mission statement, data and service models, governance structure and business issues. The development of the registry service model is informed by the ANSI X3.285 Metamodel for the Management of Shareable Data, the OASIS ebXML Registry and IANA MIME media types
- http://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla69/papers/128e-Abrams_Seaman.pdf
- This paper was given at the World Library and Information Congress: 69th IFLA General Conference and Council, 1-9 August, 2003 in Berlin.
- Towards format repositories for web archives
Christensen, Niels H.
(Date Created: Aug 2004)
(Denmark)
- This paper was presented at the International Web Archiving Workshop in 2004 and describes the challenges of file formats for web archives.
- http://netarkivet.dk/publikationer/FormatRepositories-2004.pdf
- Understanding PREMIS
Caplan, Priscilla
(Date Created: 01 Feb 2009)
(United States of America)
- This document provides an overview of the PREMIS preservation metadata standard and an easy introduction to the PREMIS Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata.
- http://www.loc.gov/standards/premis/understanding-premis.pdf
- Also available in Spanish translation, "Entender PREMIS" from http://www.loc.gov/standards/premis/UnderstandingPREMISspanish.pdf
- Use of File Description Languages for File Format Identification and Validation
Dunckley, Matthew; Rankin, Stephen
(Date Created: 2007)
(United Kingdom)
- This paper given at PV 2007 (October 9-11 2007, Munich) discusses the importance of automated file format identification and validation. It also presents and discusses a range of tools and generic software APIs that could solve the problems of file identification and structure validation.
- http://www.pv2007.dlr.de/Papers/Dunckley_fileFormatIdentification.pdf
- Use of Quality Management Standards in Trustworthy Digital Archives
Borghoff, Uwe M.; Dobratz, Susanne; Rätzke, Björn; Rödig, Peter; Schoger, Astrid
(Date Created: 30 Sep 2008)
(Germany)
- This paper given at iPRES 2008 (British Library Conference Centre, 29-30 Sept. 2008) summarises the findings of a study undertaken by nestor (The German network
of expertise in Digital long-term preservation) and DINI (The German Institute for Standards) to systematically analyse the relevance and usage of quality managment standards for long term preservation as a factor in establishing trustworthy digital archives. Preliminary results suggest that there is a need for a specific standard covering all relevant aspects of a trustworthy digital repository.
- http://www.bl.uk/ipres2008/presentations_day2/32_Dobratz.pdf
- Using OAIS for Digital Preservation
Higgins, Sarah
(Date Created: Oct 2006)
- This DCC briefing paper includes information on the short term benefits and long term value of the OAIS reference model, roles and responsibilities and additional resources on the subject.
- http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resource/briefing-papers/using-oais-for-curation/
-

VERS: Building a Digital Record Heritage
Quenault, Howard
(Date Created: Feb 2004)
(Australia)
- The Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS) is “a framework of standards, guidance and practical implementation projects centred around the goal of reliably and authentically archiving electronic records created or managed by the Victorian government”. The article provides an overview into the background and vision of the program, the VERS Centre of Excellence, developing the digital archive and future directions of the program.
- http://www.vala.org.au/vala2004/2004pdfs/13Quena.PDF
-
Web Technologies: The Development of Web Protocols and Formats
Kelly, Brian
In: Exploit Interactive
(Date Created: 10 Apr 1999)
- This article reviews changing standards in data formats, addressing, transport and resource description on the World Wide Web.
- http://www.exploit-lib.org/issue1/web/
- in Exploit Interactive, issue 1, 10 April 1999
- What are Metadata Standards
Higgins, Sarah
(Date Created: 30 Aug 2006)
- This DCC standards watch paper is a good introduction to metadata. The article briefly describes the relationship between metadata and digital curation, defines what a metadata standard is, and gives examples of these standards. There is also an extensive resource list of standards related links.
- http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resource/standards-watch/what-are-metadata-standa
rds/
- What? So what?: The Next-Generation JHOVE2 Architecture for Format-Aware Characterization
Abrams, Stephen; Cramer, Tom; Morrissey, Sheila
(Date Created: 30 Sep 2008)
(United States of America)
- This paper was presented at IPRES 2008 (29-30 September, London) and provides an overview of the JHOVE2 project which is a two year project being funded by Library of Congress under the NDIIPP Program, the California Digital Library, Portico and Stanford University. The JHOVE2 project will develop and deploy a next-generation architecture providing enhanced performance, streamlined APIs, and significant new features.
- http://confluence.ucop.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=3932229
- Paper and presentation slides available.
-

'Why Do We Need to Keep This in Print? It's on the Web ...': A Review of Electronic Archiving Issues and Problems
Warner, Dorothy
(Date Created: Mar 2002)
(United States of America)
- This article from Progressive Librarian raises some issues surrounding archiving digital information and urges action by stakeholders to avoid loss. It also provides an overview of some standards, cost models and approaches to digital preservation being investigated by various projects.
- http://libr.org/pl/19-20_Warner.html
- Available in Progressive Librarian, Issue number 19-20, Spring 2002
- Windows Desktop Product Life Cycle Support and Availability Policies for Businesses
Microsoft corporation
(Regularly Updated)
(United States of America)
- An article outlining Microsoft's policy for ongoing support for its desktop business products with timeliness and details on specific products.
- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default.mspx
Top
-

Comparison of Methods & Costs of Digital Preservation
Hendley, Tony
(Date Created: 1998)
- British Library Research and Innovation Report 106. This report was commissioned as part of the British national strategy for digital information. It includes a decision model to assess ten categories of digital resources to determine the most appropriate method of long-term preservation for each; and a cost model for comparing the costs of the preferred methods of preservation for each category of digital resource.
- ISSN: 1366-8218
- ISBN: 0 7123 9713 2
- http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/elib/papers/tavistock/hendley/hendley.
html
- May be purchased as a photocopy or microfiche from the British Thesis Service, British Library Document Supply Centre, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshore, LS23 7BQ, UK.
-
Emerging Standards for Enhanced Publications and Repository Technology: Survey on Technology
van Godtsenhoven, Karen (Introduction)
(Date Created: Oct 2009)
(Netherlands)
- This study for the DRIVER II project (209 p.) is intended as a technology watch for digital publications. It has two main parts: New technologies and communities; and Interoperability. It includes ten chapters by different authors including a chapter on long-term preservation.
- ISBN: 9789089641892
- http://dare.uva.nl/document/150752
-
Guidelines for Commonwealth Information Published in Electronic Formats
Commonwealth of Australia
(Last Updated: Jan 2000)
(Australia)
- The aim of this document (126 p.) is to provide guidelines which enable Australian Government agencies to fulfill their legal obligations, which include preserving Commonwealth documentary records for future access as routine work practice. This document was superseded in part by the Australian Government Web Publishing Guide, which helps agencies to manage their websites, and to identify their legal and policy obligations.
- ISBN: 0-642-39895-X
- http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/24804/20031107-0000/www.noie.gov.au/publ
ications/NOIE/info_access_network/master_jan2000_guidelines_pdf.pdf
-

Guidelines On Best Practices For Using Electronic Information
European Commission (DLM Forum)
(Date Created: 1997)
- These multidisciplinary guidelines (61 p.), developed at the 1996 DLM Forum, help to define short and medium-term strategies for managing and preserving electronic information.
- ISBN: 92-828-2285-0
- http://dlmforum.typepad.com/gdlines.pdf
- Investigative Study of Standards for Digital Repositories and Related Services
Andre, Francis; Foulonneau, Muriel
(Date Created: 16 Jan 2008)
(Netherlands)
- This 112 page report for the DRIVER project consortium (Digital Repository Infrastructure Vision for European Research) reviews the current standards, protocols and applications in European institutional repositories and the requirements for future enhanced access to digital resources.
- ISBN: 9789053564127
- http://dare.uva.nl/document/93727
- Also available in print from AmsterdamUniversity Press
-

JISC/NPO Studies on the Preservation of Electronic Materials: A Framework of Data Types and Formats, and Issues Affecting the Long Term Preservation of Digital Material
Bennett, John C.
(Last Updated: 23 May 1999)
(United Kingdom)
- This study is part of a wider program of studies funded by JISC and guided by the (UK) Digital Archive Working Group. The report attempts to develop a framework to assist in the management of the resolution of issues associated with long-term digital preservation. One of the study's recommendations is a scorecard approach to reduce the complexity of preservation decisions and to help initiate solutions.
- ISBN: 0 7123 3312 6
- http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/elib/papers/supporting/pdf/rept011.pdf
- British Library Research and Innovation Report No. 50
-

Preserving and Sharing Statistical Material
Royal Statistical Society; UK Data Archive
(Date Created: 2002)
(United Kingdom)
- This booklet is aimed at promoting the preservation and sharing of electronic data. it also discusses what should be preserved and includes the RSS Code of Best Practice on the Preservation and Sharing of Statistical Material.
- ISBN: 0-906805-02-3
- http://www.rss.org.uk/PDF/Archiving.pdf
-

Risk Management of Digital Information : A File Format Investigation
Gregory W. Lawrence, William R. Kehoe, Oya Y. Reiger, William H. Walters and Kenney R. Anne
(Date Created: Jun 2000)
(United States of America)
Reviewed by: Risk Management of Digital Information : A File Format Investigation
- This report is based on investigations by Cornell University Library with support from CLIR on the identification of risks to digital file formats during migration. A work book for risk assessment was developed, identifying risk categories, measuring risk using worksheets, matrixes and evaluation of conversion comparison software. Two migration case studies are also discussed: one for image files and one for numeric files.
- ISBN: 1-887334-78-5
- http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub93abst.html
- Available on CLIR's website or paper copy for US $20.00
Top
- 2007 Atlantic Workshop on Long Term Knowledge Retention (LTKR)
12 - 13 Feb 2007
, University of Bath
UKOLN, University of Bath
(United Kingdom)
- This workshop was a forum for information and archival specialists, domain knowledge experts from manufacturing and product engineering, and other stakeholders, to share knowledge and experience from different projects and disciplines. Projects and items discussed included LOTAR, STEP, MIMER, progress with format registries, the CASPAR Testbed, preservation of digital engineering artefacts and processes including CAD. Presentations available from the programme link and workshop summary/proceedings available from the proceedings link.
- http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/events/ltkr-2007/
- File Formats for Preservation
10 - 11 May 2004
, Austrian National Library, Wien
ERPANET (Electronic Resource Preservation and Access Network)
(Austria)
- Erpanet seminar which discussed the requirements and best practices for archival file formats and issues such as file format registries and format validation. Includes links to presentations, evaluation reports, and further information from the Vienna Seminar.
- http://www.erpanet.org/events/2004/vienna/index.php
-
ICCC/IFIP Fourth International Conference on Electronic Publishing : Electronic Publishing in the Third Millennium
17 - 19 Aug 2000
, Kaliningrad/Svetlogorsk, Russia
Kaliningrad State University/ICCC/IFIP
(Russia)
- This conference explored the socio-economic aspects of electronic publishing including presentations of projects on electronic libraries, archives, information systems etc., as well as their implementation in educational, cultural and health care institutions, and prospective technologies of electronic publishing, file formats, protocols, networking, retrieval techniques etc. Abstracts available.
- http://www.albertina.ru/elpub2000/
- JHOVE2 2009 Fall Workshop
07 Oct 2009
, Mission Bay Conference Center, San Francisco
JHOVE2 Project
(United States of America)
- This free public half-day workshop to be be held in conjunction with iPRES 2009 is organised by the JHOVE2 Project Team. Presentations include: An overview of the JHOVE2 project; The role of characterization in digital curation and preservation workflows; Demonstration of the prototype; Third party development of modules; Architectural review; and integration into existing or planned systems and services.
- http://jhove2.eventbrite.com/
- Joint Technical Symposium JTS 2004. Preserving the Audiovisual Heritage - Transition and Access
24 - 26 Jun 2004
, Toronto Canada
(Canada)
- This conference addresses archiving of audiovisual materials. Links to abstracts, papers and presentations available from Proceedings page.
- http://www.jts2004.org/english/proceedings/index_en.htm
- nestor Seminar: The PDF/A File Format and Its Possible Applications in Digital Archives : Das Dateiformat PDF/A und seine Verwendungsmöglichkeiten in digitalen Archiven
, Bundesarchiv Koblenz
NESTOR
(Germany)
- In this seminar organised by nestor, experts from the PDF/A Competence Center review and address issues surrounding PDF/A:
1. Characteristics of PDF/A as a suitable archive format; 2. Suitability of objects for archiving in PDF/A; 3. Creation of PDF/A files and conversion workflows; 4.Checking the validity of PDF/A files in archives ; 5. The limits of PDF/A; 6. PDF/A and metadata. Presentations in German available see seminar 4 18 November 2008.
- http://nestor.sub.uni-goettingen.de/seminar_bundesarchiv/index.php
- NISO 2008 Forum. NISO Digital Preservation Forum: Digital Preservation Planning Today for Tomorrow's Resources
14 Mar 2008
, Washington D.C.
National Information Standards Organisation (NISO)
(United States of America)
- Keynote address by Ewan Owens of PORTICO, presentations on initiatives including NDNP, Chronopolis, Clockss and the Metaarchive Cooperative and presentations on the global challenge and trends in digital preservation. Speakers biographies and presentations available from the agenda link.
- http://www.niso.org/news/events/2008/digpres08/
- VII European Conference on Archives : Archivist: The Profession of the Future in Europe
18 - 20 May 2006
, Warsaw
(Poland)
- This conference addressed the archive profession in the digital world, looking at education, competencies, standards and tools. Presentations also available.
- http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/lang-en/events/7th-european-conference-on-ar
chives-main.html
- Presentation slides available from conference web site.
Top
Organisations and Websites
|
-
AGLS Metadata Standard
AGLS Maintenance Agency, National Archives of Australia
(Date Created: 19 May 2008)
- This website provides information on the AGLS Metadata Standard. It includes information on XML and RDF Schemas, a glossary of terms and links to related documents.
- http://www.agls.gov.au/
-
DC-ANZ Conference 2003 : conference papers
Dublin Core Australia New Zealand Group
(Date Created: Feb 2003)
(Australia; New Zealand)
- The Dublin Core ANZ committee had an inaugural metadata conference in Canberra, Australia on the 26th, 27th and 28th February 2003. Most of the conference papers are available in .pdf.
- http://web.archive.org/web/20070222200844/www.dc-anz.org/conf2003/DC-A
NZAgenda.html
- Site archived by the Internet Archive.
- Digitaal Erfgoed Nederland (DEN)
Digitaal Erfgoed Nederland (DEN)
(Date Created: 1999)
(Netherlands)
- Digitaal Erfgoed Nederland (DEN) or Digital Heritage Netherlands is the Dutch national platform for ICT and heritage. It is sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Science. DEN maintains an open source information system to assess the quality of digitisation of cultural heritage in the Netherlands which includes an ICT Registry, a Cultural Heritage Projects Bank and ICT profiles of Cultural Heritage Institutions. DEN collates and shares standards on digitisation.
- http://www.den.nl
- Digital Libraries: Metadata Resources
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
(Last Updated: 24 Oct 2005)
- This site maintained by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) has links to a large number of articles and sites relating to data documentation and standards. The metadata links are grouped into common types for ease of navigation.
- http://archive.ifla.org/II/metadata.htm
- Digital Libraries: Metadata resources
IFLANet
(Regularly Updated)
- An IFLANet sponsored extensive list of links to metadata standards, selected papers and listings of topical events. The metadata links are grouped into common types for ease of navigation.
- http://archive.ifla.org/II/metadata.htm
- Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative
Library of Congress
(Regularly Updated)
(United States of America)
- This web site is a collaborative effort by U.S. federal agencies to define common guidelines, methods, and practices for the digitisation of historical content. Two working groups have been established:the Federal Agencies Still Images Digitization Working Group and the Federal Agencies Audio Visual Working Group.
- http://www.digitizationguidelines.gov/
- File Formats Blog
McGath, Gary
(Regularly Updated)
- Gary McGath is a software Engineer at Harvard University Libraries. His blog features 'news and comments about technical issues relating to file formats, file validation, and archival software.'
- http://fileformats.blogspot.com/
- FILExt - The File Extension Source
Computer Knowledge
(Regularly Updated)
- This web site provides a searchable database of file extensions and the programs that use them.
- http://filext.com/
-

FRED : a Format Registry Demonstration
University of Pennsylvania Library
(Regularly Updated)
(United States of America)
- FRED (Format REgistry Demonstrator) is a proof-of-concept prototype format registry demonstrator developed from the Mellon-funded TOM (Typed Object Model) project. It's purpose is to provide some idea of the requirements that developing a global registry would entail. It can be used to demonstate how file format information can be presented and how it can be used, maintained and managed. There are links to the data model, a list of registered formats, and a discussion list.
- http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://tom.library.upenn.edu/fred/
-

Global Digital Format Registry (GDFR)
Harvard University Library
(Regularly Updated)
- In development since 2002, the GDFR (Global Digital Format Registry) is an ongoing international initiative. The GDFR working group comprises national and academic research libraries and archives. The GDFR was developed as a mechanism to provide trustworthy, sustainable and authoratitive information about data formats. This website also has information on data and service models, use cases and the GDFR mission statement. In April 2009 GDFR joined with PRONOM to form the Unified Digital Formats Registry (UDFR). The UDFR will support the requirements and use cases compiled for GDFR and will be seeded with PRONOM's software and formats database.
- http://hul.harvard.edu/gdfr/
- Metamap
University of Monteal
(Date Created: 2003)
- A pedagogic tool, Metamap provides visually organised links to definitions, links and information regarding standards, organizations, initiatives, file types, and issues related to metadata. The map is entertainingly constructed to resemble a subway map with each colour-coded line representing a particular category of knowledge. Selecting a “station” displays a window with a basic definition, relevant links, and related topics. Viewing of the map requires Adobe SVG viewer, which can be downloaded from the Metamap site.
- http://mapageweb.umontreal.ca/turner/meta/english/index.html
- Also available in French.
- MPEG Homepage
Moving Picture Experts Group
(Regularly Updated)
- This website contains information on the development of international standards for compression, decompression, processing, and coded representation of moving pictures, audio and their combination, including MPEG 7 and MPEG 21. The website has links to meetings, documents, tutorials and workplans.
- http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/
- National Information Standards Organisation - NISO
National Information Standards Organization
(Date Created: 2000)
(United States of America)
- The National Information Standards Organisation develops and promotes international technical standards used in information services. Drawing a member base from information producers and users, including libraries, publishers and government agencies, NISO aims to achieve interoperability between data, equipment and practices.
- http://www.niso.org/
-
NISO Committee AX : Development of an OpenURL Standard
Van de Velde, Eric
(Date Created: 26 Jun 2003)
(United States of America)
- This website outlined National Information Standards Organisation’s (NISO) activities related to the standardisation of OpenURL. It contains the draft standard; implementation guidelines; the agenda, minutes, and associated documents relating to the proceedings of the Committee AX; press releases and presentations.
- http://web.archive.org/web/20070108032806/http://library.caltech.edu/o
penurl/
- Archived by the Internet Archive
- NLM Journal Archiving and Interchange Tag Suite
National Centre for Biotechnology Information
(Regularly Updated)
(United States of America)
- A suite of XML Document Type Definitions created by the National Centre for Biotechnology Information. This DTD suite is intended to preserve the intellectual content of journals independent of the form in which the content was originally delivered. It provides a common format by which publishers and archives can exchange journal content. Complete documentation is available at the site and the suite of modules is available for download by FTP.
- http://dtd.nlm.nih.gov/
- OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument)
OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards)
(Date Created: May 2005)
- The OASIS Open Document format is an XML-based file format specification for office applications. The OpenDocument v1.0 specification was officially approved as an OASIS standard on 1 May 2005 and can be downloaded from the Office Document Format Technical Committee web page.
- http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=office
- Open Document Format : ODF Alliance
OpenDocument Format Alliance
(Regularly Updated)
- This alliance was formed in March 2006 from a coalition of over 30 organisations from around the world. ODF is an open standard to allow sustainable reading and exchange of common office documents. The goals of the ODF Alliance are to support and encourage the use of ODF in the public sector.
- http://www.odfalliance.org/
- Open Geospatial Consortium : OGC
Open Geospatial Consortium
(Regularly Updated)
- The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is an international consortium of organizations which promotes the development and use of advanced open systems standards and techniques in the area of geoprocessing and related information technologies. Encouraging standard interface and encoding specifications enables interoperability among and between diverse geospatial data stores, services, and applications.
- http://www.opengeospatial.org/
- OpenRAW : Digital Image Preservation Through Open Documentation
OpenRAW
(Regularly Updated)
- This website was initiated by a group of digital photographers as a reaction to proprietary raw file formats and the negative impact of these formats on digital preservation and future access. Currently, each manufacturer's format is proprietary and has multiple variations for different camera models. The goal of this organisation is to encourage camera manufacturers to publicly document their RAW image formats.
- http://www.openraw.org/
- PDF/A Competence Center
PDF/A Competence Center
(Date Created: 2006)
- The PDF/A Competence Center was established as an international association in 2006 with the objective to promote the exchange of information and experience in the field of long-term archiving in accordance with ISO 19005 (PDF/A). Its members include companies and experts from 20 countries.
- http://www.pdfa.org/
- Standards and Guidelines : an E-directory
Collections Council of Australia Ltd
(Regularly Updated)
(Australia)
- Standards and Guidelines : an E-Directory also known as SAGE is a dynamic online directory to standards and guidelines of relevance to the Australian collections sector. The directory is developed and published by the Collections Council of Australia Ltd. Although it is not strictly limited to digital collections, it contains many resources that do apply to digital collections.
- http://www.collectionscouncil.com.au/Default.aspx?tabid=657
- Standards for Libraries
National Library of Australia
- This site provides links to information about library and related standards, to lists of standards, and to key standards bodies.
- http://www.nla.gov.au/services/stndard3.html
-

Sustainability of Digital Formats Planning for Library of Congress Collections
Arms, Caroline R.; Fleischhauer, Carl
(Regularly Updated)
(United States of America)
- This website provides information on the suitability of various formats for preserving the Library of Congress's digital collections. Formats are examined for still images, sound recordings, textual content, and moving images, although it is planned to examine more complex digital works such as web sites. Formats are examined using several factors including tranperancy, technical protection, patents, self-documentation and external dependencies.
- http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/index.shtml
- textMD Technical Metadata for Text
Library of Congress
(Date Created: Oct 2007)
(United States of America)
- This XML schema has been maintained by the Library of Congress since October 2007. TextMD was originally created by the New York University Digital Library Team. It is endorsed by METS and commonly used as an extension schema with METS adminstrative metadata section but also can be used alone or in the future with PREMIS. The schema is focused on documenting technical metadata for text based objects including OCR files.
- http://www.loc.gov/standards/textMD/
-

Typed Object Model (TOM)
University of Pennsylvania Library
(Date Created: 2004)
(United States of America)
- Developed by the University of Pennsylvania Library, TOM (Typed Object Model) is a data format management system that describes the structure and behavior of a wide variety of data formats and information services. In 2003 and 2004 there was a Mellon Foundation funded initiative to apply this model to support online learning and digital preservation. TOM can be used to document data formats and services and assist in data format migration and other conversions. TOM's core software is being released as open source. This website has links to TOM's data model, standards and documentation.
- http://web.archive.org/web/*hh_/tom.library.upenn.edu/
-

Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS) : Version 2
Public Record Office Victoria
(Regularly Updated)
(Australia)
- This web site has links to the standard "Management of Electronic Records", its supporting specifications and the explanatory advices, which were revised in July 2003. The five supporting specifications include system requirements for preserving electronic records, metadata, standard electronic record format, long term preservation formats and export of electronic records to PROV (Public Record Office Victoria). Specification 4 was updated to include PDF/A,JPEG, JPEG-2000, MPEG-4 in Aug 2006 and Specification 5 was updated for the PROV's new digital Archive.
- http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/vers/standard/version2.asp
- W3C World Wide Web Consortium
W3C
(Regularly Updated)
- The W3C, an international industry consortium, aims to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability.
- http://www.w3.org/
-
Z39.50 Resource Page
National Information Standards Organization (U.S.)
(Regularly Updated)
- NISO Z39.50 Information Retrieval Protocol (Z39.50/ISO 23950) is a computer protocol that can be implemented on any platform and defines a standard way for two computers to communicate for the purpose of information retrieval. A Z39.50 implementation enables one interface to access multiple systems providing the end-user with nearly transparent access to other systems. It supports full-text search but also supports large, complex information collections. This regularly updated resource page provided a comprehensive set of links and information about the Z39.50 standard.
- http://web.archive.org/web/20070813182909/http://www.niso.org/standard
s/resources/Z3950_Resources.html
Top
Policies, Strategies & Guidelines
|
- AES Recommended Practice for Audio Preservation and Restoration : Storage and Handling - Storage of Polyester Based Magnetic Tape AES22-1997 (r2003)
Audio Engineering Society (AES)
(Last Updated: 2003)
(United States of America)
- This standard (reaffirmed in 2003) provides recommendations concerning the storage conditions, storage facilities, enclosures, and inspection for recorded polyester-base magnetic tapes in roll form. It covers analog and digital tape and includes tape made for audio, video, instrumentation, and computer use.
- http://www.aes.org/publications/standards/
- AES standard - AES 22-1997 (r2003)
- AES Standard for Audio Preservation and Restoration : Method for Estimating Life Expectancy of Magneto-Optical (MO) Discs Based on Effects of Temperature and Relative Humidity
Audio Engineering Society
(Last Updated: 2005)
(United States of America)
- This standard which was reaffirmed in 2005 specifies test methods for estimating the life expectancy of information stored on magneto-optical (M-O) disks. Only the effects of temperature and relative humidity on the media are considered.
- http://www.aes.org/publications/standards/
- AES standard AES35-2000 (r2005)
- AGLS Metadata Element Set
National Archives of Australia
(Regularly Updated)
(Australia)
- This metadata standard is a set of 19 descriptive elements which Australian government departments and agencies can use to improve the visibility and accessibility of their services and information over the Internet. AGLS ver. 1.3 was published as Australian Standard AS 5044 in December 2002. Also see AGLS website created May 2008.
- ISBN: 0642344914
- http://www.naa.gov.au/records-management/publications/AGLS-Element.asp
x
- Ver 1.0 Aug 1998, Ver 1.1 Feb 1999, Ver 1.2 Nov 1999/July 2000, Ver 1.3 2001/2002
- APIS Imaging Standards
Ortiz, Dave; Ast, Rodney
(Date Created: Jan 2006)
(United States of America)
- This document gives guidelines on the imaging standards for the APIS (Advanced Papyrological Information System) Project, a collections-based repository hosting information about and images of papyrological materials (e.g. papyri, ostraca, wood tablets, etc) located in collections around the world. APIS is hosted by Columbia Universities Library Digital Program.
- http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/projects/digital/apis/imaging_guidelin
es_2006Jan.pdf
- Assessment of UKDA and TNA Compliance with OAIS and METS Standards
Beedham, Hilary; Missen, Julie; Palmer, Matt; Ruusalepp, Raivo
(Date Created: 2005)
(United Kingdom)
- Funded by JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) under its Institutional Digital Preservation and Asset Management Programme, this extensive report compares the current practices of the UKDA (UK Data Archive) and TNA (UK National Archives) with the OAIS reference model and the METS standard. The OAIS reference model (ISO 14721) is the major international standard for digital archives. This report is also designed to be used by other institutions to help gauge their compliance to this standard. The assessment was undertaken by the UKDA, The National Archives and the Estonian Business Archive.
- http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/news/publications/oaismets.pdf
- CAD: A Guide to Good Practice
Damien Robinson; Harrison Eiteljorg II; Jeremy Huggett; Kate Fernie
(Date Created: 2002)
(United Kingdom)
- "The Guide is based on the premise that many organisations create and use computer aided design (CAD) software for archaeological and architectural projects. Increasingly CAD files comprise a component of project archives which are born digital, used digitally and which may not fully be re-produced on paper. The CAD guide is aimed at those who create CAD files, at project managers and at those considering the management of CAD archives. The guide offers a
description of CAD software with a discussion of its use in a variety of situations, methods of data capture and good practices in the preparation of CAD models including consideration of layer naming schemes, drawing conventions and file formats. The guide provides an invaluable source of information about the management of digital data
both during the project life-cycle and for its long-term preservation, archiving and effective data re-use. As a result it emphasises the importance of adhering to standards and of documentation essential information to support the re-use of the resource. The CAD Guide to Good Practice is of use to academic researchers, staff in national heritage agencies and local authorities, project field-workers, illustrators and others who are using CAD files as the foundation on which to build
mapping applications and virtual reality models."
- http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/project/goodguides/cad/
-

Cedars Guide To: Digital Preservation Strategies
University of Leeds
(Last Updated: 02 Apr 2002)
(United Kingdom)
- This guide includes recommendations about technical approaches to digital preservation based on the Cedars experience.
- http://www.leeds.ac.uk/cedars/guideto/dpstrategies/
-
Cinemedia: Good Practice Guide
Pockley, Simon
(Date Created: 22 Sep 1998)
(Australia)
- This guide is intended to be of practical assistance to content creators, migrators and project managers in interpreting and applying emerging standards to the creation and management of resources at Cinemedia. Aspects covered include: technical formats and standards, metadata, culturally sensitive content, advertising, privacy and data protection and access issues.
- http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/21405/20010824-0000/www.cinemedia.net/FO
D/DuckDigital/GoodP.html
- Archived by PANDORA
-
Creating and Using Virtual Reality : a Guide for the Arts and Humanities
Fernie, Kate (editor); Richards, Julian D. (editor)
(Date Created: 2002)
- This AHDS guide to good practice includes sections on archiving virtual reality projects and resources discovery. It includes information on metadata, formats, access and documentation of Virtual Reality projects. The Guide concentrates on accessible desk-top virtual reality which may be distributed and viewed on-line via the World Wide Web. It is concerned with the variety of virtual reality models that may be produced and how to ensure that these can be delivered successfully to users and preserved for future reuse.
- http://vads.ahds.ac.uk/guides/vr_guide/
- Data Dictionary - Technical Metadata for Still Images ANSI/NISO Z39.87-2006
National International Standards Organisation (NISO)
(Date Created: 18 Nov 2006)
(United States of America)
- NISO Standard Z39.87 defines a set of metadata elements for raster digital images. The dictionary facilitates interoperability between systems, services and software. See also the related work by the Library of Congress Metadata for Images in XML Schema (MIX).
- http://www.niso.org/kst/reports/standards/kfile_download?id%3Austring%
3Aiso-8859-1=Z39-87-2006.pdf&pt=RkGKiXzW643YeUaYUqZ1BFwDhIG4-24RJbcZBW g8uE4vWdpZsJDs4RjLz0t90_d5_ymGsj_IKVa86hjP37r_hExj8UR8r_jBdk_ZQaQIo5DP bfamndQa6zkS6rLL3oIr
- ANSI/NISO Z39.87-2006, ISSN 1041-5653
- Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata : Final Report of the PREMIS Working Group
PREMIS (PREservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies) Working Group
(Date Created: May 2005)
(United States of America)
- In 2003, the OCLC and RLG established the PREMIS Working group of which this is the final 237 page report. The report explains and contextualises the data dictionary which is a set of core preservation metadata applicable to digital preservation. Included in the report are the data model, the PREMIS Data Dictionary version 1.0 and examples for describing various media.
- http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/pmwg/premis-final.pdf
-

Digital Archives from Excavation and Fieldwork : Guide to Good Practice : 2nd Edition
Arts and Humanities Data Service
In: AHDS Guides to Good Practice
(Date Created: 2000)
- This guide discusses best practice in the creation, management, preservation and re-use of digital records produced during the various phases of archaeological projects.
- ISSN: 1463-5194
- http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/project/goodguides/excavation/
- Digital Lifecycles And File Types : Final Report
Bates, Melanie; Loddington, Steve; Manuel, Sue; Oppenheim, Charles
(Date Created: May 2006)
- As part of the JISC funded Rights And Rewards In Blended Institutional Repositories Project, this report (60 p.) provides an overview of characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of various types of image and text file formats. It also includes information about managing the lifecycle of a digital item as well as standards and specifications concerning metadata (e.g. Dublin Core and METS). It discusses issues to consider when packaging content (e.g. for loading into a learning management system) and provides an overview of various content packaging tools. It concludes with an
introduction to reference models and frameworks used to describe processes managed by repositories and the systems in which they operate.
- http://hdl.handle.net/2134/1793
- Digital Preservation Guidance Note 1 : Selecting File Formats for Long-Term Preservation. Issue 2.
Brown, Adrian
(Date Created: Aug 2008)
(United Kingdom)
- This guidance note issued by The National Archives (TNA) Digital Preservation Department sets out a range of criteria t to help data creators and archivists make informed choices about file format issues and selecting file formats for use.
- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/selecting-file-formats.pd
f
- DPGN-01 Available in PDF and RTF version from http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/preservation/advice/digital.htm
-
Digital Preservation Guidance Note 1: Selecting File Formats for Long-Term Preservation
Brown, Adrian
(Date Created: 19 Jun 2003)
(United Kingdom)
- Produced by the Digital Preservation Department of the National Archives (UK) as part of its series of guidance notes on issues relating to the preservation of electronic records, this document focuses on the selection of file formats for long-term preservation. It describes various criteria that need to be considered when dealing with file format issues and selection. Superseded by Version 2 August 2008.
- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/selecting_file_formats.pd
f
- This document is the first in a series of guidance notes developed by the Digital Preservation Department, National Archives, UK. It is also available as an RTF document.
- Digital Preservation Guidance Note 4 : Graphics File Formats. Issue 2
Brown, Adrian
(Date Created: Aug 2008)
(United Kingdom)
- This guidance note issued by The National Archives (TNA) Digital Preservation Department provides advice on the general issues that should be considered by the creators and managers of electronic records when selecting file formats for use with images. Types of graphic format considered include raster graphics, vector graphics and metafiles.
- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/graphic-file-formats.pdf
- DPGN-04. Available in PDF and RTF from http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/preservation/advice/digital.htm
-
Digital Preservation Guidance Note 4: Graphics File Formats
Brown, Adrian
(Date Created: 09 Jul 2003)
(United Kingdom)
- Produced by the Digital Preservation Department of the National Archives (UK) as part of its series of guidance notes on the preservation of electronic records, this document focuses on selecting file formats for use with images. It provides summary information about the most common graphics file formats in current use to help users to make informed decisions regarding the selection of most suitable files. The guidelines provided are limited to static images. Superseded by version 2 August 2008.
- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/graphic_file_formats.pdf
- This document is the fourth in a series of guidance notes developed by the Digital Preservation Department, National Archives, UK. It is also available as an RTF document.
- Digital Record Export Standard. ADRI Submission Information Package (ASIP). Ver. 1.0, 31 July 2007
Australian Digital Records Initiative
(Date Created: 31 Jul 2007)
(Australia; New Zealand)
- This standard prescribes the physical representation of electronic records that are to be transferred to an archive. It specifies mandatory and optional metadata transferred with each record or file and the way the record (metadata and content) is physically represented as an XML document.
- http://www.adri.gov.au/products/ADRI-2007-01-v1-0.pdf
- Available from
- Digital Standards Bibliography, Version 2.0 : Exposure Draft
Collections Council of Australia Ltd
(Date Created: 18 Nov 2008)
(Australia)
- This bibliography is a revised version of a preliminary list of standards and guidelines that inform and assist the creation and management of digital collections which was originally published as part of the Collection Council of Australia’s Summit on Digital Collections: Working Papers in August 2007. Comments are required on this exposure draft by 31 December 2008.
- http://www.collectionscouncil.com.au/Portals/0/Digital%20standards%20b
ibliography,%20Version%202.0,%20Exposure%20Draft,%2018%20Nov.pdf
- Document management : Electronic document file format for long-term preservation : Part 1: Use of PDF 1.4 (PDF/A-1)
International Organization for Standardization
(Date Created: Oct 2005)
- The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) has released the ISO 19005-1:2005 standard which specifies how to use the Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.4 for long-term preservation of electronic documents. The Press release gives more detail on this important development. See also ISO 3200-1:2008 Document management -- Portable document format -- Part 1: PDF 1.7.
- http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm
?csnumber=38920
- Available for purchase in pdf and paper formats.
-

DOI Handbook
Paskin, Norman
(Regularly Updated)
- The official DOI handbook, containing detailed information regarding the use of DOIs, and their role as persistent identifiers. Also included are notes on the development of the DOI system, a short glossary, and procedures for registering as a DOI user. Latest version available from this website , earlier versions available from the Internet Archive http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.doi.org/hb.html from 2002.
- http://www.doi.org/hb.html
-

Edinburgh University Library Digital Archives Research Project: A Report and Recommendations
Semple, Najla
(Date Created: 29 May 2002)
(United Kingdom)
- This is the final report from a project initiated by the Special Collections Department of Edinburgh University Library. The project aimed to act as a focus for raising digital preservation issues across the whole university. This report presents guidelines and recommendations for the preservation of digital information in the University environment.
- http://www.lib.ed.ac.uk/sites/digpres/dpreport.pdf
-
eLib Standards Guidelines
Dempsey, Lorcan; Kelly, Brian; Mumford, Anne; Peacock, Ian; Robiette, Alan; and Rusbridge, Chris on behalf of CEI
In: eLib: The Electronic Libraries Programme
(Date Created: 27 Oct 1998)
(United Kingdom)
- These guidelines provide recommendations for the selection and use of standards in eLib projects in the areas of data communications services, data interchange standards, metadata, search and retrieve services, security, authentication and payment services. This is a useful overview of different types of standards with many links to relevant information.
- http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/elib/papers/other/standards/version2/
- Framework for the Definition of Significant Properties
Knight, Gareth
(Last Updated: 17 Mar 2008)
(United Kingdom)
- This document (49 p.) prepared for the InSPECT project outlines a methodology for the identification and description of significant properties contained by a digital resource. Digital object types considered are structured text, email, digital audio and raster images. It also provides a generic template which may be useful for the description of a wide range of digital resources.
- http://www.significantproperties.org.uk/documents/wp33-propertiesrepor
t-v1.pdf
- Good Practice Guide for Developers of Cultural Heritage Web Services
UKOLN
(Date Created: 2004)
(United Kingdom)
- Provides advice on standards and best practices for organisations developing digital cultural heritage resources. The advice is based on that provided by the NOF-digitise Technical Advisory Service. It includes a section on digital curation which has information on XML, preservation and accessibility.
- http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/interop-focus/gpg/
-
Guidelines for Commonwealth Information Published in Electronic Formats
Commonwealth of Australia
(Last Updated: Jan 2000)
(Australia)
- The aim of this document (126 p.) is to provide guidelines which enable Australian Government agencies to fulfill their legal obligations, which include preserving Commonwealth documentary records for future access as routine work practice. This document was superseded in part by the Australian Government Web Publishing Guide, which helps agencies to manage their websites, and to identify their legal and policy obligations.
- ISBN: 0-642-39895-X
- http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/24804/20031107-0000/www.noie.gov.au/publ
ications/NOIE/info_access_network/master_jan2000_guidelines_pdf.pdf
-

Guidelines for Computer File Types, Interchange Formats and Information Standards
Brown, David L.
(Date Created: 28 Jun 2004)
(Canada)
- This document gives recommendations for preferred formats for various file types and exchange formats. The recommendations include digital audio, digital video, text documents, emails, geospatial data and databases. The recommendations are based on various considerations such as whether formats are based on international standards and are openly available. Although the recommendations were developed to help optimise interoperability of digital information between the government of Canada and Libraries and Archives Canada, the principles are also applicable to computer file and exchange formats generally.
- http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/government/products-services/007002
-3017-e.html
-

Guidelines On Best Practices For Using Electronic Information
European Commission (DLM Forum)
(Date Created: 1997)
- These multidisciplinary guidelines (61 p.), developed at the 1996 DLM Forum, help to define short and medium-term strategies for managing and preserving electronic information.
- ISBN: 92-828-2285-0
- http://dlmforum.typepad.com/gdlines.pdf
-

Handling File Formats
Clausen, Lars. R.
(Date Created: May 2004)
(Denmark)
- This report describes a part of “Internetbevaringsprojektet” (the Internet preservation project), which is a joint project between Statsbiblioteket (The State Library) and Det Kongelige Bibliotek (The Royal Library) in Denmark. The aim of the project is to archive the Danish part of the Internet. As part of this project, this report specifically deals with strategies in handling file formats to ensure long term preservation and accessibility. Some of the main ways to preserve access to information stored as digital objects are discussed, including capture, sequential conversion to new formats, conversion on demand, emulation and hardware preservation. The report concludes with a suggested strategy for dealing with file formats in an archival system, file preservation workflows and general recommendations for handling file formats.
- http://netarchive.dk/publikationer/FileFormats-2004.pdf
- IFLA/CDNL Alliance for Bibliographic Standards : Library of Congress Action Area : URI Resource Pages
Library of Congress
(Regularly Updated)
(United States of America)
- Maintained at the Library of Congress by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office as part of its participation in the IFLA CDNL Alliance for Bibliographic Standards (ICABS), the purpose of this website is to provide information relevant to the library community about URIs, including basic definitions and concepts; URI schemes; what URIs actually do; relationships among URIs, URLs, and URNs. There is also a section featuring the latest URI developments.
- http://www.loc.gov/standards/uri/
- ISO 18933:2006 : Imaging materials : Magnetic Tape : Care and Handling Practices for Extended Usage
ISO (International Organization for Standardization)
(Date Created: 13 Jun 2006)
- ISO 18933:2006 concerns the care and handling of magnetic recording tape during use. It addresses the issues of physical integrity of the medium necessary to preserve access to the data (information) recorded on the tape.
- http://www.iso.org/iso/en/CatalogueDetailPage.CatalogueDetail?CSNUMBER
=44128&scopelist=ALL
- Available for purchase in pdf or hardcopy.
- ISO 28500:2009 - Information and Documentation - WARC File format
International Organization for Standardization
(Date Created: 13 May 2009)
- This standard specifies the WARC file format which is an extension of the ARC format which has been used since 1996 to store files harvested on the web. The WARC format enables the recording of HTTP request headers, the recording of arbitrary metadata, the allocation of an identifier to every contained file, the management of duplicates and migrated records and the segmentation of the records. WARC files are intended to store every type of digital content, either retrieved by HTTP or another protocol.
- http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm
?csnumber=44717
- Draft version available from the BnF at http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/index.html
- ISO Archiving Standards : Overview
NASA
(Regularly Updated)
- This site contains links and background information to the Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS) and other archival standardization efforts.
- http://ssdoo.gsfc.nasa.gov/nost/isoas/overview.html
- MRC Data Sharing Initiative
MRC (Medical Research Council)
(Date Created: 2003)
(United Kingdom)
- This web page introduces the MRC (Medical Research Council) policy on sharing and preservation of research data. There are links to the aims, policy, terminology and reports. The initiative aims to establish a set of collaborative science-led activities to produce generic data sharing, standards, tools and best practice for the population research community.
- http://www.mrc.ac.uk/PolicyGuidance/EthicsAndGovernance/DataSharing/in
dex.htm
-

NISO Data Dictionary - Technical Metadata for Digital Still Images
National Information Standards Organisation (NISO)
(Date Created: 1 Jun 2002)
- Released as a Draft for Trial Use over the period 1 June 2002 to 31 December 2003, this NISO document (NISO Z39.87-2002, AIIM 20-2002) has been produced "to facilitate the development of applications to validate, manage, migrate and otherwise process images of enduring value" and "to facilitate interoperability between systems, services and software, as well as to support the long-term management of and continuing access to digital image collections". A corresponding XML schema to assist in implementation is available at: http://www.loc.gov/standards/mix. The final standard was published in December 2006.
- http://web.archive.org/web/20070205142416/http://www.niso.org/standard
s/resources/Z39_87_trial_use.pdf
- NLM Journal Archiving and Interchange Tag Suite
National Centre for Biotechnology Information
(Regularly Updated)
(United States of America)
- A suite of XML Document Type Definitions created by the National Centre for Biotechnology Information. This DTD suite is intended to preserve the intellectual content of journals independent of the form in which the content was originally delivered. It provides a common format by which publishers and archives can exchange journal content. Complete documentation is available at the site and the suite of modules is available for download by FTP.
- http://dtd.nlm.nih.gov/
-

nof-digitise Technical Standards and Guidelines
People's Network Development Team
(Last Updated: Feb 2003)
(United Kingdom)
- A technical guide for digitisation projects developed by UKOLN and Resource : The Council for Museums, Archives & Libraries for the New Opportunities Fund. The guide adopted a life-cycle approach and outlined the successive stages in the creation, development, management, access and re-use of digital information. Issues such as preservation, interoperability and accessibility were addressed. In 2004 these guidelines were superseded by MINERVA Technical Guidelines http://www.minervaeurope.org/publications/technicalguidelines.htm
- http://web.archive.org/web/20041207200543/http://www.peoplesnetwork.go
v.uk/content/technical.asp
- OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument)
OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards)
(Date Created: May 2005)
- The OASIS Open Document format is an XML-based file format specification for office applications. The OpenDocument v1.0 specification was officially approved as an OASIS standard on 1 May 2005 and can be downloaded from the Office Document Format Technical Committee web page.
- http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=office
- PDF Guidelines : Recommendations for the Creation of PDF Files for Long-term Preservation and Access
Rog, Judith
(Last Updated: 31 May 2007)
(Netherlands)
- This document provides guidelines on the standards that pdf files deposited with the e-Depot should comply with. The guidelines cover accessibility and structure, fonts, colour, compression, images and executable actions.
- http://www.kb.nl/hrd/dd/dd_links_en_publicaties/PDF_Guidelines.pdf
- Preservation & Storage Formats for Repositories
Repositories Support Project
(Date Created: May 2008)
(United Kingdom)
- This Repositories Support Project briefing paper provides introductory advice on the preservation aspects of formats used for deposit and storage in repositories.
- http://www.rsp.ac.uk/pubs/briefingpapers-docs/technical-preservformats
.pdf
- RSP Briefing Paper
-

Preserving and Sharing Statistical Material
Royal Statistical Society; UK Data Archive
(Date Created: 2002)
(United Kingdom)
- This booklet is aimed at promoting the preservation and sharing of electronic data. it also discusses what should be preserved and includes the RSS Code of Best Practice on the Preservation and Sharing of Statistical Material.
- ISBN: 0-906805-02-3
- http://www.rss.org.uk/PDF/Archiving.pdf
-

Safeguarding Australia's web resources: guidelines for creators and publishers
National Library of Australia
(Date Created: Dec 2000)
(Australia)
- "The guidelines provide advice on creating, describing, naming and managing web resources to facilitate their ongoing use. The practices that are recommended will make it easier to carry out future preservation actions, which may be necessary in the longer term to maintain continued access to important resources."
- http://www.nla.gov.au/guidelines/webresources.html
- Standard ECMA-379: Test Method for the Estimation of the Archival Lifetime of Optical Media
ECMA International
(Last Updated: Dec 2008)
(Switzerland)
- This standard specifies an accelerated aging test method for estimating the life expectancy for the retrievability of information stored on recordable or rewritable optical disks. This test includes details on the following formats: DVD-R/-RW/-RAM, +R/+RW. Published in April 2008 as ISO/IEC 10995:2008 Information technology -- Digitally recorded media for information interchange and storage -- Test method for the estimation of the archival lifetime of optical media). 2nd ed. published December 2008.
- http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-379.htm
-

Standard for the Management of Electronic Records in the Victorian Government (PROS 99/007) VERSION 1
Public Records Office, Victoria
In: Victorian Electronic Records Strategy Final Report
(Date Created: Apr 2000)
(Australia)
- A Standard prepared as part of the recommendations of the VERS (Victorian Electronic Records Strategy) looking at long-term access of electronic information. The Standard has three specifications: System requirements for archiving electronic records, a Metadata scheme and a Standard electronic record format. It was revised in July 2003 with the publication of Version 2.
- http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/vers/standard/version1.asp
- Standard on Digital Recordkeeping
State Records Authority of New South Wales
(Date Created: Sep 2008)
(Australia)
- "This standards sets out the minimum compliance requirements for NSW public offices for defining their digital records, digital recordkeeping system functionality and the creation and management of recordkeeping metadata for digital records." Standard no. 10.
- ISBN: 9780980514858
- http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/recordkeeping/government-recordkeeping-m
anual/rules/standards/standard-on-digital-recordkeeping
- Also available for printing in PDF http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/recordkeeping/docs%5Cstandard%20on%20digital%20recordkeeping%20final.pdf
- Standards and Guidelines : an E-directory
Collections Council of Australia Ltd
(Regularly Updated)
(Australia)
- Standards and Guidelines : an E-Directory also known as SAGE is a dynamic online directory to standards and guidelines of relevance to the Australian collections sector. The directory is developed and published by the Collections Council of Australia Ltd. Although it is not strictly limited to digital collections, it contains many resources that do apply to digital collections.
- http://www.collectionscouncil.com.au/Default.aspx?tabid=657
-

Standards for an Electronic Records Policy
Committee on Institutional Cooperation University Archivists Group (CIC UAG)
(Date Created: Dec 2001)
(United States of America)
- A policy outlining "a set of institutional requirements for the responsible management of electronic records and information systems" within the twelve member academic consortium, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC).
- http://www-personal.umich.edu/~deromedi/CIC/cic4.htm
- Also available in PDF format at: http://www.cic.net/Libraries/Library/Electronic_Records_Policy.sflb
- Standards Framework
The National Archives (UK)
(United Kingdom)
- This webpage includes The National Archives (UK) Standard for Record Repositories and Standards Framework which comprises a range of standards and best practice guidelines in all aspects of record keeping. It also includes guidance on the preservation of digital and electronic records and best practice guidance.
- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives/framework.htm
-
Strategies for Digital Data : Findings and Recommendations from Digital Data in Archaeology : A Survey of User Needs
Condron, Frances; Richards, Julian; Robinson, Damian; Wise, Alicia
(Date Created: 1999)
(United Kingdom)
- Archaeology Data Service Report. Following an analysis of a survey into the creation, archiving, use and re-use of digital data in archaeology in the United Kingdom, is a set of recommendations.
- ISBN: 0 9536043 0 6
- http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/project/strategies/
-

Sustainability of Digital Formats Planning for Library of Congress Collections
Arms, Caroline R.; Fleischhauer, Carl
(Regularly Updated)
(United States of America)
- This website provides information on the suitability of various formats for preserving the Library of Congress's digital collections. Formats are examined for still images, sound recordings, textual content, and moving images, although it is planned to examine more complex digital works such as web sites. Formats are examined using several factors including tranperancy, technical protection, patents, self-documentation and external dependencies.
- http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/index.shtml
- Sustainability of Digital Formats : Planning for Library Of Congress Collections : Still Images
Library of Congress
(Regularly Updated)
(United States of America)
- The site operates as a technical information source on digital file formats. The information is intended to aid decision-making on options for long-term preservation of digital content. The site makes recommendations and gives reasons why some formats are preferable to others in terms of their capacity to support long-term access to content. This is a comprehensive information source produced by an organisation committed to maintaining and updating information about preservation of digital content.
- http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/content/still.shtml
- Syntax for Digital Object Identifier
National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
(Date Created: 30 Sep 2005)
- This ANZI/NISO standard defines the composition and order of the unambiguous alphanumeric identifier string in the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) system used to reference an intellectual property entity in the digital environment. The maintenance agency is the International DOI Foundation.
- ISBN: 9781880124680
- http://www.niso.org/kst/reports/standards?step=2&gid=&project_key=a83b
89410e67c2d7f6c7f43a6183d3f18e8c3195
- ANZI/NISO Standard Z39.84
- textMD Technical Metadata for Text
Library of Congress
(Date Created: Oct 2007)
(United States of America)
- This XML schema has been maintained by the Library of Congress since October 2007. TextMD was originally created by the New York University Digital Library Team. It is endorsed by METS and commonly used as an extension schema with METS adminstrative metadata section but also can be used alone or in the future with PREMIS. The schema is focused on documenting technical metadata for text based objects including OCR files.
- http://www.loc.gov/standards/textMD/
-

VERS: Building a Digital Record Heritage
Quenault, Howard
(Date Created: Feb 2004)
(Australia)
- The Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS) is “a framework of standards, guidance and practical implementation projects centred around the goal of reliably and authentically archiving electronic records created or managed by the Victorian government”. The article provides an overview into the background and vision of the program, the VERS Centre of Excellence, developing the digital archive and future directions of the program.
- http://www.vala.org.au/vala2004/2004pdfs/13Quena.PDF
-

Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS) : Version 2
Public Record Office Victoria
(Regularly Updated)
(Australia)
- This web site has links to the standard "Management of Electronic Records", its supporting specifications and the explanatory advices, which were revised in July 2003. The five supporting specifications include system requirements for preserving electronic records, metadata, standard electronic record format, long term preservation formats and export of electronic records to PROV (Public Record Office Victoria). Specification 4 was updated to include PDF/A,JPEG, JPEG-2000, MPEG-4 in Aug 2006 and Specification 5 was updated for the PROV's new digital Archive.
- http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/vers/standard/version2.asp
-
Working with the Distributed National Electronic Resource (DNER): Standards and Guidelines to Build a National Resource
Grout, Catherine; Ingram, Caroline
(Date Created: Feb 2001)
(United Kingdom)
- A set of guidelines compiled by the DNER providing examples of best practices and accompanying standards for the development, delivery, management and preservation of online digital resources for learning and teaching.
- http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=projman_standards
Top
Projects and Case Studies
|
- Alternative File Formats for Storing Master Images
Gillesse, Robert; Rog, Judith; Verheusen, Astrid
(Date Created: 7 Mar 2008)
(Netherlands)
- This in depth report (64 pages) describes a project undertaken by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek on possible alternative file formats for storing master images from mass digitisation projects. The KB currently stores uncompressed TIFFs. This report considers JPEG 2000, PNG, JPEG and TIFF LZW as alternatives. It describes each format and considers the consequences for required storage capacity, image quality, long term sustainability and functionality.
- http://www.kb.nl/hrd/dd/dd_links_en_publicaties/publicaties/Alternativ
e%20File%20Formats%20for%20Storing%20Masters%202%201.pdf
-

Archiving the Avant Garde: Documenting and Preserving Variable Media Art
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
(Date Created: 2001)
Reviewed by: Museums Seek Methods for Preserving Digital Art
; How to Preserve Digital Art
- Archiving the Avant Garde is a collaborative project to develop, document, and disseminate strategies for describing and preserving non-traditional, intermedia, and variable media art forms, such as performance, installation, conceptual, and digital art.
- http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/about/avantgarde
- Assessment of UKDA and TNA Compliance with OAIS and METS Standards
Beedham, Hilary; Missen, Julie; Palmer, Matt; Ruusalepp, Raivo
(Date Created: 2005)
(United Kingdom)
- Funded by JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) under its Institutional Digital Preservation and Asset Management Programme, this extensive report compares the current practices of the UKDA (UK Data Archive) and TNA (UK National Archives) with the OAIS reference model and the METS standard. The OAIS reference model (ISO 14721) is the major international standard for digital archives. This report is also designed to be used by other institutions to help gauge their compliance to this standard. The assessment was undertaken by the UKDA, The National Archives and the Estonian Business Archive.
- http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/news/publications/oaismets.pdf
- Developing a Trusted Digital Repository: the OCLC Experience
Lawson, Dawn; Spies, Phyllis B
(Date Created: Jan 2004)
(United States of America)
- This article focuses on the OCLC’s (Online Computer Library Centre) experience in developing a digital archive. The development of standards for digital archiving and preservation metadata with RLG (Research Libraries Group) in defining the main attributes of a trust digital repository is described, as are the main tools and functions of the archive including the harvest, ingest and dissemination of archived objects. The Connecticut State Library’s use of OCLC’s Web archiving tools is also discussed.
- http://ninetta.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/03055720410530960
- Also available in PDF version and in VINE, Vol 34, No 1, 2004, pp. 27-32, ISSN 0305-5278 (Special Issue: Digital Preservation and Libraries. Part One).
- Digital Lifecycles And File Types : Final Report
Bates, Melanie; Loddington, Steve; Manuel, Sue; Oppenheim, Charles
(Date Created: May 2006)
- As part of the JISC funded Rights And Rewards In Blended Institutional Repositories Project, this report (60 p.) provides an overview of characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of various types of image and text file formats. It also includes information about managing the lifecycle of a digital item as well as standards and specifications concerning metadata (e.g. Dublin Core and METS). It discusses issues to consider when packaging content (e.g. for loading into a learning management system) and provides an overview of various content packaging tools. It concludes with an
introduction to reference models and frameworks used to describe processes managed by repositories and the systems in which they operate.
- http://hdl.handle.net/2134/1793
- File Information Tool Set (FITS)
Harvard University Library
(Date Created: Aug 2009)
(United States of America)
- The File Information Tool Set (FITS) has been developed by the Harvard University Library. FITS wraps several third-party open source tools, normalizes and consolidates their output, and reports any errors. The wrapped tools identify, validate, and extract technical metadata for various file formats. Tools currently wrapped include JHOVE, Exiftool, National Library of New Zealand Metadata Extractor, DROID, Ffident and File Utitlity. Two original FITS tools included are FileInfo and XmlMetadata. Other tools are being evaluated for inclusion.
- http://code.google.com/p/fits/
-

FRED : a Format Registry Demonstration
University of Pennsylvania Library
(Regularly Updated)
(United States of America)
- FRED (Format REgistry Demonstrator) is a proof-of-concept prototype format registry demonstrator developed from the Mellon-funded TOM (Typed Object Model) project. It's purpose is to provide some idea of the requirements that developing a global registry would entail. It can be used to demonstate how file format information can be presented and how it can be used, maintained and managed. There are links to the data model, a list of registered formats, and a discussion list.
- http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://tom.library.upenn.edu/fred/
-

Global Digital Format Registry (GDFR)
Harvard University Library
(Regularly Updated)
- In development since 2002, the GDFR (Global Digital Format Registry) is an ongoing international initiative. The GDFR working group comprises national and academic research libraries and archives. The GDFR was developed as a mechanism to provide trustworthy, sustainable and authoratitive information about data formats. This website also has information on data and service models, use cases and the GDFR mission statement. In April 2009 GDFR joined with PRONOM to form the Unified Digital Formats Registry (UDFR). The UDFR will support the requirements and use cases compiled for GDFR and will be seeded with PRONOM's software and formats database.
- http://hul.harvard.edu/gdfr/
- IFLA/CDNL Alliance for Bibliographic Standards : Library of Congress Action Area : URI Resource Pages
Library of Congress
(Regularly Updated)
(United States of America)
- Maintained at the Library of Congress by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office as part of its participation in the IFLA CDNL Alliance for Bibliographic Standards (ICABS), the purpose of this website is to provide information relevant to the library community about URIs, including basic definitions and concepts; URI schemes; what URIs actually do; relationships among URIs, URLs, and URNs. There is also a section featuring the latest URI developments.
- http://www.loc.gov/standards/uri/
- JHOVE2
University of California Office of the President (UCOP)
(Regularly Updated)
(United States of America)
- This wiki is the public information site for the JHOVE2 Project which builds on the JHOVE project. The JHOVE2 Project aims to refactor the existing JHOVE architecture and API, to support enhancements to existing JHOVE functionality and to develop JHOVE2 modules supporting important preservation-related processes. JHOVE2 is a 2 year project funded by the Library of Congress under the NDIIPP program, the California Digital Library, Portico and Stanford University. The wiki includes background to the project, use cases, project bibliography, details of mailing lists and links to related resources.
- http://confluence.ucop.edu/display/JHOVE2Info/Home
- JHOVE2 : a Next-Generation Architecture for Format-Aware Digital Object Preservation Formatting
Harvard University Library
(Last Updated: 01 Jun 2006)
(United States of America)
- The paper discusses the scope of the JHOVE2 (JSTOR/Harvard Object Validation Environment) project proposal. This project will seek to retain existing JHOVE functionality and refactor the existing architecture, support enhancements, increase the range of supported formats, and develop modules for supporting key preservation processes. Input from the JHOVE user community will be sought as part of the design phase. The proposal was submitted by Harvard University, Portico, and Stanford University to the Library of Congress under the National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Program (NDIIPP) initiative.
- http://hul.harvard.edu/jhove/JHOVE2-proposal.doc
- JSTOR/Harvard Object Validation Environment (JHOVE)
Donnelly, Martin
(Date Created: Mar 2006)
- JHOVE is an open source framework for the identification, validation and characterisation of various file formats, including html. xml, gif, tiff, jpeg2000, and wave. The article looks at how formats are identified, validated and characterisated as well as system development, standards and legal factors. Also included are sample records.
- http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resource/case-studies/jhove/jhove.pdf
- DCC Case Studies and Interviews, ISSN 1749-8767
- Open Archives Initiative
OAI
(Regularly Updated)
- The Open Archives initiative is a forum to discuss and solve matters of interoperability between author self-archiving solutions, as a way to promote their global acceptance. This includes the "Santa Fe Convention" which presents a simple technical and organizational framework to support basic interoperability among e-print archives. Over time, however, the work of OAI has expanded to promote broad access to digital resources for eScholarship, eLearning, and eScience.
- http://www.openarchives.org/
-

PDF Archive
Association for Information and Image Management, International (AIIM, International)
(Last Updated: 2004)
- A joint activity of the Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies (NPES) and the Association for Information and Image Management, International (AIIM, International), to develop an international standard defining the use of Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) for archiving and preservation of electronic documents. The project aimed to address support of multipage documents featuring combinations of text and graphics and the requirements for reading devices to render archived documents. The project's web site contained presentations, meeting minutes and a draft standard for comment.
- http://web.archive.org/web/20050406085337/www.aiim.org/standards.asp?I
D=25013
- Site archived by the Internet Archive.
-

Risk Management of Digital Information : A File Format Investigation
Gregory W. Lawrence, William R. Kehoe, Oya Y. Reiger, William H. Walters and Kenney R. Anne
(Date Created: Jun 2000)
(United States of America)
Reviewed by: Risk Management of Digital Information : A File Format Investigation
- This report is based on investigations by Cornell University Library with support from CLIR on the identification of risks to digital file formats during migration. A work book for risk assessment was developed, identifying risk categories, measuring risk using worksheets, matrixes and evaluation of conversion comparison software. Two migration case studies are also discussed: one for image files and one for numeric files.
- ISBN: 1-887334-78-5
- http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub93abst.html
- Available on CLIR's website or paper copy for US $20.00
- Significant Properties of Vector Images
Oxford Brookes University; System Simulation Ltd
(Date Created: 2008)
(United Kingdom)
- This 74 p. report looks at Vector Images to identify their most important characteristics (Significant Properties) in the context of their long-term preservation and future re-use. It is one of four studies funded by JISC to investigate Significant Properties of Digital Objects.
- http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/preservation/vector_i
mages.pdf
-

Typed Object Model (TOM)
University of Pennsylvania Library
(Date Created: 2004)
(United States of America)
- Developed by the University of Pennsylvania Library, TOM (Typed Object Model) is a data format management system that describes the structure and behavior of a wide variety of data formats and information services. In 2003 and 2004 there was a Mellon Foundation funded initiative to apply this model to support online learning and digital preservation. TOM can be used to document data formats and services and assist in data format migration and other conversions. TOM's core software is being released as open source. This website has links to TOM's data model, standards and documentation.
- http://web.archive.org/web/*hh_/tom.library.upenn.edu/
- Unified Digital Formats Registry (UDFR)
(Date Created: Apr 2009)
- In April 2009 an agreement was signed to bring together PRONOM and GDFR under a new name the Unified Digital Formats Registry. The new registry will "support the requirements and use cases of the larger community compiled for GDFR and would be seeded with PRONOM's software and formats database". A road map for the first 16 months (april 2009 to July 2010) development is available.
- http://www.udfr.org/
-

UPF (Universal Preservation Format) Home Page
UPF, WGBH
(Last Updated: 1998)
(United States of America)
- Sponsored by the WGBH Educational Foundation and funded in part by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission of the National Archives, the Universal Preservation Format initiative advocates a platform-independent format that will help make accessible a wide range of data types. The UPF is characterized as "self-described" because it includes, within its metadata, all the technical specifications required to build and rebuild appropriate media browsers to access contained materials throughout time. The project has produced a Recommended Practices document.
- http://info.wgbh.org/upf/
Top
-
Bibliography of standards and selected references related to preservation in libraries
Dodson, Suzanne; Wellheiser, Johanna
(Last Updated: 15 Apr 1996)
- Although this bibliography covers a broad range of library materials, references relevant to digital media are included.
- http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/nlc-bnc/bibliography_standards_ap
r96-ef/eintro.htm
- Digital Standards Bibliography, Version 2.0 : Exposure Draft
Collections Council of Australia Ltd
(Date Created: 18 Nov 2008)
(Australia)
- This bibliography is a revised version of a preliminary list of standards and guidelines that inform and assist the creation and management of digital collections which was originally published as part of the Collection Council of Australia’s Summit on Digital Collections: Working Papers in August 2007. Comments are required on this exposure draft by 31 December 2008.
- http://www.collectionscouncil.com.au/Portals/0/Digital%20standards%20b
ibliography,%20Version%202.0,%20Exposure%20Draft,%2018%20Nov.pdf
- Metadata Resources Guide
Information Management Branch, Information Management, Access and Privacy, Alberta Government Services
(Last Updated: May 2004)
(Canada)
- This Guide was developed to assist in the development of metadata standards for the Government of Alberta. The Guide covers major metadata resources and is organised by subject, including international initiatives, background information, preservation metadata, current awareness resources, standards, major metadata schemas and listservs. Most of the entries are annotated.
- http://www.im.gov.ab.ca/publications/pdf/MetadataResGuide.pdf
Top
- AHDS Guides to Good Practice
AHDS ( Arts and Humanities Data Service)
(Last Updated: 31 Mar 2008)
- These guides providing the arts and humanities research and teaching communities with practical instruction in applying recognised standards and good practice to the creation and use of digital resources. Some of the Guides focus on methods and applications relevant to humanities disciplines, such as history, archaeology, visual arts, performing arts and textual and linguistic studies. Others address those areas which cross disciplinary boundaries.
- ISSN: 1463-5194
- http://ahds.ac.uk/creating/guides/index.htm
Top
- Interoperability Focus Discussion List
In: UKOLN: The UK Office for Library and Information Networking
(Regularly Updated)
(United Kingdom)
- This discussion list is for the discussion of issues related to the design, construction, and ongoing operation of interoperable services in an international cross-domain digital environment. It was set up by the UK Interoperability Focus, based within the UK Office for Library and Information Networking (UKOLN).
- http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/interoperability.html
Top
-

E-Science Curation Report : Data Curation for E-Science in the UK : an Audit to Establish Requirements for Future Curation and Provision
Lord, Philip; Macdonald, Alison
(Date Created: 2003)
(United Kingdom)
- This report, prepared for the JISC Committee for the Support of Research (JCSR), endeavours to establish the current provision and future requirements for curation of digital primary research data generated within e-science in the UK. The report consists of strategic and policy level recommendations. Questionnaires and interviews were used to ascertain current provisions for data curation, in areas including such as repositories, libraries, funding, costs, preservation, and standards.
- http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/e-ScienceReportFinal.pdf
-
Emerging Standards for Enhanced Publications and Repository Technology: Survey on Technology
van Godtsenhoven, Karen (Introduction)
(Date Created: Oct 2009)
(Netherlands)
- This study for the DRIVER II project (209 p.) is intended as a technology watch for digital publications. It has two main parts: New technologies and communities; and Interoperability. It includes ten chapters by different authors including a chapter on long-term preservation.
- ISBN: 9789089641892
- http://dare.uva.nl/document/150752
- Quality Assurance for Digital Heritage in Europe : Final Report
Digitaal Erfgoed Nederland (DEN)
(Date Created: 03 Dec 2007)
- This report (57 p) prepared by the Centre of Expertise (HEC) was commissioned by Digitaal Erfgoed Nederland (DEN, Digital Heritage Netherlands) to investigate quality assurance of digitisation in twelve European Union Member States (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom). The research conducted between August and November 2007 based on desk based research and telephone interviews, looked at government policies, specific sector policies, standardisation, cross border initiatives for quality assurance in digitisation, instruments used and how knowledge and best practices are shared.
- http://www.den.nl/docs/20071218221955/
- Available for download as PDF.
Top
- AONS II: Continuing the Trend Towards Preservation Software 'Nirvana'
Pearson, David
(Date Created: Oct 2007)
(Australia)
- This paper presented at IPRES 2007, reports on the AONS II project undertaken by the National Library of Australia in conjunction with the Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories.The AONS software tool allows users to automatically monitor the status of file formats in their repositories and receive notification of obsolescence risks.
- http://ipres.las.ac.cn/pdf/David%20Pearson-AONS%20II_%20continuing%20t
he%20trend%20towards%20preservation%20software%20'Nirvana'%20-%20.pdf
- Screenshots of presentation and paper available from the the IPRES2007 website. http://ipres.las.ac.cn/
- DROID
National Archives (UK)
(Regularly Updated)
(United Kingdom)
- Purpose : Developed by the National Archives (UK) DROID (Digital Record Object Identification) is an open source software tool that performs automated identification of file formats. These signatures are stored in an XML signature file, generated from information recorded in the PRONOM technical registry. New and updated signatures are regularly added to PRONOM, and DROID can be configured to automatically download updated signature files from the PRONOM website.
Documentation : Full documentation including XML schemas and download instructions are available at this URL. Version 4.0 which supports PLANETS Project services was released in June 2009.
- http://sourceforge.net/projects/droid/
- File Information Tool Set (FITS)
Harvard University Library
(Date Created: Aug 2009)
(United States of America)
- The File Information Tool Set (FITS) has been developed by the Harvard University Library. FITS wraps several third-party open source tools, normalizes and consolidates their output, and reports any errors. The wrapped tools identify, validate, and extract technical metadata for various file formats. Tools currently wrapped include JHOVE, Exiftool, National Library of New Zealand Metadata Extractor, DROID, Ffident and File Utitlity. Two original FITS tools included are FileInfo and XmlMetadata. Other tools are being evaluated for inclusion.
- http://code.google.com/p/fits/
Top
- Preserving the Data Explosion: Using PDF
Fanning, Betsy A.
(Date Created: Apr 2008)
(United Kingdom; United States of America)
- This 27p. report reviews PDF and the newly introduced PDF/Archive (PDF/A) format as a potential solution for long-term digital preservation. It considers the use of PDF/A as part of a comprehensive records management program, to archive electronic documents as a standard to aid preservation and future retrieval.
- http://www.dpconline.org/docs/reports/dpctw08-02.pdf
- DPC Technology Watch Report 08-02
Top
Related Topics: Metadata | Persistent identifiers
Broader Topic:
Data documentation & standards
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA, Canberra, ACT 2600, AUSTRALIA
Telephone + 61 2 6262 1111; Facsimile +61 2 6257 1703; Telephone Typewriter
Number: 1800 026 372
|