title: Do We Really Know Our Data? Assessing File Format Policy Compliance and Digital Preservation Tenability via a New Software Tool
creators: Tom Smyth
abstract: Library and Archives Canada’s (LAC) new File Formats Policy, which constitutes a from-scratch analysis of the Preservation area’s migration capacity, has been converted into a database that can be remotely queried. In tandem with DROID, we developed a new software tool that compares a target dataset (e.g., material for acquisition, or material being migrated to a new media) against our PRONOM-based Local Digital Format Registry (LDFR) database. The tool then outputs a report – which then speaks to LAC’s capacity to manage the target data – and flags detectable file format and data management issues. The tool is a major development for LAC and enables us to assess file format compliance, preservation tenability, and therefore the estimated cost of ownership at the pre-transfer stage of the lifecycle – which will inform PAIMAS-oriented discussions with internal and external clients – leading to better overall capacity management, and digital preservation migration, planning, and sustainability.
keywords: characterization migration sustainability capacity paimas