Do We Really Know Our Data? Assessing File Format Policy Compliance and Digital Preservation Tenability via a New Software Tool
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.Details
- Creators
- Tom Smyth
- Institutions
- Library And Archives Canada
- Date
- 2022-09-16 00:00:00 +0000
- Keywords
- characterization; migration; sustainability; capacity; paimas
- Publication Type
- short paper
- License
- CC-BY 4.0 International
- Download
- (unknown) bytes
- Video Stream
- here
- Collaborative Notes
- here