GlobalDigitalFormatRegistry.pptVIP

DLF Spring Forum New York, May 14-16, 2003 Global Digital Format Registry Stephen L. Abrams Harvard University Library MacKenzie Smith Massachusetts Institute of Technology Why Do We Need a Registry? Repository functions are performed on a format-specific basis Interpretation of otherwise opaque content streams is dependent upon knowledge of how typed content is represented Interchange requires mutual agreement of format syntax and semantics Potential Use Cases Identification “I have a digital object; what format is it?” Validation “I have an object purportedly of format F; is it?” Transformation “I have an object of format F, but need G; how can I produce it?” Characterization “I have an object of format F; what are its significant properties?” Risk assessment “I have an object of format F; is at risk of obsolescence?” Delivery “I have an object of format F; how can I render it?” Repository Format Dependencies Ingest Validation SIP-to-AIP Access AIP-to-DIP Rendering Preservation planning Migration Emulation UVC Repository Format Dependencies Repository Format Dependencies What’s Wrong with MIME Types? Insufficient depth of detail Syntax and semantics Public and proprietary Insufficient granularity Both tiled RGB TIFF with LZW and striped bi-tonal TIFF with Group 4 → image/tiff All of PDF 1.0 – 1.4, PDF/X-1 – 3, and PDF/A → application/pdf A Bit of History DLF-sponsored invitational meetings Ad-hoc committee Collected use cases Working groups on data and governance models Ad-Hoc Committee Bibliothèque nationale de France California Digital Library Digital Library Federation Harvard University IETF JISC JSTOR Library of Congress MIT NARA National Archives of Canada New York University NIST OCLC Public Records Office, UK RLG Stanford University University of Pennsylvania Global Digital Format Registry What is a Format? No assumption regarding byte size An information model is a formal expression of exchangeable knowledge What is Representation Information? Significa