[Pasig-discuss] Format Obsolescence

[Robert Spindler]

At the risk of continuing off the original topic: Dr. Lunt is correct that widely installed base is a helpful criterion for selecting a sustainable production format, but the reason the issue persists is that it is so difficult to influence content creators early enough in their process to ensure a commonly used application or resulting file format is selected. The challenges are especially difficult in digital audio and video, where even widely used formats become incompatible very quickly and it is difficult to identify a sustainable format people will use!

Rob Spindler
University Archivist and Head
Archives and Special Collections
Arizona State University Libraries
Tempe AZ 85287-1006
480.965.9277
http://www.asu.edu/lib/archives

From: pasig-discuss-bounces at asis.org [mailto:pasig-discuss-bounces at asis.org] On Behalf Of Barry Lunt
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2012 11:31 AM
To: pasig-discuss at mail.asis.org
Subject: Re: [Pasig-discuss] Write-blocking a RAID

    I also find it amazing that the format obsolescence issue looms so large. History has a very good lesson to teach us here - use a format which is widely adopted, and even after it is obsolete, people will know how to read it. History's example: Latin. Obsolete language for more than 1,000 years, yet still taught because it was very widely adopted, and there are hundreds of thousands of documents still extant, written in Latin. We study Latin because those documents exist.
    Use a widely-adopted format; people will know how to read it in the future, IF the bits still exist.

Barry Lunt
(my research area is permanent digital data storage)

[cid:image001.jpg at 01CDBB4C.8414D9C0]
On 11/5/2012 11:15 AM, David Rosenthal wrote:

On 11/05/2012 10:05 AM, Mark Fitzsimmons wrote:

Hi Cory,



Great point. You are absolutely right, file formats will become obsolescent.



This will happen over time to particular formats that you have copies of.



You will inevitably need to convert/preserve the content of those files to

an accessible media type.



An inventory of the files you have and by type will provide the reference

point you need to track the impending migration of them ahead of

obsolescence.



Whether or not at some point in the future there is a risk of format

obsolescence, the files need to be extracted and put some place

reasonably safe, as soon as possible. At this stage, worrying about

formats is a waste of time and effort. Worry about formats after

you have all the bits safe.



It is truly amazing how each and every discussion of digital

preservation gets hijacked by the "OMG format obsolescence" meme.



See http://blog.dshr.org/2012/10/formats-through-time.html



  David.



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