The May 2014 issue of the Library of Congress Digital Preservation Newsletter (pdf) is now available! In this issue: Shaking the Email Format Family Tree Interview with Jonathan Sterne: The Meaning of the MP3 Format The Why and What of Web Archives Protect Your Data: Information Security A Defining Experience: The Residency Class of 2014 […]
Category: file formats
Saving the Date: Exploring Calendar and Scheduling Formats
Each January, my family picks out a new wall calendar to hang in our kitchen. Its main appeal these days is nostalgic decoration since we no longer use it to write down our appointments or important dates. Like many people, we now rely on electronic calendar and scheduling tools built into personal information manager software […]
The Meaning of the MP3 Format: An Interview with Jonathan Sterne
What does the history of the MP3 format mean for those interested in ensuring long-term access to our digital cultural heritage? In this installment of the NDSA’s Insights interview series I talk with historian Jonathan Sterne about his book MP3: The Meaning of a Format. You can read the introduction to his book, titled “Format […]
Personal Digital Archiving: The Basics of Scanning
Although the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program and the National Digital Stewardship Alliance focus on digital preservation and access, many of the personal digital archiving questions that the general public ask us are about scanning. Though scanning is a separate issue from digital preservation, scanning does generate digital files that need to be […]
It’s Not Just Integrity: Fixity Data in Digital Sound and Moving Image Files
This blog post is co-authored by Carl Fleischhauer, Project Manager, Digital Initiatives, Library of Congress. People who manage audio and video files over time, do create fixity data, aka hash values or checksums, to help monitor the condition of those files in storage and when moved from one system or media to another system or […]
Let’s Start at the Very Beginning: Guiding Principles for Creating Born Digital Video
The beginning is a very fine place to start indeed for the Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative Born Digital Video subgroup of the Audio-Visual Working Group. As mentioned in a previous blog post, the FADGI Born Digital Video subgroup is taking a close look at the range of decisions to be made throughout the lifecycle […]
Saving Digital Mementos from Virtual Worlds
My two young teenage daughters spend hours playing Minecraft, building elaborate virtual landscapes and structures. They are far from alone; the game has millions of fans around the world. Teachers are seizing on Minecraft’s popularity with kids as a tool to teach both abstract and concrete subjects. What’s unique about this situation is not so much […]
Steve Puglia, Digital Preservation Pioneer
Steven Puglia, manager of Digital Conversion Services at the Library of Congress, died peacefully on December 10, 2013 after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer. Puglia had a profound effect on his colleagues here in Washington and worldwide, and there is a great outpouring of grief and appreciation in the wake of his passing. The […]
Self-archiving platforms and data verification
There used to be a comedy show on TV that featured a character who described everything as either “brilliant!” or “fantastic!” Isn’t open data, brilliant! Data sharing, brilliant! Expanding ways to facilitate open data and sharing, fantastic! And, you know … Continue reading →
The five stages to data sharing: Acceptance
Applying the Kübler-Ross model[1] to researchers and data sharing, based on various attitudes and comments we have encountered over the years. Don’t take the presentation seriously, but take the content seriously. Part five in a series of…uh, five. 5. Acceptance … Continue reading →