To prevent the loss of digital knowledge, PREFORMA project recruits file experts
Image (photo on Flickr) by "William Brawley", licensed under CC BY 2.0
To address the issue of digital file formats becoming obsolete, which can lead to the loss of vast quantities of data, the PREFORMA project aims to develop standardised file formats that will ensure the long term preservation and accessibility of digital files. The EC-funded project is using a pre-commercial procurement (PCP) approach to find suppliers capable of developing an open-source toolset for the conformance checking of digital files.
Following a research contract tender issued in June 2014, three suppliers have been selected and the prototyping phase is now underway. The veraPDF Consortium will focus on PDF document compliance; Easy Innova will look at the TIFF standard for still images; while Media Area will develop a compliance checker for file types that capture moving images.
Börje Justrell, coordinator of the PREFORMA project, said: “For archives and libraries it is imperative that they understand what’s in the digital objects they are preserving for generations. The open-source PREFORMA toolset, which brings together the three solutions from the awardees, helps cover the currently existing knowledge gap. The openness of the solution will allow for other file formats to be incorporated, should new requirements emerge.”
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