This is a follow-up message/current status on the LC Recommended Format Specifications.  At the end of the message, I have also attached the earlier message from January 2015, which provides background information.
Posting this on behalf of Ted Westervelt at LC.  Please direct any inquiries to him at:   <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>.  Thanks!

"In just a year and a half since it first issued the document which has become the Recommended Formats Statement (http://www.loc.gov/preservation/resources/rfs), the Library of Congress has been pleased to see the degree to which the community of stakeholders involved with creative works has engaged with it and valued it.  The Recommended Formats Statement was created to describe hierarchies of the physical and technical characteristics of analog and digital formats, which will best maximize the chances for preservation and continued accessibility of creative content.  So, it was gratifying to receive both positive comments and suggested improvements from some of the institutions and organizations most committed to and involved with the preservation and ongoing availability of creative works. These included the National Library of New Zealand, the British Library and the National Agricultural Library, as well as industry organizations such as the Recording Industry Association of America and dedicated and insightful individual experts from around the world.  In the past few months, we have been further honored to have the Recommended Formats Statement included as a resource in the Digital Preservation Coalition's Digital Preservation Handbook and to have the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services recommend the Statement as a resource in one of its e-forums.

With this sort of engagement and adoption of the Recommended Formats Statement, the Library wants to ensure that the Statement remains a useful document and guide, both for its own collection building and preservation needs and for those of others who are treating this as a valuable resource.  To do this, the Library is committed to carry on with its annual review of the Statement.  The teams of experts here at the Library of Congress who work on the six categories which make up the Statement will undertake that review from April to June, with the goal of making the Statement as accurate and useful as possible for all parties who have an interest in the preservation and long-term access of creative works.  Already we are looking at potential changes and improvements, such as the possible inclusion of FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) in our hierarchy of audio file formats.

So, we are requesting that any and all of you who are involved with creative works and have an interest in ensuring they last and remain accessible, please examine the Recommended Formats Statement and provide your input, comments and feedback to us, so that we can make it the best it can be.

The Library of Congress looks forward to receiving such input through March 31, 2016.  It should be sent to the Library through one of the e-mail contacts listed on the Recommended Formats Statement website or through the e-mail address listed below.

For more information, please contact Ted Westervelt [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>].


(Please excuse cross-posting)"




From: Leggett, Stephen C
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2015 2:58 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Listserv language for Recommended Format Specifications

Posting this on behalf of Ted Westervelt at LC.  Please direct any inquiries to him at:   <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>.  Thanks


"The Library of Congress is actively soliciting feedback on its Recommended Format Specifications for the next update, which will be issued this summer.  The Recommended Format Specifications describe the hierarchies of the physical and technical characteristics of creative formats, both analog and digital, which will best maximize the chances for preservation and continued accessibility of creative content.  Creators and publishers have also begun to employ a wide array of intangible digital formats, as well as continuing to change and adapt the physical formats in which they work.  The Library needs to be able to identify the formats which are suitable for large-scale acquisition and preservation for long-term access if it is to continue to build its collection and ensure that it lasts into the future.

The Specifications are organized into six basic categories of creative output:


*         Textual Works and Musical Compositions

*         Still Image Works

*         Audio Works

*         Moving Image Works

*         Software and Electronic Gaming

*         Learning and Datasets/Databases


These categories represent significant parts of the publishing, information, and media industries, especially those that are rapidly adopting digital production and are central to building the Library's collections. Technical teams were formed with experts from across the institution bringing specialized knowledge in technical aspects of preservation, ongoing access needs and developments in the marketplace and in the publishing world. These teams were established to identify recommended formats for each of these categories and to establish hierarchies of preference among the formats within them.

To ensure that the Specifications accomplish all this, they need to be kept in sync with changes in the development of creative works.  To this end, the Library will be performing an annual review and revision of the Specifications between April and June every year.

Already the Library has identified improvements which will make the Specifications better and more useful, such as further refinement of the recommended metadata, and investigation of database archiving products and reordering some of the Still Image formats.  But in order to make the Specifications as useful as possible for the Library and for all stakeholders, the Library is actively seeking any and all feedback, comments, thoughts and input which others may have on the Specifications.

The Library of Congress looks forward to receiving such input through March 31st, 2015 and can be sent to the Library through one of the e-mail contacts listed on the Recommended Format Specifications website or through the e-mail listed below.

The Recommended Format Specifications are available at http://www.loc.gov/preservation/resources/rfs.  For more information, please contact Ted Westervelt [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>].


(Please excuse cross-posting)