Technology has so altered our world that most of what we now create begins life in a digital format. The artifacts that tell the stories of our lives no longer reside in a trunk in the attic, but on personal computers or Web sites, in e-mails or on digital photo and film cards. The flip side to the ease with which we are able to create digital content is the complexity of preservation and long-term retrieval of this content. We must contend with issues relating to hardware and software compatibility; long-term storage; organization of files for ease of search and retrieval; media quality; disaster recovery; and integrity of original data.

-- Library of Congress

File Preservation in the Academic Commons

A digital preservation plan is required to improve the likelihood that information will be useful in the future. The Academic Commons service preserves the integrity of digital files (bitstreams) and will attempt to migrate supported file formats to future file formats as need arises. The following levels of preservation support exist:

Supported: The format is recognized, and the repository staff are confident that bitstreams of this format can be migrated to a future format, if necessary, to make the file useable in the future. The format is recommended to ensure collection preservation.

Known: The format is recognized, and the hosting institution will promise to preserve the bitstream as-is, and allow it to be retrieved. The IR staff may attempt to obtain enough information to enable the format to be upgraded to the 'supported' level.

Unknown: The format is unrecognized, but the hosting institution will undertake to preserve the bitstream as-is, and allow it to be retrieved.

The table below shows current support levels for the listed file formats.

 

 

Academic Commons File Support Levels

Mime Type	Description	Extensions	Level
application/marc	MARC	marc, mrc	supported
application/mathematica	Mathematica	ma	known
application/msword	Microsoft Word	doc	known
application/octet-stream	Unknown	(anything not listed)	unsupported
application/pdf	Adobe PDF	pdf	supported
application/postscript	Postscript	ps, eps, ai	supported
application/sgml	SGML	sgm, sgml	known
application/vnd.ms-excel	Microsoft Excel	xls	known
application/vnd.ms-powerpint	Microsoft Powerpoint	ppt	known
application/vnd.ms-project	Microsoft Project	mpp, mpx, mpd	known
application/vnd.visio	Microsoft Visio	vsd	known
application/wordperfect5.1	WordPerfect	wpd	known
application/x-dvi	TeXdvi	dvi	known
application/x-filemaker	FMP3	fm	known
application/x-latex	LateX	latex	known
application/x-photoshop	Photoshop	psd, pdd	known
application/x-tex	TeX	tex	known
audio/x-aiff	AIFF	aiff, aif, aifc	supported
audio/basic	audio/basic	au, snd	known
audio/x-mpeg	MPEG Audio	mpa, abs, mpeg	supported
audio/x-pn-realaudio	RealAudio	ra, ram	known
audio/x-wav	WAV	wav	supported
image/gif	GIF	gif	supported
image/jpeg	JPEG	jpeg, jpg	supported
image/png	PNG	png	supported
image/tiff	TIFF	tiff, tif	supported
image/x-ms-bmp	BMP	bmp	known
image/x-photo-cd	Photo CD	pcd	known
text/html	HTML	html, htm	supported
text/plain	Text	txt	supported
text/richtext	Rich Text Format	rtf	supported
text/xml	XML	xml	supported
video/mpeg	MPEG	mpeg, mpg, mpe	supported
video/quicktime	Video Quicktime	mov, qt	known
text/xml	GIS GML (xml)		known
none	GIS ESRI Shape File	shp dbf	known
	GIS ESRI Export formats	e00	known
	MapInfo Formats		known
	SDTS (spatial data trans stand)		known
	DXF (Autocad drawing exchange format)		known
	DWG (Autocad drawing format)		known
Supported = Formats we can "make usable in the future" using whatever combinatin of techniques is appropriate
Known = Do not guanantee future usability because format is propretary.  Can provide help with converting to
a supported format.
Unknown = We don't know what it is.  An unknown format could be supported or known once we learn more about it.