Sustainability of Digital Formats

“The Digital Formats Web site provides information about digital content formats through detailed format description documents or fdds. An initial offering was placed online in 2004 and expanded and updated analyses and resources have been added regularly. Digital formats will continue to evolve in the coming years and this or a successor site will also evolve to keep pace.

Purposes

• To support strategic planning regarding digital content formats, in order to ensure the long-term preservation of digital content by the Library of Congress, and
• To provide an inventory of information about current and emerging formats, including the identification of tools and detailed documentation that are needed to ensure that the Library of Congress can manage content created or received in these formats through the content life cycle, and
• To identify and describe the formats that are promising for long-term sustainability, and develop strategies for sustaining these formats including recommendations pertaining to the tools and documentation needed for their management.
• To identify and describe the formats that are not promising for long-term sustainability, and develop strategies for sustaining the content they contain.
• The overall analysis is part of the execution of the Library of Congress Digital strategic planning goal pertaining to the management and sustenance of digital content.”