Digital Preservation Coalition

Media and Formats - Summary Recommendations

Media

• Keep store and access areas free of smoke, dust, dirt and other contaminants.
• Store magnetic media away from strong magnetic fields.
• Transport magnetic media in enclosures with space clearances of 50 mm.
• Store in a cool, dry, stable and secure environment (see Storage and Preservation).
• Acclimatise media before use.
• Use high quality media and devices.
• Keep access devices well maintained and clean.
• Do not place labels on optical disks and/or mark using a pen or pencil.
• Follow manufacturers' recommendations for labelling.
• Minimise handling and use of archival media and/or record number of accesses/use and implement appropriate refreshing.
• Write archival copies from different devices and software.
• Make archive copies to comparable media purchased from different suppliers.

File formats

• Use "open" non-proprietary, well-documented file formats wherever possible.
• Alternatively utilise file formats which are well-developed, have been widely adopted and are de facto standards in the marketplace.
• Identify formats acceptable for the purposes of transfer, storage and distribution to users (these may be distinct).
• Minimise the number of file formats to be managed as far as is feasible/desirable.
• Do not use encryption or compression for archival files if possible.

Technology watch

• Undertake a retrospective survey of digital holdings, a risk assessment and action plan.
• Implement a process of technology watch and/or implement procedures for standardisation and changes in technology in your IS strategy.
• Maintain a list of hardware/software available within the institution and use this to flag implications for technology change and hardware/software replacement/retention.
• Ensure you have good preservation metadata in a computerised catalogue which can form the basis for technology watch and monitoring.
• Consider "digital archaeology" to retrieve access to data in obsolete formats.