File Formats for
Digital Preservation
Fabian M. Suchanek
based on “
Best File Formats for Archiving
”
Pre-Digital Storage
How old is this?
2
Code Of Hammurabi
Pre-Digital Storage
And this?
3
St Cuthberg Gospel
Pre-Digital Storage
And this?
Can you still read it?
4
US Declaration of Independence
Digital Storage
5
Floppy Disk
And this?
Can you still read it?
Digital Storage
6
CD-ROM
And this?
Can you still read it?
Digital Media may be irrecoverable
7
Antiquity
Middle Ages
Modern times
# documents
Digital Dark Age
This poses problems
• for historians
• for society (legal problems)
• for the individual
(hypothetical graph, log scale)
Digital Media may be irrecoverable
8
Antiquity
Middle Ages
Modern times
# documents
Digital Dark Age
This poses problems
• for historians
• for society (legal problems)
• for the individual