[dpub-arch] Thoughts on DPUB Archiving

I wanted to send out some thoughts before the meeting…

My big starting thought is that I would consider PDF/A to be the logical comparable technology already in use (and legally mandated) around the world.  Because of the mandates around the world, we shouldn’t be trying to replace PDF/A but instead look to it for guidance to enable PWP to serve as the solution for archiving content based on the OWP (while PDF/A continues to address content in PDF).

I’ve enclosed a presentation I gave a few years ago that goes into a few key aspects of PDF/A that (IMO) we also need to address, as they are things that the archivists pushed on over the years.  Here are some notes on some of the key slides in the deck. (but please do read the whole thing)

Slide 3 – International standard.  At the end of the day, whatever we come up with needs to be standardized through a recognized SDO.  This is necessary in order to achieve wide adoption.  If we are only focused on certain industries, this may not be an issue.

Slides 6, 7 & 8 – The goal is to build a file format specification (and viewer spec, more on this in a sec).  It is NOT to build a complete archiving solution or workflow system.  You MUST assume/expect that some aspects of archiving are done outside the format – but may need to “coordinate” with the format.

Slides 9 & 11 – Some key points that were requirements from the first ever meeting of (what became) PDF/A.  Self-containment.  Accurate rendering.  Support for marginalia – metadata, annotations, etc.  No encryption/security/DRM

Slide 15 – You can’t just do this with a file format.  You also need to ensure that you have rules for how a viewer (UA, RS) will conform as well, so that there is no ambiguity about the presentation and/or interaction with the content.


Hope that gives folks some food for thought.

Leonard