Re: SVG as an archival format?

Holly,

Possibly an odd answer. You might be aware of the work we did, funded by
JISC, on preserving vector images. Unsurprisingly we are fans of SVG for
this purpose and did look at some sample images from ADS. The report is
available at
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/preservation/vector_images.pdf
and
a paper at SVG Open in 2008
http://www.svgopen.org/2008/papers/40-SVG_and_the_Preservation_of_Vector_Images/
.

One nice property of SVG is that since it is XML and very well-documented,
if generators and viewers were to demise in the future, one would still
have a good basis from which to migrate to whatever might emerge in the
future as an open standard for transfer of vector graphics.

David

Prof David Duce
Department of Computing and Communication Technologies
Oxford Brookes University
OXFORD
OX33 1HX


On 8 January 2013 12:09, Holly Wright <holly.wright@york.ac.uk> wrote:

> Hello all
>
> I have a bit of (what may be) an odd question for the group. I've been
> following the development of SVG as part of my continued assessment of its
> usefulness within archaeology for some time (topic of my MSc, etc.), but I
> now find myself working for the national archive for archaeological data in
> the UK, and unsurprisingly, am becoming interested in the potential of SVG
> as an archival format for archaeological data.
>
> As much of archaeology is a destructive process, the documentation created
> during excavation becomes the primary data source, and must therefore be
> preserved for future use. Much of the documentation is in the form of field
> drawings, which are often digitised in vector format. To my mind, SVG is an
> optimal archival format, being non-proprietary, a W3C recommendation, and
> allowing much of the functionality in the original drawings to be preserved.
>
> My reason for contacting the group is to ask what you all think about the
> future of SVG as an archival format for preservation and forward migration.
> The only real concern I see at this point is far more applications which
> support SVG output than input (we are most interested in compatibility with
> CAD and GIS applications), but if there are other issues or future trends I
> should be aware of, I would be most grateful to hear about them as we move
> forward in making policy decisions about its use within our organisation.
>
> Many thanks!
>
> Holly
>
>
> --
> Dr Holly Wright
> Archaeology Data Service
> Department of Archaeology
> University of York
> The King's Manor
> York
> YO1 7EP
>
> Tel: +44 1904 323967
> Fax: +44 1904 323939
> Email: holly.wright@york.ac.uk
>
> http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/
> http://www.york.ac.uk/
>
> UoY disclaimer: http://www.york.ac.uk/docs/disclaimer/email.htm
>



-- 
--
Professor David Duce
Department of Computing and Communication Technologies
Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment
Oxford Brookes University
Wheatley Campus
OXFORD
OX33 1HX
UK