NDSA:PDF Exploration

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Title of Activity or Project

NDSA PDF/A-3 Scoping Project

One Sentence Description:

NDSA PDF/A-3 Scoping Project working group members will research the pros and cons of using the PDF/A-3 standard as an all-purpose wrapper for various digital asset/media types including: textual, audio, video, photo, and GIS data.

Statement of the Problem and Goals for Addressing the Problem:

It is unclear whether PDF/A-3, which was designed to accommodate supplementary media files for text documents, is appropriate as a de facto normalization wrapper format for all media types. The goal is to develop guidelines for the appropriate use of PDF/A-3 with respect to different media types that includes both detailed technical information and a practical quick reference guide for end-users.

Strategic Value of Activity:

• Improve understanding of best practices for using PDF/A-3 in digital preservation activities
• Enhance consistency and improve long-term viability of digitally preserved content
• Provide guidance to those considering PDF/A-3 as a long-term archiving format

Required Resources:

• Time of working group members
• Publishing venue(s)
• Communication channels

Roadmap:

1. Hold regular working group conference calls (monthly, between NDSA Standards WG calls)
2. Draft document and review
3. Invite broader NDSA member feedback
4. Publish document (digitalpreservation.gov, others?)

Dissemination of Knowledge:

• Publish report on digitalpreservation.gov
• Write a blog post
• Announce on NDSA member organization communication channels
• Present at conferences that members (and non-members?) are attending

Signifiers of Success and Outcomes:

• Completed guidelines document published on digitalpreservation.gov
• Guidelines document referenced on related Wikipedia pages
• Guidelines in use or recommended by NDSA participating organizations or others
• Others?

Questions to Ask and Answer

• Talk about background (what is pdf/a-3 and how is it different from earlier versions of PDF/A)
• Iterate categories of materials/use cases/concrete examples where it makes sense to use A-3 and other categories where it doesn't make sense. Example: if you're sending a video file don't put it in a PDF! If you had a certain kind of a journal article that had a static version of the spreadsheet in the doc but a malleable version embedded perhaps that argues for it.
• Risks to the format (scenarios in why this might be bad and why)
• Possibilities of the format (scenarios in why this might be good and why)

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Background Materials

• Library of Congress Sustainability of Digital Formats PDF/A-3 site
• Blog Post
• Ithaka article
• Caroline's document