Library

Here's a collection of articles related to the File Format problem, this project, or education about the type of endeavor this sort of project entails.

• Open letter to Microsoft on specs for obsolete file formats by Chris Rusbridge.
  • Reply from Microsoft
  • 2nd reply from Microsoft

• The PowerPoint 4.0 adventure: what did I learn? by Chris Rusbridge.
• Cleaning up the "Formats through Time" mess by David Rosenthal.
• What Could Possibly Go Wrong? by David Rosenthal
• Importing data is hard by Skud
• The Format Registry Problem by Gary McGath
• Files that Last: Digital Preservation for Everygeek by Gary McGath
• XFER STN FAQ by New Museum of Contemporary Art (info on their project to preserve artists' multimedia from archaic formats)
• Solving Problems and Saving Bits: An Interview with Jason Scott by Jefferson Bailey, for the Library of Congress blog
• The Mother of All Disruptions by Venkat (what he calls "soft technology" corresponds pretty well with what's called "file format" here)
• Disappearing Digital World by Rebecca E. “Becky” Briggs
• Process starts to select open standards for government documents (UK)
• Jason Scott speech at DISH 2013 (video)
• Genesis of a file format by Ross Spencer
• Digital failures are inevitable, but we need them to be graceful by Cory Doctorow
• The minimal principle: because being an open standard is not enough. by Bernhard Reiter
• What is the difference between text, data and code? by Björn Brembs
• Philosophy of Data Organization by Famicoman
• Saving old software from extinction in the age of cloud computing by Ron Amadeo
• What is a file format? (Discussion)
• Warning of data ticking time bomb (BBC News, 2007)
• Dark Archives by Tim Maly
• Nestor guidelines for preservation planning
• On File Formats, Very Briefly by Paul Ford
• Analysing File Formats in Web Archives in UK Web Archive Blog
• The Trouble With Tech or Why You Should Print Your Photos Else Risk Losing Them Forever
• Will You Be Able to Read this Article in 1,000 Years?
• Digital Preservation Handbook
• A Digital Dark Ages? Challenges in the Preservation of Electronic Information, by Terry Kuny (1997)
• What is the chemistry of digital preservation?, by Bertram Lyons (2016)
• National Digital Library of Finland file format guide