Applied Mathematics and Mechanics Digital Preservation Strategy

  • Share:
Visited: 

Applied Mathematics and Mechanics(AMM) is committed to providing long-term access to the digital content they collect and curate. AMM recognizes that collaborative approaches to preserving digital content are essential. AMM works with Chongqing Jiaotong University’s Information Technology Centre and Beijing Magtech Science &Techology Development Co.Ltd to provide secure storage and backup of locally hosted digital content. AMM adheres to best practices for digital preservation to insure data accessibility, fixity and usability.

Preservation Support Levels

Digital objects are assigned a persistent identifier to provide persistent access. Secure storage and backup services are provided for all digital content. AMM will take reasonable steps to ensure the usability of the digital objects placed in the local hosts in Chongqing Jiaotong University’s Information Technology Centre. Preservation steps include format migration, emulation, and normalization (actions that convert an unsupported format to a supported format). The preservation steps performed by AMM is determined by the file format of the digital objects. More extensive actions will be taken to preserve the usability of objects in file formats that are open, fully disclosed, well documented, widely adopted, and most accessible for migration, emulation, or normalization actions. Fewer actions will be taken to preserve usability of file formats that are proprietary and/or undocumented, and those that are considered working formats (e.g., Photoshop .psd) and/or are not widely adopted. The support levels indicated below are:

Bit-Level — AMM commits to maintaining the files on the level of ones and zeroes, but not to maintaining format integrity. This level of support is generally assigned to proprietary formats.

Format —AMM commits to maintaining bitstream and format integrity. This level of support is generally assigned to formats (proprietary or not) for which open standards are available. For instance, if PDF as a format changes substantially, we will endeavor to convert all of our PDF bitstreams to the latest version. One exception to this is HTML, which changes so relatively frequently that the Libraries do not have the resources to ensure format integrity in its case.

File Support and Preservation Best Practices

The following table details AMM’s preservation support levels for commonly used file formats. Best practices for file formats are included.

TEXT AND MICROSOFT OFFICE FILE FORMATS

Format

File

Support Level

Best Practices

HTML

.html, .htm

Bit-Level

Must include all other referenced files, including CSS files and any includes.

Microsoft Word

.doc

Bit-Level

Though acceptable for deposit, the best practice is to convert to PDF prior to deposit.

Microsoft PowerPoint

.ppt

Bit-Level

Disable all macros and other effects. Conversion to PDF is also an excellent option.

Microsoft Exel

.xls

Bit-Level

Disable all macros. You may also wish to export dataset into a tab-delimited text file (.txt) prior to deposit.

PDF

.pdf

Format

Postscript

.ps

Format

Rich Text

.rtf

Bit-Level

For increased support, you may wish to consider conversion to PDF.

Plain Text

.txt

Format

It is recommended that .txt files be saved using UTF-* (Unicode) character set.

SGML

.sgm, .sgml

Bit-Level

Requires that the depositor also include the DTD along with the SGML file.

XML

.xml

Bit-Level

To ensure the best available support, include the DTD along with a well-formed XML file that is valid according to the included DTD.

IMAGE FILE FORMATS

Format

File

Support Level

Best Practices

BMP

.bmp

Bit-Level

GIF

.gif

Format

JPEG

.jpg

Format

When possible save using no compression.

JPEG2000

.jp2

Bit-Level

This file format holds much potential once tools and support become more widely available. Best practice is to save master files using no compression.

PNG

.png

Format

Photo CD

.pcd

Bit-Level

Photoshop

.psd

Bit-Level

TIFF

.tif, .tiff

Format

Considered the best format for storing your master images. Best practice is to save these files with no compression.

AUDIO FILE FORMATS

Format

File

Support Level

Best Practices

MPEG audio

.mp3

Bit-Level

Real Audio

.ra, .rm,

.ram

Bit-Level

Proprietary format. It may be appropriate to convert to another format prior to deposit.

Wave

.wav

Format

Recommended format for capturing digital audio. This format can store all the data in an uncompressed format and its wide use suggests long-term community support.

Windows

.wma

Bit-Level

VIDEO FILE FORMATS

Format

File

Support Level

Best Practices

AVI

.avi

Bit-Level

MPEG-1

.mp1

Bit-Level

MPEG-2

.mp2

Bit-Level

MPEG-4

.mp4

Bit-Level

Quicktime

.mov

Bit-Level

Windows Media Video

.wmv

Bit-Level

  • Share:
Visited: