Transcript Who Gives a Format? Adam Burt, Miles Metcalfe, Remmert de Vroome Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication.

Who Gives a
Format?
Adam Burt, Miles Metcalfe, Remmert de
Vroome
Ravensbourne College of Design and
Communication
Well, who does?
We do. We all do.
The amount of electronic data is
growing all the time.
Our goal is “data for the ages”.
Outline
Some Background;
What We Did - Our Experiences;
Some Insights - Our
Recommendations.
Some Background
The outputs of more and more
processes - including learning - no
longer exist beyond the digital
world.
Consideration of the impact of this
generally covers storage, recovery,
and security.
There’s another
problem
The choice of file format can have a
significant impact on the longevity of
digital information.
These choices are rarely made at
an institutional strategic level, as
most digital outputs are the product
of “functional” IT.
What we did
In the creative industries Ravensbourne’s specialism technical innovation has created a
plethora of file formats.
We established a college-wide
group of academics, technical tutors
and technicians to make
recommendations.
What we are doing
We aim to introduce a greater
component of elearning into our
curriculum.
We are revising our
recommendations accordingly away
from page-friendly to web-friendly.
Some Insights
Do not underestimate the challenge.
Don’t think you can bolt on reencoding for preservation. Build it in.
Seek consensus. Don’t work in
isolation. Involve the right people.
Always consider the difference
between preservation and intention.
Recommended
Approach
Don’t invent standards;
Use existing standards!
Is there free, open source software
for reading and writing the format?
Beware of DRM;
Think about licensing.
Useful side-effects
Moving the emphasis from particular
applications to particular file formats
empowers learners to choose
software tools that suit them.
Involving learners in producing and
managing archival material provides
them with valuable knowledge and
skills for the future.
Summary
Don’t delay - institutions need to
develop systematic, usable
approaches to storing digital
outputs.
Involve the right people.
Always consider the intention.
Into the Future
It’s interesting to speculate why so
little attention is paid to digital
formats - more research is needed.
Organisations like JISC and CETIS
can help.
Sector consensus may emerge
through publishing your
recommendations online.
Who Gives a
Format?