Preserving data formats over time is crucial, as software becomes obsolete so rapidly and this obsolescence can lead to information being lost forever. We need to ensure there are ways & means to manage information so that the content is readable over time. One way of ensuring readability, is by using a preservation formats guideline which advises what data formats are acceptable for ongoing preservation, and what needs to be migrated from at risk formats.
This interactive document illustrates what formats pose a risk and what formats ‘at risk’ formats should be migrated to ensure proper preservation.
To begin, click on the Formats Listing button at the bottom of this screen. In the formats listing, find the format relevant to your needs and click on it. You will be taken to a page that details all at risk formats and provides advice about what they need to be migrated to. A full listing of the formats and recommendations can also be found here.
If you need and help using the guideline, or have questions about application of it’s recommendations please contact [email protected]
To view a list of formats click the formats listing below
Formats Listing
Formats Of Longevity & Preservation
Formats Of Longevity & PreservationPDF Formats
Project Management
Email Aggregates
Email Formats
Image Formats (rastor)
Encapsulation Formats
Digital Audio Formats
Word Processing / Textual Data
Image Formats (Vectors)
Geospatial File Formats
CAD / Technical Drawing Formats
Application DataDatabase / Dataset Formats
Spreadsheet Formats
Multimedia Formats / Digital Video
Presentation Formats
Web Formats Full Listing
PDF FormatsAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
PDF A3 or standard PDF formatPortable Document Format; PDF/A (A1 or A2) formats
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Project ManagementAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
Microsoft Project .mpp prior to 2000 Microsoft Project .mpp post 2000
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Word Processing / Textual DataAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
Word Processing, MS Word versions prior to 1997, .doc, .docxMicrosoftPublisher 2002 .prv
PDF A/1 & A2Plain Text .txtOpenDocument Text .odtMicrosoftOffice MS Word versions from 1997 to current time, .doc, .docx)eXtensible Mark-up Language .xmlPDF Portable Document Formats (Standard PDF)Electronic Publication .epubv3Unicode Text .Utf-8 & .Utf-16 ASCII Text (American Standard Code for Information Interchange Text)EBCDIC Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
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Encapsulation FormatsAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
None Compressed .zip files TARBagit
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Spreadsheet Formats At Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
Open Document Spreadsheets, MS Excel versions prior to 1997
Microsoft Excel versions from 1997 to current time, .xls, .xlsxOpen Document Format Spreadsheet .odsCommaSeperated Values .csv
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Presentation FormatsAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
MS PowerPoint versions prior to 1997 Corel Presentation .shwPDF A3
Portable Document Format .pdf -PDF/A1OpenDocument Presentation .odpMicrosoft PowerPoint versions from 1997 to current time Microsoft PowerPoint Office Open Xml Format .pptxPDF/A1 or A2
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E-mail FormatsAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
Emails converted to formats not in native program, that do not contain header information such as .doc or .rtf are not acceptable formats
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions MIME, .emlMicrosoftOutlook (.msg)
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E-mail AggregatesAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
NoneMBOX or .mbx for aggregations of emailMicrosoft Personal Folders .pst, for aggregations of email
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Image Formats (vector)At Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
Digital Negative .dngAbode Illustrator .aiEncapsulated Postscript .eps, .epsf
Joint Photographic Expert Group, JPEG (.jpg), .jpeg / .jfif, JPEG2000 (.jp2)Portable Network Graphics .pngTagged image (.tiff) Portable Document Format / Archival PDF A1 & A2Graphic Image File .gif from 2003EXIF Exchange Image File Format
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Image Formats (rastor)At Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
Graphic Image File .gif prior to 2003Photoshop .psd, .psbPDFA3BitMap .bmp
Joint Photographic Expert Group, JPEG (.jpg), .jpeg / .jfif, JPEG2000 (.jp2)Portable Network Graphics .pngTagged image (.tiff) Portable Document Format / Archival PDF A1 & A2Graphic Image File .gif from 2003EXIF Exchange Image File Format
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Database / Dataset FormatsAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
MySQL Database, Myi database index, Frm table format data, .myd, .myi. .frmdBase Table File Format . Dbf
Plain Text such as ASCII, EBCDIC, Unicode-based encodings (UTF-8, UTF-16)Open Document Format Spreadsheet .odseXtensible Mark-up Language .xmlMicrosoft Excel Open Office XML,.xlsxMicrosoft Excel Binary Document Format .xlsSIARD 2 . SiardMS Access .accdbJavaScriptObject Notation .JsonCommaSeperated Values .csv
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Web FormatsAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
Active Server Pages .asp, .aspxInternet Archive File Format .arc 1aHypertext Markup language (.xhtml) WebArchive WARC (.warc)eXtensibleMark-up language .xml
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CAD / Technical Drawing FormatsAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
Visio .vsd, .vsxExtensible 3D .x3dUniversal 3d .u3dProduct Representation Compact PRC
Computer aided design CAD used for Geometrical drawings .dxf Portable Document Format Engineering .pdf/e STEP Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data .stepAutodeskDrawing File .dwg
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Geospatial File FormatsAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
Esri Shape Compound files .shp, .shx, .dbf = Esri Shape files) prior to 1997Esri Arc / Info Interchange File Format .arcgisEnvironmental Systems Research Institute Esri Export .eooKeyhole Markup Language .kmlGeospatial Pdf .GeomapTerraGo.GeoPDFBand Interleaved by Line .bilBand Interleaved by Pixel .bipBandInterleaved by Sequence .bis, .bsqVector Product Standard .vpf
Geospatial Tagged Image File, GeoTiffGeographic Markup Language .gml
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Digital Audio FormatsAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
NoneWaveform Audio .wavBroadcast Wave
Format .bwfMPEG Audio Layer .mp3, .mp4Audio Interchange Formats .aiffFree Lossless Audio Codec .flac
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Multimedia / Digital Video FormatsAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
None
Digital Moving Picture Exchange Bitmap .dpx Motion JPEG 2000 (MJP2 or MJ2)MPEG Audio .mp3, .mp4, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 & MPEG-4QuickTime File Format .movAudio Video Interleaved Format .aviWindowsMedia Video 9 .wmvWaveform Audio .wavMaterial Exchange Format .mxfDigital Cinema Distribution Master .dcdm
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Application DataAt Risk Formats Action Preservation Format
None
Data formats to be confirmed & assessed. E.g. End Note Library .enl, .enw, .ens, enz, .enp, .enq, .ciw. It appears conversion may be available to .pdf or .doc or .docx data formats. However this is not confirmed.
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