Submit Feedback to the Library of Congress

We encourage you to submit feedback to contribute to this years update of the Library of Congress Recommended Format Specificiations. The Library of Congress website lists full details

From Deborah Thomas at the Library of congress,

The Library of Congress is actively soliciting feedback on its Recommended Format Specifications for the next update, which will be issued this summer.  The Recommended Format Specifications describe the hierarchies of the physical and technical characteristics of creative formats, both analog and digital, which will best maximize the chances for preservation and continued accessibility of creative content.  Creators and publishers have also begun to employ a wide array of intangible digital formats, as well as continuing to change and adapt the physical formats in which they work.  The Library needs to be able to identify the formats which are suitable for large-scale acquisition and preservation for long-term access if it is to continue to build its collection and ensure that it lasts into the future.

The Specifications are organized into six basic categories of creative output:

·         Textual Works and Musical Compositions

·         Still Image Works

·         Audio Works

·         Moving Image Works

·         Software and Electronic Gaming

·         Learning and Datasets/Databases 

 

These categories represent significant parts of the publishing, information, and media industries, especially those that are rapidly adopting digital production and are central to building the Library’s collections. Technical teams were formed with experts from across the institution bringing specialized knowledge in technical aspects of preservation, ongoing access needs and developments in the marketplace and in the publishing world. These teams were established to identify recommended formats for each of these categories and to establish hierarchies of preference among the formats within them.