Top of page

Category: Formats

Screenshot from introduction page for the Library of Congress' Recommended Formats Statement.

Recommended Formats Statement: Updates for 2024-2025

Posted by: Liz Holdzkom

The Library of Congress has published the 2024-2025 Recommended Formats Statement. Updates, all captured in a Change Log, include support for digital accessibility features as a criterion for evaluating digital formats, an FAQ to address user feedback and adjustments to preferred and accepted formats across multiple content categories.

Screenshot of the "Documenting Accessibility Features" webpage that describes the work that the Formats team did to document Accessibility Feature information in FDDs.

More Formats and More About Formats: New Entries, Format Accessibility Features and Other Updates

Posted by: Liz Holdzkom

This post is the most recent in a series about file format research for the Sustainability of Digital Formats site at the Library of Congress, including many new format descriptions across multiple content categories. In addition, the post provides details about a new effort to document digital accessibility features in formats included in the Recommended Formats Statement.

Graphic of a word cloud that shows keywords for FDDs

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Data Points: Visualizing File Format Data

Posted by: Liz Holdzkom

Technologist Ashley Blewer is using the format description document XML files to gather data across all FDDs. She has pulled this data into data visualization tools which allow us to see what categories our FDDs fall into and how many FDDs are being updated (by category, each year). These visualizations help the formats team to identify issues and streamline internal review and update processes.

Screenshot from FFV1/MKV test file, with timecode and caption indicating material produced by the Library of Congress.

Embracing FFV1 in Matroska Container as a “Preferred Format” in the RFS

Posted by: Liz Holdzkom

The digital preservation landscape is ever-evolving, and the Library of Congress has recently made a significant update to its Recommended Formats Statement (RFS), to upgrade FFV1 (version 3) in Matroska (.mkv) container from an "Acceptable Format" to one of five "Preferred Formats" for the preservation and long-term access of video materials, reflecting its ongoing commitment to staying at the forefront of audiovisual preservation.

Ensuring Enduring Access to eBooks: Update on Recent Research and Analysis

Posted by: Carlyn Osborn

Today’s guest post is from Andrew Cassidy-Amstutz, Kate Murray, Marcus Nappier, Camille Salas, and Trevor Owens of the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress recently completed a project to analyze the technical characteristics of a substantial set of eBook and eJournal files in the permanent collection and available for onsite access in Stacks, the …

Members of the FADGI AudioVisual Working Group pose in a conference room with virtual attendees appearing on the screen behind them.

Getting the Band Back Together: Recap of FADGI Audiovisual Working Group Meeting

Posted by: Tracee Haupt

Today’s guest post is from Kate Murray, Digital Projects Coordinator in Digital Collections Management and Services and Charles Hosale at American Folklife Center, both from the Library of Congress. I have said more than once that ‘FADGI’, pronounced ‘fah-gee’ and short for the Federal Agencies Digital  Guidelines Initiative, is a terrible acronym (Charles quips “Hey, …