IDeA Format Support Policy

IDeA wishes to provide support for as many file formats as possible. Over time, items stored in IDeA will be preserved as is, using a combination of time-honored techniques for data management and best practices for digital preservation. Some specific formats, however, are proprietary in nature and make it impossible to guarantee future usability. Put simply, our policy for file formats is:

• Everything put in IDeA will be retrievable. “Retrievable” means “the file can be downloaded from IDeA”.
• IDeA will automatically recognize as many files' formats as possible and assign the appropriate Support category.
• IDeA will support as many known file formats as possible based on current data management and digital preservation standards and best practices.

When a file is uploaded to IDEA, it is assigned one of the following Support categories:*

1. Supported
• IDeA fully supports the format. "Support" means "every reasonable effort will be made to maintain future usability through whatever techniques (such as migration, emulation, etc.) is appropriate given the context of need".
• For supported formats, IDeA might choose to bulk-transform files from a current format version to a future one to maintain usability. “Usability” means the file can be opened, viewed and/or executed. But IDEA cannot predict which services will be necessary in the future, so will continually monitor formats and techniques to ensure IDeA can accommodate needs as they arise.
2. Known
• IDeA can recognize the format, but cannot guarantee full support as previously defined.
3. Unsupported
• IDeA cannot recognize a format; these will be listed as "application/octet-stream", aka Unknown.

* File formats, and format Support Category assignments, will be annually reviewed. Adjusted may be made based on technical and resource considerations or needs.

IDeA can choose to "support" a format if IDEA can gather enough documentation to capture how the format works. Documentation and format information collection includes file specifications, descriptions, and samples. IDEA lists format Support category assignments in the IDEA Format Reference Collection below.

Proprietary formats for which these materials are not publicly available cannot be supported in IDeA (e.g. Microsoft). IDeA will preserve these files, maintain “retrievability” and will provide Communities with guidance on converting files into supported formats (e.g. PDF). It is also likely that for extremely popular but proprietary formats (such as Microsoft .doc, .xls, and .ppt), IDeA will be able to help make these formats usable in the future simply because their prevalence makes it likely tools will be available. Even so, IDeA cannot guarantee this level of service, so will still list these formats as "known" - not "supported".

What to do if your format isn't recognized

IDeA understands that there are always more formats to consider, and would appreciate your help in identifying and studying the suitability of support for formats you care about. If IDeA can't identify a format, it will be recorded "unknown", aka "application/octet-stream"; but IDeA would like to keep the percentage of supported format materials within the repository as high as possible. We encourage Communities to contact us with any questions or concerns.

IDeA Format Reference Collection

In the table below, MIME type is the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type identifier; for more information on MIME, see the MIME RFCs or the MIME FAQ. Description is what most people use as the name for the format. Extensions are typical file name extensions (the part after the dot, e.g. the extension for "index.html" is "html"). These are not case-sensitive in IDeA, so either "sample.XML" or "sample.xml" will be recognized as XML. Level is IDeA's support level for each format:

MIME type	Description	Extensions	Level
application/marc	MARC	marc, mrc	supported
application/pdf	Adobe PDF	pdf	supported
application/postscript	Postscript	ps, eps, ai	supported
audio/x-aiff	AIFF	aiff, aif, aifc	supported
image/gif	GIF	gif	supported
image/jpeg	JPEG	jpeg, jpg	supported
image/png	PNG	png	supported
image/tiff	TIFF	tiff, tif	supported
text/html	HTML	html, htm	supported
text/plain	Text	txt	supported
text/richtext	Rich Text Format	rtf	supported
text/xml	XML	xml	supported
application/mathematica	Mathematica	ma	known
application/msword	Microsoft Word	doc	known
application/sgml	SGML	sgm, sgml	known
application/vnd.ms-excel	Microsoft Excel	xls	known
application/vnd.ms-powerpint	Microsoft Powerpoint	ppt	known
application/vnd.ms-project	Microsoft Project	mpp, mpx, mpd	known
application/vnd.visio	Microsoft Visio	vsd	known
application/wordperfect5.1	WordPerfect	wpd	known
application/x-dvi	TeXdvi	dvi	known
application/x-filemaker	FMP3	fm	known
application/x-latex	LateX	latex	known
application/x-photoshop	Photoshop	psd, pdd	known
application/x-tex	TeX	tex	known
audio/basic	audio/basic	au, snd	known
audio/x-mpeg	MPEG Audio	mpa, abs, mpeg	known
audio/x-pn-realaudio	RealAudio	ra, ram	known
audio/x-wav	WAV	wav	known
image/x-ms-bmp	BMP	bmp	known
image/x-photo-cd	Photo CD	pcd	known
video/mpeg	MPEG	mpeg, mpg, mpe	known
video/quicktime	Video Quicktime	mov, qt	known
application/octet-stream	Unknown	(anything not listed)	unsupported