All Risk is Local: File Format Risk Assessment In Two U.S. Government Contexts

Evaluating file formats is an integral component of risk assessment for digital content. Understanding a file from a technical standpoint is important but equally so is understanding the institution’s ability to preserve it for the long term. In other words, all risk is local. But how to assess that risk in a meaningful and consistent way across widely diverse collections? There is no one size fits all approach. Instead, institutions of all sizes can assess format risk in a manner that is appropriate for their organization. Two U.S. federal government agencies, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the Library of Congress discuss their approaches to risk assessment through digital file format assessment including the similarities and differences in their approaches, which were designed to meet the different goals of their institutions. The Library of Congress utilizes a number of mechanisms including the Recommended Formats Statement, which has a defined and publicly available evaluation criteria matrix, as well as research from the Sustainability of Digital Formats. NARA issues Transfer Guidance that identifies preferred and acceptable file formats for the transfer of permanent records for preservation, as well as guidance for federal records managers about specific categories of records, such as email or social media. NARA’s guidance is based on a risk assessment process for individual versions of formats, which is shared publicly through the NARA Digital Preservation Framework. Both NARA and Library of Congress’ approaches were born from a shared framework which diverged over time to meet each institution’s goals and needs.