ERPANET is pleased to announce its training seminar on 'File Formats for
Preservation'.

It will be held on 10-11 May 2004 at the Austrian National Library
(Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, ÖNB). Registration is now open at
www.erpanet.org.

__Co-Sponsors
Austrian National Library (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, ÖNB)
Digital Curation Centre (UK)

__Focus
File formats are a crucial layer, indeed a hinge between the bits in
storage and their meaningful interpretation. The proper access to and
display of content depends entirely on the ability to decipher the
respective bitstream, and consequently on precise knowledge about how the
information contained within is represented. Thus file formats are one of
the core issues of any digital preservation approach, and file format
obsolescence is a major challenge for anybody wanting to preserve digital
files.
The ERPANET Seminar aims at giving an overview on these issues and at
offering guidance based on practical experience. Requirements and best
practices for archival file formats will be discussed, and issues such as
file format registries and format validation will be treated.

__Who will benefit from attending?
This training seminar is aimed at all people who are dealing with file
format issues. These include practitioners in digital preservation from all
kind of organisations and institutions, decision-makers and other people
involved in choosing preservation file formats, and preservationists who
are facing file format challenges and are looking for first-hand
information and experience. In particular, people who want to exchange
their experience with colleagues from all over Europe and beyond should
consider attending.

We expect attendants to have basic familiarity with digital preservation
and file format issues. Please see the bibliography on the seminar webpage
at www.erpanet.org for some introductory reading.

__Programme outline
Monday 10 May:
Opening (8.30 a.m.)
General introduction
The role of file formats within the OAIS reference model
Requirements for archival file formats
File format registries
The ingestion process: format detection and format validation
Tuesday 11 May:
Best practices for archival formats: main characteristics of available
formats, practical experience in file format migration, maintenance and
use.
- Text formats
- Image formats
- Audiovisual formats
Closing (4 p.m.)

Both breakout groups and plenary sessions will provide ample occasion for
questions and discussion. ERPANET is also aiming at providing further
networking opportunities during lunch break and evening dinner. (Both
lunches and a seminar dinner are included in the seminar fee.)

__Venue
The seminar will be held in the Augustinertrakt (Augustine Wing) of the
Austrian National Library. More information about the ÖNB is available from
their website at http://www.onb.ac.at/index_eng.htm. ERPANET is very
grateful to the Austrian National Library for providing the venue for this
training event.

During the seminar, participants will have the opportunity to take part in
a guided tour of the ÖNB’s splendid Hall of State.

__Further information
The central information source is the seminar homepage at www.erpanet.org.
A briefing paper and extensive travel and accommodation information are
available from there, and a reading list will be posted soon. After the
event, the abstracts, papers, pictures, and the seminar report will be
accessible as well.

__Important travel information
The Austrian National Library has made arrangements with a number of hotels
and thus ERPANET can offer you special seminar rates, valid for bookings
until April 10. Please refer to the travel and accommodation information
sheet on the ERPANET website for the booking code and further information.
At any rate, since hotels in Vienna are usually overbooked in May we
strongly recommend you to book your hotel as early as possible.

__To register
The registration fee is 100 Euro. This comprises lunch at both seminar
days, as well as the seminar dinner on Monday evening. Refreshments will be
offered by the Austrian National Library.

Please register online at www.erpanet.org.
For additional information, please contact [log in to unmask]