Jenny Mitcham wrote on 01/08/2012 09:44:
>On the subject of Word docx files. I would argue that these are fine
>as a preservation format, so long as there is a process of continuous
>active management within the digital archive and the opportunity to
>convert to another suitable format as time passes (with appropriate
>checks to ensure the significant properties of the document are
>maintained through subsequent migrations ...that is perhaps the tricky
>bit!).
On that note, are there any studies on the robustness of the DocX format? I recall Volker Heydegger's warning that compression increases the likelihood of rendering errors occurring when accessing still images with a low level of bit loss (http://old.hki.uni-koeln.de/people/herrmann/forschung/heydegger_archiving2008_40.pdf). A blog posting by a Microsoft developer suggests that the zip compressed format is recoverable (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/brian_jones/archive/2005/06/02/424613.aspx), but I'm sure I recall this claim being critiqued (perhaps as part of the PLANETS or CASPAR projects).
Gareth
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Gareth Knight
Research Data Management Project Manager
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT
Email: (+44) 020 7927 2564
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