What I like about PDF/A - skipping straight to the obtuse - is the PDF/A-3 variant. I like how you can store within one PDF/A-3 document not just a preservation rendition of a document, but also the original document (as an "attachment"), custom preservation metadata (using XMP), and even finding aids, audit trails, preservation history, anything else of importance for preservation (again, as attachments). This seems to me a hugely powerful preservation approach which has the unique virtue of simultaneously being usable for every day access.
What I don't like is that I may be in the minority on this! Much of the public sector preservation community dislikes this idea. With exceptions, they are not impressed by it. Partly this is because PDF/A is so unstable - with every new version there are yet more variations, PDF version issues and compliance levels. I get the impression that ISO has dug itself into a hole here by letting the standard development be led by commercial interests, or at least by giving that impression. And with every new version the hole gets deeper. There's also an issue that PDF/A-3 is perceived as "commercial", "not open source" (forgive my language) and generally "not invented here". None of these objections make complete technical sense; they are more "emotional" and would need to be addressed by a concerted communications campaign. But I don't hold my breath.
Finally, there is the real technical problem of the sheer complexity of the underlying PDF standard. It's massive (over 700 pages), and massively complex. Proving compliance is next to impossible, and that is a real problem. I know there are initiatives for test suites and corpora, and these need to be encouraged.
Marc Fresko
-----Original Message-----
From: The Information and Records Management Society mailing list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of A Shipman
Sent: 17 March 2015 17:42
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: PDF/A format
Hi all - I have a question, which I pose on behalf of the BSI committee responsible for input into the PDF format specification. I am attending a meeting of the international committee in late April where the next phases of development will be decided
So my question is:
What do you love or hate about PDF/A?
And as a supplementary - what would you like to see developed for PDF/A (and other PDF formats)?
I look forward to receiving a number of views, and perhaps a discussion on what the Records Management industry would like to see to improve Digital Continuity
Regards
Alan Shipman
Chairman - BSI IDT/1
Office: 01923-450527
Mobile: 07702-125265
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