Thanks! Does Adobe Professional work OK for creating PDF/a files in the first instance (eg converting from Word)? How about Adobe Standard (as I’m unlikely to be allowed to have Professional any more)? I’m worrying about all sorts of things now, like our office scanner for example which creates PDF files but I have no idea whether they are more or less archivally stable as the PDFs created by Adobe. I’m also thinking about this in terms of requiring third parties to submit reports to us in PDF/a format and how easy that would be for them to do.

 

Best wishes

Sylvina

-----Original Message-----
From: Issues related to Historic Environment Records [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jenny Mitcham
Sent: 01 November 2011 10:40
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Why PDF/A for HER's?

 

Good question!

 

We use Adobe Professional for our PDF to PDF/a conversions but it isn’t a reliable process and doesn’t always work. Each file has to be converted individually and some files which then ‘claim’ to be PDF/a turn out not to be once you attempt to verify them using Adobe Pro.

 

As this process is so time consuming, the ADS are just about to purchase a new bit of software which will make our lives a bit easier. It is called PDF/a Manager and is from a company called PDFTron. It is not cheap but because we do so much of this sort of work we can justify the expense for the time it should save us in the long term.

 

Hope this helps.

Jen

 

 

 

Hi Jenny

 

Thanks very much for this which gives much food for thought. A quick question that occurs to me is one about software. With our supposedly imminent IT refresh, which we are promised will bring us into the 21^st century (the first decade at least), we are under pressure to accept cheaper and/or lower spec software. Is there a preferred piece of software for creating PDF/a files?

 

Thanks

Sylvina

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Issues related to Historic Environment Records [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jenny Mitcham
Sent: 01 November 2011 10:24
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Why PDF/A for HER's?

 

Hi everyone,

 

At the ADS we have a fair bit of experience of dealing with PDF and PDF/a files (for our sins!). As some of you mention, the conversion of existing PDF files to PDF/a is not a trivial task ...and doesn’t always meet with success. I could write an essay on this subject but will spare you the details!

 

I would definitely recommend if you are creating new files and have the option to save as PDF/a instead of standard PDF then do so. It is much harder to go back and convert to PDF/a from a PDF file at a later date.

 

The current view in the world of digital archiving is that PDF/a files have a greater longevity than PDF files, therefore if you want data to be readable in the long term, PDF/a is a safer bet than PDF. I should also mention here that once you have a PDF/a file, this isn’t the end of the archival process. Continuous active management to ensure files are still readable needs to be carried out, as well as potential migrations into new formats to guard against obsolescence.

 

We have some PDF files (version 1.2) that were deposited with the ADS 10 years ago for the purpose of on-line dissemination, and a small percentage of these files are now unreadable due to corruptions, missing fonts and various other issues.  Fortunately at the time we received these files we were not happy with PDF as an archivally stable format so our preservation copies of this data were in another format and are still secure. We are currently going through the process of migrating these files to PDF/a for dissemination which we hope will last a bit longer. Ten years is a long time in the world of digital preservation so do not assume your files from 10 years ago will still be readable!

 

In answer to Sylvina’s question, current files that come into the grey literature library via OASIS are converted to PDF/a for both preservation and dissemination. Older files may not be PDF/a at present but we will have a preservation copy in a suitable format stored behind the scenes.

 

For more information on preserving documents using PDF, the following report from the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) may be useful to you if you have not come across it already:

http://www.dpconline.org/component/docman/doc_download/86-preserving-the-data-explosion-using-pdf

 

I hope this helps.

All the best,

Jen

 

 

_________________________________________________

Jenny Mitcham
Digital Archivist
Archaeology Data Service
Room G08
The King's Manor
York
YO1 7EP
UK
phone +44 (0)1904-323967
fax   +44(0)1904-323939

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Hi Nick/Crispin

 

My thinking here is that we have certainly a responsibility to retain and curate any material that is of relevance to our work as a local authority, however realistically speaking this material will also be subject to our authority’s retention and disposal policy. As we are not actually an archive I think I will struggle to make the case for increasing digital storage capacity ad infinitum to store items beyond the timescale that we as a planning authority would be retaining planning casework. Therefore in the long term I would be ideally looking to establish and maintain links with material that is being properly curated by a recognised digital repository, that would be ADS or RCAHMS I guess. I would possibly be looking to link to reports held in the ADS grey literature library, for example, rather than permanently retaining our own digital copy. It would be good to know if the ADS is planning to convert all the grey literature library contents into PDF/A?

 

I also need to think about whether in the long-long term we look at archiving our older material with someone like the ADS and linking back to it from the active HER records. However until the digital archives held by other organisations are a whole lot more accessible and flexible I see no option but to retain everything here at the council. This is currently all in my head but it is something that is of increasing concern as we get deeper into the digital age and the realities of storing and curating all this digital material become ever more apparent.

 

Cheers

Sylvina

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Issues related to Historic Environment Records [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Crispin Flower
Sent: 01 November 2011 09:11
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Why PDF/A for HER's?

 

Hi Nick

In relation to your comment “We are not archives (or at least I don't think we are)” – yes this tends to be how SMR/HERs have thought of themselves, but remember there is another dimension here, i.e. the local authority also has responsibilities to retain and manage any documentation in relation to its work. And that is increasingly digital. Perhaps any reports and archive from fieldwork undertaken to discharge a planning condition or pre-app requirement of the planning authority comes into this sphere? I don’t know enough detail about the exact responsibilities and legal frameworks here – anyone?

Cheers

Crispin

 

 

 

Hi guys

 

way back in March 2010 there was a bit of a discussion about PDF A on this list (see the archives).

 

I have finally got a round to looking at this a bit and want to re-open old sores…

 

My key question is how important is it for HER's to ensure the digital files we hold are in PDF A format?

 

We are not archives (or at least I don't think we are) and our role is to provide information and sources of information to people, whilst not necessarily having all of those sources of information within our office.

 

Yes we all have collections and want to look after them as best we can, but how many HER paper files are stored in archivally stable circumstances? So why should digital files be different?

 

With that in mind, what would have to actually happen for the PDF files I have now to be unreadable? And how likely is that? And when we work out the risk, how much effort is it worth me putting into preparing for that eventuality, when in theory most of this will be archived somewhere else as part of a site archive (I am mainly thinking PPG16/PPS5/NHPP related GL reports)

 

I am not advocating one thing or another, just asking an honest question and interested in any thoughts about some of the technical issues and peoples views, before I spend a lot of time and effort trying to convert all our PDF's

 

tar

 

best wishes

 

Nick Boldrini

 

Historic Environment Record Officer

Durham County Council

Tel: 0191 3708840

Fax: 0191 3708897

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