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Registration is open for a DPC 'Day of Action: Collaborative approaches to managing File Formats' 28th January 2013, Wellcome Trust Conference Centre, Euston Road, London Making sense of the contents of files - especially large numbers of files in diverse formats - is a persistent and ubiquitous challenge for those undertaking digital preservation. Understanding how information is packaged, transmitted and processed is essential for ensuring that it can remain intelligible through time. Understanding the intricacies of files can be a daunting and intricate exasperating task, but it is also an obvious candidate for informed collaboration. There have been numerous initiatives in the last decade designing, developing and refining tools and registries that help us to understand the behaviour of files, and some of these are now plugged directly into the architectures of numerous repositories and archives already. Members will be invited to bring their problem files with them: * Examples of files they can't identify the format of * Examples of files that are consistently charactrerised wrongly * Examples of files where the characterisation is accurate but so imprecise as to inhibit effective preservation * Examples of concrete digital preservation challenges which become evident after characterisation (including images of bad files or files that have become corrupted etc) * Files that exhibit the digital preservation challenges * Examples of exotic digital files * Examples of file formats that wrap contents of multiple file types This DPC 'Day of Action' will introduce a range of recent initiatives in this domain and it will provide a focussed burst of activity which will be of benefit to all with an interest in digital preservation. Participants will be invited to bring problem files with them, and to work with experts in the field to catalogue problems and develop tools to help characterise and manage them. Participants will * Be updated on a range of recent activities in file characterisation and format registries * Have an opportunity to support the development of file format registries * Be shown how to develop and supply signature information for characterisation * Encourage collaboration on shared challenges in managing diverse or 'problem' files * Contribute to a wide ranging discussion about strategic needs For more details including registration see: http://www.dpconline.org/events/details/51-file-formats-day-of-action?xref=54 -- Dr William Kilbride FSA Executive Director Digital Preservation Coalition @WilliamKilbride 44 (0)141 330 4522 http://www.dpconline.org/ [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and may be privileged. If you have received this message in error, please notify us and remove it from your system. The contents of this e-mail must not be disclosed or copied without the sender's consent and does not constitute legal advice. We cannot accept any responsibility for viruses, so please scan all attachments. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the DPC. Registered Office, Innovation Centre, University Way, York Science Park, Heslington, YORK YO10 5DG Registered in England No: 4492292