ODF. Our Document Future?

The OpenDocument Format in XML is an important milestone for data. From clay tablets to papyrus, from the printing press to the typewriter and on to the personal computer, we have seen a steady progression of the means of recording, storing and transmitting human thought and history. We call this information technology.

What does XML and the OpenDocument format mean for people working in the field of digital preservation. How can governments and business preserve their precious information for the future?

We find ourselves crying out for a means of sharing information, not only between people and across time, but also between machines and across networks and space. We don’t want to retype, reprocess and reformat in endless permutations. We do want to read these files in the distant future. Not just 5, 50, or 500 years but possibly 5000 years and so on to the end of time.

But there are no guarantees. Scientists were unable to get data off tapes from the 1976 Viking landings on Mars because it was in an unknown format. All was not lost as they tracked down printouts and hired students to retype everything. The BBC have discovered their 1986 Digital Domesday project almost irretrievable, yet the priceless original Domesday book from 1086 is still perfectly legible. Digital Preservation is a big deal.

The National Archive of Australia was one of the first Government Agencies to actively pursue XML formats for the purposes of digital preservation. The NAA was one of the founding members of the OASIS Technical Committee which would go on to standardize the open XML file format for office applications based on the OpenOffice.org file format. The National Archive have continued their efforts with the development of Open Source Projects Xena, Quest and DPR.

This user focussed presentation reports on Australia’s contributions to Digital Preservation efforts, Open Data and the Open Source ecosphere as well as a look at how the OpenDocument format is being implemented across Australia.