IUPUIScholarWorks Format Support Policy

IUPUIScholarWorks wishes to provide support for as many file formats as possible. Over time, items stored in IUPUIScholarWorks will be preserved as is, using a combination of time-honored techniques for data management and best practices for digital preservation. Some specific formats, however, are proprietary in nature and make it impossible to guarantee future usability. Put simply, our policy for file formats is:

• Everything put in IUPUIScholarWorks will be retrievable. “Retrievable” means “the file can be downloaded from IUPUIScholarWorks ”.
• IUPUIScholarWorks will automatically recognize as many files' formats as possible and assign the appropriate Support category.
• IUPUIScholarWorks will support as many known file formats as possible based on current data management and digital preservation standards and best practices.

When a file is uploaded to IUPUIScholarWorks , it is assigned one of the following Support categories:*

1. Supported
• IUPUIScholarWorks fully supports the format. "Support" means "every reasonable effort will be made to maintain future usability through whatever techniques (such as migration, emulation, etc.) is appropriate given the context of need".
• For supported formats, IUPUIScholarWorks might choose to bulk-transform files from a current format version to a future one to maintain usability. “Usability” means the file can be opened, viewed and/or executed. But IUPUIScholarWorks cannot predict which services will be necessary in the future, so will continually monitor formats and techniques to ensure IUPUIScholarWorks can accommodate needs as they arise.
2. Known
• IUPUIScholarWorks can recognize the format, but cannot guarantee full support as previously defined.
3. Unsupported
• IUPUIScholarWorks cannot recognize a format; these will be listed as "application/octet-stream", aka Unknown.

* File formats, and format Support Category assignments, will be annually reviewed. Adjusted may be made based on technical and resource considerations or needs.

IUPUIScholarWorks can choose to "support" a format if IUPUIScholarWorks can gather enough documentation to capture how the format works. Documentation and format information collection includes file specifications, descriptions, and samples. IUPUIScholarWorks lists format Support category assignments in the IUPUIScholarWorks Format Reference Collection below.

Proprietary formats for which these materials are not publicly available cannot be supported in IUPUIScholarWorks (e.g. Microsoft). IUPUIScholarWorks will preserve these files, maintain “retrievability” and will provide Communities with guidance on converting files into supported formats (e.g. PDF). It is also likely that for extremely popular but proprietary formats (such as Microsoft .doc, .xls, and .ppt), IUPUIScholarWorks will be able to help make these formats usable in the future simply because their prevalence makes it likely tools will be available. Even so, IUPUIScholarWorks cannot guarantee this level of service, so will still list these formats as "known" - not "supported".

What to do if your format isn't recognized

IUPUIScholarWorks understands that there are always more formats to consider, and would appreciate your help in identifying and studying the suitability of support for formats you care about. If IUPUIScholarWorks can't identify a format, it will be recorded "unknown", aka "application/octet-stream"; but IUPUIScholarWorks would like to keep the percentage of supported format materials within the repository as high as possible. We encourage Communities to contact us with any questions or concerns.

IUPUIScholarWorks Format Reference Collection

In the table below, MIME type is the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type identifier; for more information on MIME, see the MIME RFCs or the MIME FAQ. Description is what most people use as the name for the format. Extensions are typical file name extensions (the part after the dot, e.g. the extension for "index.html" is "html"). These are not case-sensitive in IUPUIScholarWorks , so either "sample.XML" or "sample.xml" will be recognized as XML. Level is IUPUIScholarWorks's support level for each format: