Format policies

Main Page > Documentation > Format-specific preservation issues

Format	Preservation action plan	Issues and links
DOC (Microsoft Office Word)	Normalization to OpenDocument Format (ODF) using Xena Possible normalization to Portable Document Format/Archival (PDF/A).	See PRONOM: Microsoft Word for Windows Document for information about the format. For more information on the ODF format see PRONOM: OpenDocument Format. For more information on the PDF/A format see Library of Congress Sustainability of Digital Formats: PDF/A-1. A list of tools used to convert files to PDF format is available at Codswallop technology + productivity blog.
NEF (Nikon Electronic Format, also known as Nikon Image Format)	Possible normalization to Adobe Digital Negative (DNG) format	NEF is a raw (i.e. pre-processed) image format produced by Nikon cameras. Xena incorrectly guesses the file type as TIFF and normalizes as it would a TIFF, with the result that a very large file (e.g. 70 MB) is normalized to a very small one (eg. 250 KB) with considerable loss of data. Xena also removes embedded data added during image editing, converting the data to a separate XMP file. This means that any edits added by the creator are removed. NEF is a proprietary format with an unpublished specification. NEF files can be very large - 70 MB or more. PRONOM provides only outline information for NEF files: see PRONOM: Nikon Digital SLR Camera Raw Image File. Much more detailed information on NEF files is available at Library of Congress Sustainability of Digital Formats: Camera Raw Formats. Library of Congress states that Adobe Digital Negative (DNG), Version 1.1 may be emerging as a standard preservation format for raw camera images. Adobe provides a free (but not open-source) Adobe DNG Converter designed for downloading to Windows or Mac computers.