File Format Endangerment Data

These data files support the paper "Managing File Format Endangerment in Digital Preservation Repositories: An Evidence-Based Approach" by Kyle Rimkus and Scott Witmer. The paper seeks to advance digital preservation theory and practice by presenting an evidence-based model for file format policy management within a repository. It details the results of an experiment at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign library, where the authors procured a random sample of files from their institution’s digital preservation repository and tested their ability to open said files using software specified in local policies. This sampling regime furnished a portrait of local preservation risk grounded not in nominal preferences for one format’s characteristics over another, but in empirical evidence of what types of files present genuine barriers to staff and patron access. This research resulted in meaningful diagnostic data on file format risk within the repository, and provides a new model for conducting repository audits of file format risk. The authors submitted the paper April 2016 to iPres 2016. If accepted, it will appear in conference proceedings in late 2016.Ope