Characterisation

Adrian Brown

The National Archives, UK

Overview

• Develop tools and services to characterise the significant properties of digital objects, to support:– Development of preservation plans– Validation of preservation actions (evaluating

change)

• The subproject considers:– Representation properties– Inherent properties

Aims & Objectives

• To deliver:– Methodologies for describing significant

properties– Tools and services for automating

measurement and comparison of these properties

– Recommendations for improving the preservation characteristics of digital object types

Aims & Objectives

Achievements (Year 1)

• Characterisation registry

• Property description and extraction methodology and tools

• Characterisation tool framework

Characterisation registry

• First iteration registry (bringing PRONOM to its next generation)

• Persistent Unique Identifier scheme for registry information

• Support for registry-driven characterisation tool framework

Describing and extracting characteristics

• Extensible Characterisation Description Language (XCDL)

• Extensible Characterisation Extraction Language (XCEL)

Migrator

tiff

png

Extractor

tiff XCEL png XCEL

... XCEL... XCEL

Comparer

png XCDL

tiff XCDL

93%

XCDL & XCEL

XCDL/XCEL tools

• Command line interface for extractor

• Preliminary specification for comparator

• GUI for extractor experiments

GUI example

Characterisation tool framework

• Registry-driven framework for automated deployment of tools

• Initial tools implemented:– DROID– JHOVE– Java POI (MS Office documents)– JAXP (XML validation)

Planned activities (Year 2)

• Final XC*L specifications

• Characterisation registry (iteration 2)

• Representation Information Registries White Paper

• XCDL extraction tool

• Characterisation tool wrapper specification

• Emerging technologies report

Thank you!