Sustainability of Digital Formats
Planning for Library of Congress Collections
Sustainability of Digital Formats
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| Introduction | Sustainability Factors | Content Categories | Format Descriptions | Contact | |
Content Categories >> Still Image | Sound | Textual | Moving Image | Web Archive
Sound >> Preferences in Summary
Table of Contents
• Device-independent digital sound recordings (waveform) • Note-based digital musical composition • Recorded books Device-independent digital sound recordings (waveform)Note: This sub-category concerns device-independent digital audio. For preferences regarding sound in physical formats intended for consumer audio equipment, see the Phonorecords section (p. 2) of the Best Edition circular (7b) from the U.S. Copyright Office.General Fidelity characteristics (bitstream encoding) should be used as the primary consideration; choice of file formats as secondary.
Note-based digital musical composition
Recorded booksGeneral This sub-category consists of recorded books of the types likely to be added to the Library's collections. Generally speaking, these are commercially published works added to the holdings of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division (M/B/RS); other recorded books are produced and archived by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at the Library of Congress. Current guidelines in M/B/RS limit selection to works read by their authors and other readings of exceptional interest. The baseline format preferences for recorded books are identical to those for device-independent digital sound recordings, as outlined above. The desired features for recorded books, however, include elements that are "beyond normal rendering" for other genres of sound. In a capable player, hardware or software, recorded book formats should support such end-user functions as bookmarking; automatic holding the last position (where play left off); display of time elapsed, time remaining, and the ability to go to a specified time; navigation to chapters, sections, or illustrations; display of descriptive information, e.g., title, name of author, name of narrator, name of chapter titles; and re-read capability (repeat last sentence or paragraph). Such support is offered by the DTB (Digital Talking Book) standard (ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2002). The DTB format can encompass a wide range of content elements, including marked-up text with no audio, audio and synchronized text, to audio with navigation control only. The latter structure, referred to as "audio with NCX only (Navigation Control)," is one form of DTB and ideal for stand-alone players. Similar navigation support is offered by formats like SMIL and will be offered by emerging standards from organizations like the Consumers Electronics Association and the Electronic Industries Alliance. The latter formats have not yet been documented at this Web site. |
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