Standards and formats
From Digipedia
Overview
The British Standards Institution definition of a standard is:
A standard is a published specification that establishes a common language, and contains a technical specification or other precise criteria and is designed to be used consistently, as a rule, a guideline, or a definition. Standards are applied to many materials, products, methods and services. They help to make life simpler, and increase the reliability and the effectiveness of many goods and services we use.
A standards-based approach to digital content creation will ensure that the content produced is as widely useful, portable and sustainable as possible. These qualities are encapsulated within the notion that resources (and the mechanisms through which resources are accessed) should be interoperable and can be re-purposed by others.
The key to such interoperability is to ensure consistency of approach to the creation, management and delivery of digital resources through the effective use of standards, the rules and guidelines that codify good practice. Digitisation programmes already recognise the value of standards, and the adoption of a shared set of technical standards and guidelines is often a first step in seeking to ensure conformity within a programme. The role of standard in content creation is considered in depth in sections 1.2 and 1.3 of the MINERVA guidelines.
Formats in which content can be delivered include still and moving images, sound and text, and advice and guidance on standards for the creation and delivery of these formats are found in good practice guides.
Related Digipedia articles
Good practice guides
Technical standards