Preservation metadata for DPX files: A case study

To preserve digital objects for the long term, repositories must maintain metadata about those objects. Unfortunately, it is not possible to know precisely what metadata will be needed to protect against any loss in the future. Standards such as Open Archival Information System (OAIS) and PREservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies (PREMIS) offer guidelines for categorising and specifying metadata. How can these guidelines be put into practice? What sort of customisation is needed, if any? What recommendations may be expected from their implementation? The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision is developing working standards for the metadata associated with the digital artefacts in its repository. It has put the guidelines into practice by developing a customised preservation metadata dictionary. To illustrate the practical issues that can arise when implementing these standards, this paper presents the example of how Digital Moving-Picture Exchange (DPX) files exist in an archive in the context of preservation. It starts by defining requirements for DPX preservation metadata. A gap analysis is then performed to compare the requirements and the actual available metadata about the DPX files. Preservation metadata are found in various forms and locations. The preservation metadata dictionary is a useful tool to promote awareness of this in order to establish preservation metadata and meet preservation goals.