Email Archiving in PDF
From Initial Specification to Community of Practice
Excerpt: Email is one of the most ubiquitous and widely disseminated, and also one of the least preserved and difficult to manage, of electronic document formats. While the preservation community has developed email-specific tools and preservation pathways, PDF provides a new and scalable approach that can be used to archive email messages, folders, and even accounts. This session provides an update on activities of the EA-PDF Liaison Working Group (LWG) by its co-chairs, Chris Prom and PDF Association … Read moreAbout the presenter(s)
Peter Wyatt is the PDF Association’s CTO and an independent technology consultant with deep file format and parsing expertise. A developer and researcher working on PDF technologies for more than … Read more
Chris Prom is Associate Dean for Digital Strategies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he coordinates the University Library’s efforts related to resource discovery, information technology, digital preservation, … Read more
Description
Email is one of the most ubiquitous and widely disseminated, and also one of the least preserved and difficult to manage, of electronic document formats. While the preservation community has developed email-specific tools and preservation pathways, PDF provides a new and scalable approach that can be used to archive email messages, folders, and even accounts. This session provides an update on activities of the EA-PDF Liaison Working Group (LWG) by its co-chairs, Chris Prom and PDF Association CTO Peter Wyatt. The LWG is developing a detailed technical specification for the proposed EA-PDF (Email Archiving in PDF) file format, including requirements for EA-PDF viewing software and implementer guidance. The session will:
- provide an overview of the objectives of a grant provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services to the University of Illinois
- present EA-PDF uses cases and community needs, based on a survey and analysis completed by project graduate assistants
- Review work-to-date of the EA-PDF Liaison Working Group
- Present a summary of and request for comments on draft specification for and EA-PDF file format
Slides download: https://pdfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/1330-Prom.pdf