Unified Digital Format Registry (UDFR)
The UDFR is an initiative begun in April 2009 to build a single shared formats registry. UDFR builds on years of work performed by a number of institutions internationally, whether it was for PRONOM, the Global Digital Formats Registry (GDFR), or other format registry projects. It will:
  • contain the PRONOM data
  • be built on modern technologies and concepts, e.g. semantic wikis and linked data
  • create a community governance model for the registry involving all institutions willing to contribute to its development
  • develop a mechanism for the distribution of the registry data in such a way as to support local extensions and additions to the database
  • develop both technical and organizational support for distributed input to the registry, including some form of quality vetting of contributed data

Project update: The technical work needed to make UDFR fully operational has been funded by the Library of Congress

Near the end of 2009 the interim governance working group submitted a proposal to the Library of Congress' National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) to fund the one-year program of technical work needed to establish the first version of the UDFR. Under the proposal the work would be conducted at the University of California Curation Center (UC3) of the California Digital Library (CDL). UC3 will provide project oversight and management, and will hire two new staff for the project - a project architect and developer. The proposal was accepted by the Library of Congress in early 2010. UC3 has hired a project architect and is in the process of hiring a developer. The project is scheduled to run from January 2011 to January 2012.

Download the proposal here.

When the UDFR becomes operational in January 2012, it will have:

  • A publicly accessible web-based user interface that can be used to search, browse, display and download registry records
  • An API for tools and services to query, retrieve and export registry records for use in local repositories or applications
  • Ability to export information to DROID, a format identification tool created by TNA
  • Automatic tracking of the history of registry information changes
  • Population of the registry with all of the PRONOM content

The use cases that will be supported in the first version of UDFR are listed below and explained in more detail in the Functional Requirements for Phase 1 Technical Development and on the UDFR wiki.

  • Add new record
  • Update record
  • Amend audit trail
  • Search records
  • Browse records
  • Browse audit trail
  • Retrieve record via a web interface
  • Retrieve record via a web service
  • Retrieve format identification information
  • Retrieve audit record

Interim Governing Body

An ad-hoc governing body was formed in April 2009, in anticipation of the eventual transfer of governance to a permanent body. Pam Armstrong, Manager of the Library and Archives Canada's Digital Repository Services and Standards Office, chaired the UDFR's interim governing body. The interim governing board was composed of individuals from:

At a UDFR stakeholders meeting in April 2011 it was decided to defer decisions at this stage about UDFR governance until the system becomes available in production. In the meantime these institutions continue to provide guidance to the work occurring at CDL.

Technical Working Group

In addition to the Interim Governing Body, the UDFR project has been informed by a Technical Working Group composed of individuals from:
For technical documentation see the new UDFR wiki maintained by CDL or the original UDFR wiki.
For technical documentation see the new UDFR wiki maintained by CDL or the original UDFR wiki.