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Recommended Formats Statement

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I. Textual Works

NOTE: See also Musical Scores
I. Textual Works - Print (books, etc.)

i. Textual Works - Print (books, etc.)

Preferred Acceptable

A. Paper
Archival quality paper (ISO 11108: 1996 for Archival Paper)

Paper which does not meet this standard can successfully be preserved by the Library of Congress

B. Printing Process, in order of preference

Lithography (offset printing press)

Inkjet (inkjet printer using stable pigment or dye-based inks)

Xerography (Electrophotography)

C. Binding and Packaging
Binding, in descending order of preference:

Hard cover

Library binding (NISO Z39.78-2000)

Sewn through fold

Other sewn leaf attachment

Double Fan Adhesive

Other adhesive leaf attachment

With slip case and/or dust jacket if available

For broadsides and musical compositions, the Library prefers items:

In protective folders

Rolled (rather than folded)

Soft cover

Sewn

Glued only

Spiral- or plastic-bound

Stapled

Unbound material, such as manuscripts, ring binders, etc.

D. Rarity, Special Features, Illustrations

Limited editions (including those with special binding or special features)

Editions with the greatest number of unique features (such as pop-ups, overlaps, magnifiers, overlays, tabs, notches, etc.)

Illustrated editions; original color illustrations preferred over black and white reproductions

Editions without these features

E. Completeness

Complete work. For items published in a finite number of separate components, all elements published as part of the work and offered for sale or distribution must be submitted.

All updates, supplements, releases, and supersessions published as part of the work and offered for sale or distribution must be submitted. Insertions (including all binders and indexes) must be received in a regular and timely manner for proper maintenance of the deposit.

F. Metadata

As displayed on item:

Title

Creator

Publication/Creation Date or Start Date/End Date

Place of Publication

Publisher/Producer/Distributor

ISBN/ISSN

Contact information

If available:

Other relevant identifiers (e.g., DOI, LCCN, etc.)

Edition

Subject descriptors

Abstracts

License or Copyright Status

As displayed on item:

Title

Creator

Publication/Creation Date or Start Date/End Date

Place of Publication

Publisher/Producer/Distributor

ii. Textual Works - Digital
ii. Textual Works - Digital
	Preferred	Acceptable
A. Technical Characteristics	Character encoding, in descending order of preference: UTF-8, UTF-16 (with BOM), US-ASCII ISO 8859	Other character encodings not listed in Preferred section
B. Formats	As received: XML-based markup formats, with included or accessible DTD/schema, XSD/XSL presentation stylesheet(s), and explicitly stated character encoding EPUB3-compliant. (Other versions of EPUB are also preferred formats but EPUB3 is the most common.) Other widely-used book DTDs/schemas (e.g., TEI, DocBook, etc.) Page-layout formats PDF/UA (ISO 14289-1 compliant) PDF/A (ISO 19005-compliant) PDF (highest quality available, with features such as searchable text, embedded fonts, lossless compression, high resolution images, device-independent specification of colorspace, content tagging; includes document formats such as PDF/X)	Other structured or markup formats in order of preference: XHTML or HTML, with DOCTYPE declaration and presentation stylesheet(s) XML-based document formats (widely-used and publicly-documented), with presentation stylesheet(s) if applicable. Includes DOCX/OOXML 2012 (ISO 29500), ODF (ISO/IEC 26300) and OOXML (ISO/IEC 29500). SGML, with included or accessible DTD BITS (Book Interchange Tag Suite) version 2.0 Page-layout formats PDF (web-optimized) Other formats Rich text format (RTF) Plain text Widely-used proprietary word-processing formats
C. Rarity and Special Features	Limited editions (including those with special features such as high resolution images) Editions with the greatest number of unique features (such as additional content, multimedia, interactive elements, etc.)	Editions without these features
D. Completeness	Complete work. For items published in a finite number of separate components, all elements published as part of the work and offered for sale or distribution must be submitted. Includes all associated external files and fonts considered integral to the publication. All updates, supplements, releases, and supersessions published as part of the work and offered for sale or distribution must be submitted and received in a regular and timely manner for proper maintenance of the deposit.
E. Metadata	As supported by format (e.g., standards-based formats such as ONIX for Books, XMP, MODS, METS, or MARCXML either embedded in or accompanying the digital item): Title Creator Publication/Creation Date or Start Date/End Date Place of publication Publisher/producer/distributor ISBN/ISSN Contact information If available: Language of work Other relevant identifiers (e.g., DOI, LCCN, original URL, etc.) Edition Subject descriptors Abstracts License or Copyright status	As displayed on item: Title Creator Publication/Creation Date or Start Date/End Date Place of Publication Publisher/Producer/Distributor
F. Technological Measures	Files must contain no measures (such as digital rights management [DRM] technologies or encryption) that control access to or prevent use of the digital work

iii. Textual Works - Electronic Serials
iii. Textual Works - Electronic Serials
	Preferred	Acceptable
A. Technical Characteristics	Character encoding, in descending order of preference: UTF-8, UTF-16 (with BOM), US-ASCII ISO 8859	Other character encodings not listed in Preferred section
B. Formats	As received: Content compliant with the NISO JATS: Journal Article Tag Suite (ANSI/NISO Z39.96-2015) with XSD/XSL presentation stylesheet(s) and explicitly stated character encoding Page-layout formats PDF/UA (ISO 14289-1 compliant) PDF/A (ISO 19005-compliant) PDF (highest quality available, with features such as searchable text, embedded fonts, lossless compression, high resolution images, device-independent specification of colorspace, content tagging; includes document formats such as PDF/X	Other structured or markup formats in order of preference: Widely-used serials or journal non-proprietary XML-based DTDs/schemas with included or accessible DTD/schema, presentation stylesheet(s) and explicitly stated character encoding. Proprietary XML-based format for serials or journals (with documentation) with DTD/schema and presentation stylesheet(s) XHTML or HTML, with DOCTYPE declaration and presentation stylesheet(s) XML-based document formats (widely-used and publicly-documented), with presentation stylesheet(s) if applicable. Includes DOCX/OOXML 2012 (ISO 29500), ODF (ISO/IEC 26300) and OOXML (ISO/IEC 29500). Page-layout formats PDF (web-optimized with searchable text) Other formats Rich text format Plain text Widely-used proprietary word-processing formats or page-layout formats Other text- or graphic-based formats not listed here that represent textual works
C. Rarity and Special Features	Limited editions (including those with special features such as high resolution images) Editions with the greatest number of unique features (such as additional content, multimedia, interactive elements, etc.)	Editions without these features
D. Completeness	Complete work. All elements considered integral to the publication and offered for sale or distribution must be submitted - e.g., articles, table(s) of contents, front matter, back matters, etc. Includes all associated external files and fonts considered integral to the publication. All updates, supplements, releases, and supersessions published as part of the work and offered for sale or distribution must be submitted and received in a regular and timely manner for proper maintenance of the deposit.	Editions without these features
E. Metadata	Title-level metadata (e.g., standards-based formats such as ONIX for Books, XMP, MODS, METS, or MARCXML either embedded in or accompanying the digital item): Serial or journal title ISSN and ISSN-L Publisher Frequency Place of publication Structured metadata as relevant or applicable (e.g., standards-based formats such as ONIX for Books, XMP. MODS, METS, or MARCXML either embedded in or accompanying the digital item): Volume(s) Number(s) Issue/Article date(s) Article title(s) Article author(s) Article identifier (DOI, original URL, etc.) Include if available: Other descriptive metadata (e.g., subject headings, descriptors, abstracts) Other relevant identifiers (e.g., LCCN, etc.)
F. Technological Measures	Files must contain no measures (such as digital rights management [DRM] technologies or encryption) that control access to or prevent use of the digital work.

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Recommended Formats Statement

I. Textual Works

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i. Textual Works - Print (books, etc.)
	Preferred	Acceptable
A. Paper	Archival quality paper (ISO 11108: 1996 for Archival Paper)	Paper which does not meet this standard can successfully be preserved by the Library of Congress
B. Printing Process, in order of preference	Lithography (offset printing press) Inkjet (inkjet printer using stable pigment or dye-based inks)	Xerography (Electrophotography)
C. Binding and Packaging	Binding, in descending order of preference: Hard cover Library binding (NISO Z39.78-2000) Sewn through fold Other sewn leaf attachment Double Fan Adhesive Other adhesive leaf attachment With slip case and/or dust jacket if available For broadsides and musical compositions, the Library prefers items: In protective folders Rolled (rather than folded)	Soft cover Sewn Glued only Spiral- or plastic-bound Stapled Unbound material, such as manuscripts, ring binders, etc.
D. Rarity, Special Features, Illustrations	Limited editions (including those with special binding or special features) Editions with the greatest number of unique features (such as pop-ups, overlaps, magnifiers, overlays, tabs, notches, etc.) Illustrated editions; original color illustrations preferred over black and white reproductions	Editions without these features
E. Completeness	Complete work. For items published in a finite number of separate components, all elements published as part of the work and offered for sale or distribution must be submitted. All updates, supplements, releases, and supersessions published as part of the work and offered for sale or distribution must be submitted. Insertions (including all binders and indexes) must be received in a regular and timely manner for proper maintenance of the deposit.
F. Metadata	As displayed on item: Title Creator Publication/Creation Date or Start Date/End Date Place of Publication Publisher/Producer/Distributor ISBN/ISSN Contact information If available: Other relevant identifiers (e.g., DOI, LCCN, etc.) Edition Subject descriptors Abstracts License or Copyright Status	As displayed on item: Title Creator Publication/Creation Date or Start Date/End Date Place of Publication Publisher/Producer/Distributor

Related Links

Recommended Formats Statement

I. Textual Works

Stay Connected with the Library All ways to connect »

Find us on

Subscribe & Comment

Download & Play