A New Standard

On Apr 2nd, ISO DIS29500 received the necessary international votes to become a standard. This standard, better known as Office OpenXML is the file format standards that Microsoft uses in Office 2007 (all those .docx, .xlsx, .pptx files). For an archivial standpoint, this could have a huge impact in our ability to maintain, migrate and view MSOffice files in the decades to come. As part of the Office 2007 release, Microsoft also released a 'file converter' that will forward migrate the 'old' binary file formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt) into the OOXML file format. With the native ability to save as PDF, and plugins available to save as Open Document Format, it will be very interesting to see how this space will evolve in the coming years. Creating this file format as a standard is move that Microsoft should applauded for (I have been pressing various high level Microsoft employees since 2003 for such a move). Assuming MSFT stays true to the file format standard, this is a great advancement forward for archivists everywhere. Note: There have been a LOT of nay-sayers for this standard and a lot of controversy surround it -- but its approved now. If nothing else, this whole issue has brought to the forefront the importance of standards and 'open formats' to governments in a way that archivists couldn't. The door has been openned for you, now step through it, follow up, educate and push for better management and preservation of electronic records.