Windows Vista Metro Docs

Knowledge workers can securely collaborate by using a new, easy-to-create, XML-based, fixed-format document, code-named "Metro." This format can be created directly from any application, and is simply a page-by-page view of content as it would have been rendered by a printer. Metro documents retain all of the fidelity of the original source material and all the necessary resources such as fonts and images for rendering. In Windows Vista Beta 1, Metro documents do not require you to have the original authoring application to be viewed, but are instead viewable within the included Metro Viewer, which is hosted by Internet Explorer 7 on any Windows Vista computer with the WinFX runtime APIs installed. The Metro viewer can also be hosted by Windows XP computers with Internet Explorer 6, but likewise, WinFX must be installed. While the Metro document format is ideal for sharing content in an application-independent way, it is also an ideal archival format as well. Microsoft is freely licensing Metro, which means that the format can be created and consumed on many different platforms and classes of devices, ensuring that Metro documents will integrate well.

Information obtained from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/sharing.mspx

National Archives Awards Lockheed Martin $308 Million to Build Electronic Archives of the Future

ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) today awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) a $308 million contract to build a permanent archives system to preserve and manage electronic records created by the federal government. Today's announcement, by Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein at the National Archives in Washington, DC, initiates a six-year program to develop the Electronic Records Archives (ERA) system for NARA. Work will be performed at Lockheed Martin offices in Greenbelt, MD, in coordination with NARA offices in the Washington metropolitan area. A major initiative to help enable the successful move to government-wide electronic records management, the ERA system will capture electronic information -- regardless of its format -- save it permanently, and make it accessible on whatever future hardware or software is currently in use. While the full system is scheduled to be completed by 2011, a functional subset of the system will be operating within two years. "We're extremely pleased our team was selected by the National Archives for a program that will be critical in preserving the acts and facts of our entire federal government," said Don Antonucci, president of Lockheed Martin Transportation and Security Solutions. "We are committed to helping the NARA team build a digital archives solution that will set the standard for authenticity, persistence and service." "The Lockheed Martin team was selected for its systems integration expertise, developing innovative technologies for large-scale government IT projects," said Kenneth Thibodeau, NARA's project director. "The team's solution offers a highly flexible, scalable system that will allow NARA to adapt and expand its archiving capabilities as new technologies emerge." As the prime contractor for the ERA project, Lockheed Martin will lead a team of companies with archiving and data management expertise. The team includes BearingPoint Inc., McLean VA; Fenestra Technologies Corp., Germantown, MD; FileTek Inc., Rockville, MD; History Associates Inc., Rockville, MD; EDS Corp., Plano, TX; Image Fortress Corp., Westford, MA; Metier Ltd., Washington, DC; Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), San Diego, CA; and Tessella Inc., Newton, MA. "With the ERA initiative, the National Archives is taking a true leadership position in the digital preservation challenge," said Andy Patrichuk, Lockheed Martin's vice president responsible for the ERA program. "Not only are archives across the globe facing the challenge of maintaining electronic data, this innovation could have countless positive implications for individuals, private businesses, and government organizations alike." "Our Lockheed Martin team stands ready to use our proven systems integration skills to bring a functional electronics records archives online - - one that is ready to serve our nation, citizens and the men and women on the National Archives team," he added. NARA ensures, for the citizen, the President, the Congress and the Courts, ready access to essential evidence that documents the rights of citizens, the actions of federal officials, and the national experience. Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services.Go to source =

Checklist for Certifying Digital Repositories released

RLG has just released a draft report for the certification of digital
repositories. The draft, titled "An Audit Checklist for the Certification of
Trusted Digital Repositories," is available at
http://www.rlg.org/en/page.php?Page_ID=20769.
It is the product of a task force working on a joint project between RLG and
the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

The goal of the RLG-NARA Digital Repository Certification project has been
to identify the criteria repositories must meet for reliably storing,
migrating, and providing access to digital collections. The "Audit
Checklist"
identifies procedures for certifying digital repositories.
Leveraging the RLG-NARA checklist, the Center for Research Libraries (CRL)
Audit and Certification of Digital Archives project will test audit the
Koninklijke Bibliotheek National Library of the Netherlands), which
maintains the digital archive for Elsevier Science Direct Journals, the
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), and
Portico, an archive for electronic journals incubated within Ithaka Harbors,
Inc.
Stanford's LOCKSS system will also participate in this effort.

Robin Dale, manager of both projects, says: "We look forward to receiving
comments on the draft and to hearing the response from the community."
Comments on the draft are due before mid-January 2006 to Robin.Dale@rlg.org
(+1-650-691-2238).

For more about the RLG-NARA task force, see
http://www.rlg.org/en/page.php?Page_ID=5441

[Taken from the PADI FORUM Mailing List]

Massachusetts mandates open-format docs, edges toward Linux

Obtained from http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS3926478427.html

Sep. 01, 2005

The state of Massachusetts will revamp its digital output during the next 16 months to create only open-format documents and is increasing its use of Linux and free and open source software (FOSS) among its workers, the state's chief information officer told DesktopLinux.com Thursday in a conference call.

CIO Peter Quinn challenged Microsoft and other companies who sell software that uses proprietary document formats to consider enabling open-format options as soon as possible. Quinn said that "government is creating history at a rapidly increasing rate, and all documents we save must be accessible to everybody, without having to use 'closed' software to open them now and in the future."

The state said Wednesday that starting on Jan. 1, 2007, all electronic documents created by state employees could be saved in only two format types: OpenDocument, which is used in open source applications such as OpenOffice.org, and the Adobe-created Portable Document File (PDF). OpenDocument can be used for saving documents such as letters, spreadsheets, tables, and graphical presentations. It is the default file format for OpenOffice 2.0, currently in Beta 2.

Using OpenOffice.org and Linux "more and more"

Quinn said the state runs a "vast majority" of its office and system computers on Windows and that "only a very small percentage of them run Linux and other open source software at this time. This is in tune with the general market in the US. But we like to 'eat our own cooking,' in that we are using OpenOffice.org and Linux more and more as time goes along, because it produces open format documents."

In contrast, Microsoft's Office creates Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other documents that are accessible only by Microsoft products, making them ineligible for use, the state said.

"Microsoft has remade the desktop world," Quinn said. "But if you've watched history, there's a slag heap of proprietary companies who have fallen by the wayside because they were stuck in their ways. Just look at the minicomputer business, for example. The world is about open standards and open source. I can't understand why anybody would want to continue making closed-format documents anymore."

Microsoft answer to that is simple. MS Office, which is upgraded about every three years and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, brought in more than $11 billion last year, or about 28 percent of Microsoft's total revenue, according to the company's recently filed annual report.

"We've had an active, ongoing conversation with Microsoft since January about this, and they've been open to hearing our position," Quinn said. "But I don't know one way or the other how they're ultimately going to react to this. Also, this isn't just about Microsoft. We're focusing on the formats here, not necessarily the software. But wouldn't it be nice not to have to remake the systems?"

Quinn said the state is looking at all its options, including using conversion tools to create open documents. "We're cognizant of what happens in a bifurcated world," he said. "If we have to convert everything as we go along, we'll look at the cost [associated] with it and make decisions based on what's best for the taxpayers. We'll also look at other options, like Linux systems, because open source and open standards are where the world is going."

Microsoft's response

Alan Yates, general manager of Information Worker Business Strategy at Microsoft, told DesktopLinux.com: "We do not believe ... that the answer to public records management is to force a single, less functional document format on all state agencies.

"The proposed policy is inconsistent with ongoing dialogues Microsoft is having with other Massachusetts state agencies about how Microsoft products can best meet their data and records requirements for a variety of data types -- ranging from traditional documents to pictures, audio, video, voice, voice-over-IP, data, database schema, webpages, and XML information.

"As we look to the future, and all of these data types become increasingly intertwined, locked-in formats like OpenDocument are not well suited to address these varying data types -- as the proposed policy itself acknowledges." Yates said. "We would advise the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to do a thorough evaluation of the costs and benefits before making such a major shift."

Feedback requested from companies and individuals

Quinn said that for the next week, the state is requesting feedback from companies and individuals on the issue of open-format electronic documents. The Enterprise Technical Reference Model v.3.5 draft specification is available for review until Sept. 9.