Types of Standards

1.6 Standards

A number of types of standards exist and depending on the type of standard in question they may be developed and used in many different ways. This section will examine the types of standards and their purpose (1.6.1) in order to define the functions of OAIS and RAC. This section will also detail the standards development process to better

contextualise discussions in later chapters regarding the development of OAIS and RAC standards, in particular.

1.6.1 Types of Standards

A standard as defined by ISO is: ‘[A] document that provides requirements,

specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose.’⁹¹ This definition is fairly broad, because standards govern everything from food labelling to car

registrations, computers and recordkeeping programmes. Most standards can be grouped into three broad categories: reference, minimum quality and compatibility standards.⁹²

A reference standard is an anticipatory standard that seeks to frame future working strategies by identifying high-level issues related to a particular problem (e.g.

digital preservation). This type of standard can streamline terminology and pinpoint areas that require more standardisation.⁹³ OAIS is classified as an anticipatory reference standard; more specifically it is a reference model. A reference model as described by

91 International Standards Organisation, ‘Standards- ISO’, accessed 24 November 2014, http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards.htm.

92 Ole Hanseth, Eric Monteiro, and Morten Hatling, ‘Developing Information Infrastructure: The Tension between Standardization and Flexibility’, Science, Technology and Human Values 21, no. 4 (Autumn 1996): 407–26., 411.

93 Christopher Lee, ‘Defining Digital Preservation Work: A Case Study of the Development of the Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System’ (University of Michigan, 2005)., 52.

Christopher Lee is a standard that ‘[t]end[s] to be used at a higher level of abstraction’,⁹⁴ which can set out high-level concepts or serve to bound different user groups involved in a standardisation process (i.e. those involved at specific points during a quality checking process).⁹⁵ For example, OAIS provides a standard set of agreed terms and functions related to TDRs that gives anyone developing, designing or discussing TDRs a common starting point.

Minimum quality standards are developed to increase the quality of materials or products.⁹⁶ Certification and audit standards are classified as quality standards: through the process of audit and certification they seek to accredit organisations, processes or systems as meeting certain minimum requirements for quality. The ISO 9000 series for quality management⁹⁷ is a good example of a minimum quality standard; ISO 9000 standards seek to help companies provide products and services that satisfy customer needs and requirements. The 9000 series standards allow organisations to certify their operations, demonstrating that they are capable of meeting the minimum quality requirements for ensuring good operations and customer service.⁹⁸ TDR certification standards like RAC enable organisations to measure the quality of their digital repository operations, to ensure that records are maintained in an environment that protects their integrity. RAC sets the baseline requirements for TDR operations with the intention that any organisation that wishes to be called a TDR must certify against the standard’s criteria.

94 Lee, ‘Defining Digital Preservation Work’, 52.

95 Lee, ‘Defining Digital Preservation Work’, 53. Lee provides an exhaustive listing of reference models.

96 Uri Ronnen, ‘Minimum Quality Standards, Fixed Costs, and Competition’, The RAND Journal of Economics 22, no. 4 (1 December 1991): 490–504., 490

97 British Standards Institute, ‘ISO 9001 Quality Management | BSI Group’, accessed 24 November 2014, http://www.bsigroup.co.uk/en-GB/iso-9001-quality-management/.

98 See International Standards Organisation URL on ISO 9000 series, accessed 15 January 2015:

http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_9000.

Compatibility standards allow different products by different producers to interface successfully with each other making it possible to use ‘[c]omplementary goods and services, or to be connected in networks’.⁹⁹ This type of standard can affect

common goods like audio speakers, computer hardware or software. They enable users to use products interchangeably without requiring specific components or tools to support the use of different but similar products. For example, an individual who needs audio speakers for his computer can go to a store and select from several different models because the components and plugs interoperate with their computer hardware.

These speakers can also be used interchangeably with MP3 players, iPods, tablets and other devices as a result of compatibility standards.

It is also important to clarify that within these broad categories of standard – reference, minimum quality and compatibility – there can be subsets known as de jure or de facto standards also exist. De jure standards are developed by standards bodies like the International Standards Organisation, whereas de facto standards are those which have gained widespread acceptance in certain communities of practice.¹⁰⁰

De jure standards are formally prescribed, usually by some sort of law, regulation or requirement. Such standards are often developed according to a prescribed process to ensure that they receive the widest possible input from experts in a given field. The processes are meant to build consensus across business sectors or professional

communities of practice, in order for a standard to receive widespread use. Examples of de jure standards may include standards developed by the International Standards

99 Ellen Burud and Karoline Flaaten, ‘The Economic Impact of Compatibility Standards’ (Center for Research in Economics and Management- Norwegian School of Management, 2010), accessed 24 November 2014 http://www.bi.edu/InstitutterFiles/Samfunns%C2%B0konomi/2010_08_Workingpaper.pdf., 15.

100 Hans Hofman, ‘Standards: Not "One Size Fits All’’, The Information Management Journal, no. May/June (2006): 36–

45.,37 Hanseth et al, ‘Developing Information Infrastructure’.,411.

Organisation for example ISO 15489 on records management. Other examples include HTML (e.g. ISO/IEC 15445) and PDF (e.g. ISO 32000-1) could be used, which started as de facto standards and have now been formally adopted as de jure standards .

De facto standards are customs or practices that have become adopted and commonly used but are not prescribed by law. For example, Excel may be considered a de facto standard for accounting and data compilation, but there is no formal

requirement to use Excel to perform those functions in order to ensure the accuracy or reliability of the accounting or data compilation process. Similarly, the Microsoft DOC file extension is a de facto standard; even though the Microsoft Corporation has changed the specific format specifications for documents created using its Word software, DOC has remained the standard file extension for word processed documents.