BS ISO 11506:2017 - Page 2

Document management applications. Archiving of electronic data. Computer output microform (COM)/Computer output laser disc (COLD). | Status: Confirmed, Current

1 Scope This document specifies techniques for archiving electronic data to ensure their long-term integrity, accessibility, usability, readability and reliability, in order to protect the evidential value of the data. In this document, long term is considered to be a period of time lasting more than a century (see ISO 18911). Black-and-white microforms processed with liquid chemicals are used in this document because the result is always an irreversible record and because of the proven quality of microforms as a long-term preservation media. This document also specifies procedures for the parallel recording, by a single production unit, of COM and COLD output from the same data. It applies to many different types of electronic data, such as text and two-dimensional graphic data which can be represented as a black-and-white image. It is not applicable to the following:

• — animated images or sounds;
• — three-dimensional images;
• — images in shades of grey or in colour;
• — X-ray images.

Neither is this document applicable to microforms created from dry thermal processes, since they offer insufficient guarantees in terms of irreversibility and longevity.