Sustainability of Digital Formats: Planning for Library of Congress Collections

• ACCDB
• ACCDB_family, Microsoft Access ACCDB File Format Family
• Apache Parquet
• Apache Parquet, Apache Parquet File Format
• ArcInfo_Coverage
• ArcInfo_Coverage, ESRI ArcInfo Coverage
• CDF
• CDF, Common Data Format (datasets)
• CSV
• CSV_strict, Comma Separated Values (RFC 4180)
• DBF
• DBF, dBASE Table File Format
• DEM
• DEM, Digital Elevation Model
• DTA (Stata)
• Stata_dta_118, Stata Data File Format (.dta), Version 118
• E00
• E00, ESRI ArcInfo interchange file (E00)
• ESRI
• ArcInfo_Coverage, ESRI ArcInfo Coverage
• E00, ESRI ArcInfo interchange file (E00)
• ESRI_grid, ESRI ArcInfo Grid
• ESRI_ASCII_grid, ESRI ArcInfo ASCII Grid
• ESRI_GridFloat, ESRI GridFloat Output File
• ESRI_shape, ESRI Shapefile
• GeoDB_family, ESRI Arc Geodatabase Format Family
• GeoDB_file, ESRI Geodatabase (File-based)
• GeoDB_SDE, ESRI Geodatabase ArcSDE
• GeoDB_XML, ESRI Geodatabase XML
• Shape_DBF, dBase Table for ESRI Shapefile (DBF)
• FASTA
• FASTA, FASTA Database Format
• FITS (Flexible Image Transport System)
• FITS_3, FITS, Version 3.0
• GeoDB
• GeoDB_family, ESRI Arc Geodatabase Format Family
• GeoDB_file, ESRI Geodatabase (File-based)
• GeoDB_SDE, ESRI Geodatabase ArcSDE
• GeoDB_XML, ESRI Geodatabase XML
• GeoJSON
• GeoJSON_1_0, GeoJSON, Version 1.0
• GeoPackage
• GeoPackage_family, GeoPackage Encoding Standard (OGC) Format Family
• GeoPackage_1_0, GeoPackage Encoding Standard (OGC), Version 1.0
• GeoTIFF
• GeoTIFF, GeoTIFF Revision 1.0
• GridFloat
• ESRI_GridFloat, ESRI GridFloat Output File
• HDF, Hierarchical Data Format
• HDF4, Hierarchical Data Format, Version 4 and earlier
• HDF4map, HDF4 File Content Map
• HDF-EOS, Hierarchical Data Format-Earth Observing System (based on HDF4)
• HDF5, Hierarchical Data Format, Version 5
• HyperCard Stack
• HyperCard_Stack, HyperCard Stack File Format
• I3S
• See SLPK, SLPK Scene Layer Package (for I3S layers)
• IFC
• IFC-SPF, Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), Clear Text Family
• ISO_8211
• ISO_8211, ISO/IEC 8211 Data Descriptive File (DDF)
• JSON
• JSON, JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)
• KML
• KML_2_2, Version 2.2
• KMZ, KML Zipped
• LAS
• LAS_1_4, LAS (LASer) File Format, Version 1.4
• MapInfo
• MapInfo, MapInfo Dataset Format
• MapInfo_DAT, MapInfo Data File
• MATLAB
• MAT-file_5, MAT-File Level 5 File Format
• MDB
• MDB_family, Microsoft Access MDB File Format Family
• Microsoft Access
• MDB_family, Microsoft Access MDB File Format Family
• ACCDB_family, Microsoft Access ACCDB File Format Family
• MySQL
• MySQL_Table, MySQL Table Definition Format
• MySQL_View, MySQL View Definition Format
• NetCDF
• NetCDF-3, Network Common Data Form, Version 3
• NetCDF-4, Network Common Data Form, Version 4
• NetCDF-4C, Network Common Data Form, Version 4, Classic Model
• NSF
• NSF, Lotus Notes Storage Facility
• ODF
• ODF_dbfront_1_2, OpenDocument Database Front End Format (ODB), ODF 1.2, ISO/IEC 26300-1:2015
• ODF_spreadsheet_1_1, OpenDocument Spreadsheet Document Format (ODS), Version 1.1, ISO 26300:2006
• ODF_spreadsheet_1_2, OpenDocument Spreadsheet Document Format (ODS), Version 1.2, ISO 26300:2015
• OPML
• OPML_2.0, Outline Processor Markup Language (OPML) 2.0
• PFC
• PFC, AOL Personal Filing Cabinet
• R Data (statistics)
• RData_family, R Data Format Family (.rdata, .rda)
• SAS (XPORT)
• SAS_xport_family, SAS Transport File Format (XPORT) Family
• SAS_xport_5, SAS Version 5 Transport File Format (XPORT)
• SAS_xport_8, SAS Version 8 Transport File Format (XPORT)
• SDTS
• SDTS, Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS)
• SDTS_TVP, Spatial Data Transfer Standard - Topological Vector Profile
• Shapefile
• ESRI_shape, ESRI Shapefile
• SIARD
• SIARD_1_0, SIARD (Software Independent Archiving of Relational Databases) Version 1.0
• SLPK
• SLPK, SLPK Scene Layer Package (for I3S layers)
• SPSS
• SPSS_por_ASCII, SPSS Portable File, ASCII encoding (.por)
• SPSS_sav_family, SPSS System Data File Format Family (.sav)
• SQLite
• SQLite_3, SQLite, Version 3
• Stata
• Stata_dta_118, Stata Data File Format (.dta), Version 118
• STEP (ISO 10303)
• STEP-file, STEP-file, ISO 10303-21
• 3D Tiles
• 3D_Tiles_1.0, 3D Tiles Archive File Format, Version 1.0
• TSV
• TSV, TSV, Tab-Separated Values
• VPF
• VPF, Vector Product Format
• XLS
• MS-XLS, Microsoft Office Excel 97-2003 Binary File Format (.xls, BIFF8)
• XLSB
• MS-XLSB, Microsoft Excel Binary (XLSB) Format (option in Excel 2007 and later)
• XLSX
• XLSX/OOXML_2012, XLSX Transitional (Office Open XML), ISO 29500:2008-2016; ECMA-376, Editions 1-5
• XLSX/OOXML_Strict_2012, XLSX Strict (Office Open XML), ISO 29500:2008-2016; ECMA-376, Editions 2-5
• XYZ
• XYZ, XYZ Point Cloud

Formats for individual datasets, sets of data values in an organized structure intended for automated analysis. Out of scope are database management systems (DBMS) or specific DBMS applications. In scope are formats designed for exchange of data from one DBMS to another.

Inclusion of a format does not imply that it is preferred or acceptable for Library of Congress collections. Conversely, omission of a format from the list does not imply that it is not preferred or acceptable. See the Recommended Formats Statement for more information.

Descriptions will be drafted, added and updated over time. Persons with specialized knowledge are encouraged to review and comment on the descriptions using this contact form.