• Preservation Home
• About
• Collections Care
• Conservation
• Digital Preservation
• Emergency Management
• En Español
• FAQ
• Preservation Science
• Resources
• Outreach & Training Opportunities
• Have a preservation question?
  Ask-a-Librarian

Related Links

• Donate
• Blog: Guardians of Memory, Preserving the National Collection
• Audio-Visual Preservation
• National Film Preservation Board
• National Recording Preservation Board

Library of Congress Recommended Formats Statement 2024-2025

Recommended Formats Statement identifies hierarchies of the physical and technical characteristics of creative formats, both analog and digital, which will best meet the needs of all concerned, maximizing the chances for survival and continued accessibility of creative content well into the future.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the Recommended Formats Statement

2024-2025 Recommended Formats Statement (HTML)

2024-2025 Recommended Formats Statement (PDF)

2024-2025 Summary of Digital Format Preferences (HTML)

Change log from 2023-2024 to 2024-2025 version (PDF)

Evaluation matrix template

This worksheet details how the Library of Congress determines if a format is "preferred" or "acceptable" based on both global/community criteria and local/institutional criteria. For more information, see Introduction and FAQ.

Format evaluation template with sample data - 2024 revision with accessibility support criteria (XLSX)

Previous version (for reference use only)

2023-2024 Recommended Formats Statement (PDF)

Change log from 2022-2023 to 2023-2024 version (PDF)

Format evaluation template with sample data - 2023 (XLSX)

Library Contacts and Links

Contacts for the Recommended Formats Statement

Library Standards

Sustainability of Digital Formats

Collection Development and Policies

To view PDFs

Back to Top