Because technology changes over time, it is best to store data in the simplest and most widely accepted formats. Ideally, the files should be:

• not encrypted
• not compressed
• a format with an open, documented standard
• a commonly used format
• a standard encoding

As time passes, file formats will change and files should be migrated to newer formats as necessary.

Source: Image by LIBER

Using established metadata standards will ensure that your data is properly represented in databases and search results, and that it will be interoperable with future data tools:

• Dublin Core: a general purpose metadata standard for describing networked resources.
• DDI: The Data Documentation Initiative is an effort to establish an international XML-based standard for the content, presentation, transport, and preservation of documentation (i.e., metadata) for datasets in the social and behavioral sciences.
• MODS: Metadata Object Description Schema, a common library standard.METS (Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard) is a useful variation.
• There are also discipline-specific standards, such as the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) and ABCD (Access to Biological Collection Data)