ISO/IEC 23000-15:2016

Information technology - Multimedia application format (MPEG-A) - Part 15: Multimedia preservation application format

ISO/IEC 23000-15:2016 specifies the standard representation of the multimedia description information (MPDI) generated and used by an organization in the process of preserving a multimedia asset for the purpose of facilitating the exchange of multimedia content between archives or other stakeholders (e.g. publishers, broadcasters, service providers and the like), as well as subsequent preservation and use.

Technologies de l'information — Format pour application multimédia (MPEG-A) — Partie 15: Format pour application de la conservation des multimédias

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 14-Jul-2016
• ICS: 35.040 - Information coding
• ICS: 35.040.40 - Coding of audio, video, multimedia and hypermedia information
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29 - Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29 - Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information
• Current Stage: 9060 - Close of review
• Completion Date: 04-Mar-2027

Relations

• Amended By: ISO/IEC 23000-15:2016/Amd 1:2017 - Information technology - Multimedia application format (MPEG-A) - Part 15: Multimedia preservation application format - Amendment 1: Implementation guidelines for MP-AF
• Effective Date: 17-Jul-2021

Overview

ISO/IEC 23000-15:2016 - Multimedia preservation application format (MP-AF) specifies a standardized representation of Multimedia Preservation Description Information (MPDI). Part of the MPEG-A family, this standard defines a data model and normative XML Schema for exchange of multimedia preservation metadata between archives, libraries, museums, broadcasters, publishers, service providers and other stakeholders. MP-AF is aligned with OAIS concepts and reuses MPEG technologies (notably MPEG-21 and MPEG-7) to support long-term digital preservation and interoperability.

Key technical topics and requirements

• MPDI data model: UML-based logical model describing Digital Item entities, process entities (activities, operators) and their relations.
• Normative XML serialization: A formal XML Schema (included as an annex) provides a machine-readable format for MPDI documents.
• Core metadata sets: Defines common core descriptive and technical metadata (content metadata, technical properties for image/video/audio, annotations).
• Preservation process metadata: Metadata to record integrity checking, migrations, replications, quality evaluation, and relationships between source and transformed outputs.
• Conformance requirements: Rules for MP-AF document conformance, external schema referencing and compliance with MPEG-21 declarations.
• Interoperability aids: Annexes provide mapping to other preservation metadata models and taxonomies; controlled vocabularies and reference mechanisms are supported.
• Re-use of MPEG standards: Harmonized model leverages MPEG-21 DID and other MPEG technologies to integrate packaging and item descriptions.

Practical applications and users

MP-AF is designed for practical use in preservation and asset exchange workflows:

• Exchange multimedia assets and preservation metadata between repositories or between organizations.
• Document and verify integrity, format migration outcomes, replication events, restoration steps and quality assessments.
• Provide a standardized preservation metadata bundle for ingest (SIP), archival packages and dissemination (DIP) consistent with OAIS.
• Use cases include digitization projects, format migration, archival transfers, content curation and preservation service provisioning.

Primary users:

• Digital archivists, librarians and museum technologists
• Repository and preservation system implementers
• Software developers and vendors of preservation tools
• Broadcasters, publishers and service providers engaged in long-term multimedia stewardship

Related standards

• ISO/IEC 23000 (MPEG-A series) - general Multimedia Application Format framework
• ISO/IEC 23000-6 (Professional Archival Application Format - PA-AF) - packaging guidance referenced for OAIS packaging
• MPEG-21 and MPEG-7 - reused components referenced for item and metadata modeling

Keywords: ISO/IEC 23000-15, MP-AF, MPDI, multimedia preservation metadata, MPEG-A, MPEG-21, XML schema, OAIS, digital preservation, metadata exchange.

Standards Content (Sample)

DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD
ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29 Secretariat: JISC
Voting begins on: Voting terminates on:
2015-06-18 2015-09-18
Information technology — Multimedia application format
(MPEG-A) —
Part 15:
Multimedia preservation application
Technologies de l’information — Format des applications multimedias —
Partie 15: Titre manque
ICS: 35.040
THIS DOCUMENT IS A DRAFT CIRCULATED
FOR COMMENT AND APPROVAL. IT IS
THEREFORE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND MAY
NOT BE REFERRED TO AS AN INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD UNTIL PUBLISHED AS SUCH.
IN ADDITION TO THEIR EVALUATION AS
BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL,
TECHNOLOGICAL, COMMERCIAL AND
USER PURPOSES, DRAFT INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDS MAY ON OCCASION HAVE TO
BE CONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF THEIR
POTENTIAL TO BECOME STANDARDS TO
WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE MADE IN
Reference number
NATIONAL REGULATIONS.
ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15:2015(E)
RECIPIENTS OF THIS DRAFT ARE INVITED
TO SUBMIT, WITH THEIR COMMENTS,
NOTIFICATION OF ANY RELEVANT PATENT
RIGHTS OF WHICH THEY ARE AWARE AND TO
©
PROVIDE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION. ISO/IEC 2015

ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15:2015(E)
© ISO/IEC 2015, Published in Switzerland
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on the internet or an intranet, without prior
written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below or ISO’s member body in the country of
the requester.
ISO copyright office
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ii © ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved

ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15
ontents Page
Foreword . v
Introduction . vii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 2
3 Abbreviated terms . 3
4 Terminology . 4
4.1 MPEG-21 Terminology . 4
4.1.1 Digital Item Identification (DII) . 4
4.1.2 Resource . 4
4.1.3 Container . 4
4.1.4 Item . 4
4.1.5 Component . 4
4.1.6 Descriptor . 5
4.2 MP-AF Structure Terminology. 5
4.2.1 Work . 5
4.2.2 Preservation Object . 5
4.2.3 Asset . 5
4.2.4 Group . 5
4.2.5 Representation . 5
4.2.6 Essence . 5
4.2.7 Component . 5
4.2.8 File . 6
4.2.9 Bitstream . 6
4.2.10 Media Locator . 6
4.3 MP-AF Description Terminology . 6
4.3.1 Common Core Metadata Set . 6
4.3.2 Core Descriptive Metadata . 6
4.3.3 Core Technical metadata . 6
4.3.4 Media . 6
4.4 Multimedia Preservation Description Information (MPDI) Terminology . 6
4.4.1 Provenance . 6
4.4.2 Context . 6
4.4.3 Reference . 7
4.4.4 Quality. 7
4.4.5 Fixity . 7
4.4.6 Integrity. 7
4.4.7 Authenticity . 7
4.4.8 Rights . 7
4.5 MP-AF Process Terminology. 7
4.5.1 Activity . 7
4.5.2 Operator. 8
4.5.3 Agent . 8
4.5.4 Tool . 8
5 MP-AF Data Model . 8
5.1 Logical Data Model . 8
5.1.1 MP-AF Digital Item Entities . 9
5.1.2 MP-AF Process Entities . 16
5.1.3 Relation to MPEG-21 DID Entities . 22
5.1.4 Specific subclasses of Activity and Operator . 24
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ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15
5.2 Implementation of the MP-AF data model . 24
5.2.1 Implementation of structure . 24
5.2.2 Top-level elements. 24
5.2.3 Implementation for specific types of preservation metadata . 27
5.2.4 References to controlled vocabularies and other resources . 43
5.2.5 Nesting of descriptors . 43
6 Common Core Metadata Set . 43
6.1 Introduction . 43
6.2 Core descriptive metadata . 43
6.2.1 Content Metadata . 43
6.2.2 Descriptive Metadata for Non-Content Entities . 49
6.3 Core technical metadata . 51
6.4 Generic Annotation. 56
7 Conformance . 57
7.1 Conformance of MP-AF documents. 57
7.2 External schemata . 57
7.3 References . 57
7.3.1 References to other resources . 57
7.3.2 References to controlled vocabularies . 57
7.4 Conformance to MPEG-21 . 57
8 Bibilography . 58
Annex A: XML Schema . 59
Annex B: Mapping MP-AF to other Preservation metadata models . 60
Introduction . 60
MP-AF Mapping of Main Entities . 60
PREMIS . 60
W3C PROV . 61
EBU CCDM . 62
Annex C: Taxonomies . 64
C.1 Types of Activities. 64
C.2 Types of Tools . 64
C.3 Types of Agents . 64
C.4 Roles of Operators . 64
C.5 Identifier types . 64
C.6 Relationship types . 64
C.7 Checksum Types . 65

iv © ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved

ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of
ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees
established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC
technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental
and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work. In the field of information
technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of the joint technical committee is to prepare International Standards. Draft International
Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as
an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO/IEC 23000-15 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 29, Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information.
ISO/IEC 23000 consists of the following parts, under the general title Information Technology — Multimedia
application format (MPEG-A):
 Part 1: Purpose for multimedia application formats
 Part 2: MPEG music player application format
 Part 3: MPEG photo player application format
 Part 4: Musical slide show application format
 Part 5: Media streaming application format
 Part 6: Professional archival application format
 Part 7: Open access application format
 Part 8: Portable video application format
 Part 9: Digital Multimedia Broadcasting application format
 Part 10: Surveillance application format
 Part 11: Stereoscopic video application format
 Part 12: Interactive music application format
 Part 13: Augmented reality application format
 Part 14: VOID
© ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved v

ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15
 Part 15: Multimedia preservation application
vi © ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved

ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15
Introduction
ISO/IEC 23000 (also known as “MPEG-A”) is an MPEG standard that supports a fast track to standardization
by selecting readily tested and verified tools taken from the MPEG body of standards and combining them to
form a MAF (Multimedia Application Format). If a needed piece of technology is not provided within MPEG,
then additional technologies originating from other organizations can be included by reference in order to
facilitate the envisioned MAF.
The application format defined by the Multimedia Preservation Application Format (MP-AF ISO/IEC 23000-15)
is focused on Preservation Description Information (PDI [4]) for multimedia content. It aims to enable users to
plan, execute, and evaluate preservation operations in order to achieve the objectives of digital preservation
by providing all necessary metadata for these operations. Examples of such operations include checking
preserved content integrity, migrating content from one system to another system, replicating subparts or
entire contents, defining the relationship between the source and output of any transformation process.
The standard also provides the industry with a coherent and consistent approach to manage multimedia
preservation metadata supporting a variety of application scenarios, such a digitization, format migration,
content restoration, etc. This includes various applications, hardware/software systems and processing
methods used in different digital media administrative domains, and being independent of technological
changes.
The standard defines a data model for preservation metadata and its related XML serialized format. It thus
serves as a interoperable metadata format at the external interfaces of a digital preservation system. The
most widely known and adopted reference model for digital preservation is the Open Archival Information
System OAIS [4], a framework for understanding and applying concepts necessary for long-term preservation
of digital information. In the following the OAIS terminology is adopted for describing the several preservation
notions addressed by MP-AF.
OAIS defines information packages (IP) at the ingest (Submission-SIP) and delivery (Dissemination-DIP) side
of a preservation system. These packages enfold the target of digital preservation that is made up of the
content (one or more) and associated resources and metadata. Different packaging formats can serve as an
implementation for the IP and basically the same wrapper can be suitable for submission, dissemination as
well as internal IPs. According to the OAIS guidelines, within MPEG technologies the packaging formats
fulfilling the needs is the Professional Archival Application Format (PA-AF), which has been designed to
provide a standardized packaging format for digital files.

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DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15

Information Technology — Multimedia application format
(MPEG-A) — Part 15: Multimedia Preservation Application
1 Scope
The basic objective of digital preservation is to enable the seamless communication of information over time,
and free from loss or corruption. Traditionally, this has been achieved by the conservation of physical media
on which the information is inscribed and materially associated. If the physical object persists without
alteration, the information remains unchanged and is being communicated to any person or system capable of
receiving it.
Even if some physical change occurs, the essential characteristics of the information it carries may remain
intact. For example, the ink in a textual document may have faded, but the text can remain fully readable.
However, the persistence of digital information is complicated by several factors, mainly technological change.
Obsolescence may make digital storage media unreadable and digital encodings indecipherable. Progress
may make it desirable to use new software to process old data, but entails the risk that the output is not
faithful to the source. For multimedia, the complexity is increased by the variety of formats used and the
complexity introduced by the use of compression, codecs and wrappers. For any uses over time where the
integrity of the data or fidelity to original properties are important, controls that are independent of the
technologies used to store and process the data must be imposed. The foundation for such controls is
Preservation Description Information (PDI [4]). PDI is metadata and contextual information that identifies what
is being preserved, defines its essential properties, describes requirements for processing it, and identifies
processes which generated, used or modified Digital Items as well as their results.
Many organizations collecting multimedia content, such as archives, libraries, museums, etc. already have
digital preservation systems in place. These organizations have sometimes the need to exchange multimedia
assets and related metadata, for example:
• to exchange assets between preservation systems/repositories within the organization or with related
organizations,
• to change/upgrade their preservation systems,
• to exchange content with service providers, or to
• provide preservation services for other organizations.
When they exchange multimedia assets, they need to include PDI that enables the receiving organization both
to assess the integrity and fidelity of the assets it receives and to establish a baseline for its own curation and
use of the assets. In addition to the metadata described above, the receiving organization also needs
information about any preservation processes the assets have undergone, including descriptions of the
outcome of such preservation processes. The description may include metadata about content, structure and
quality, as well as technical, historical and editorial information, and information about property and use rights
and conditions. A standard is needed that defines the content and format of multimedia preservation
description information (MPDI), in order to facilitate interoperability between preservation systems, ensure
accurate understanding of the resources exchanges, and reduce the risks of corruption both in the exchange
and thereafter.
ISO/IEC 23000-15, also known as “Multimedia Preservation Application Format (MP-AF),” specifies the
standard representation of the MPDI generated and used by an organization in the process of preserving a
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ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15
multimedia asset for the purpose of facilitating the exchange of multimedia content between archives or other
stakeholders (e.g. publishers, broadcasters, service providers and the like) and also subsequent preservation
and use. The purpose of the MP-AF is to:
• Enable the exchange of multimedia assets (multimedia resources plus associated metadata) between
different repositories by providing interoperable preservation description information.
• Enable archive management to react to specific events and determine when preservation actions,
such as migration, are needed to maintain the accessibility of preserved multimedia content.
• Enable automatic assessment of preservation strategies and their execution.
• Enable archive management to avoid corruption or loss of multimedia assets when changes are made
in the hardware, software or storage media used by the archive by providing standardized descriptors
to characterize multimedia assets and to describe preservation actions and outcomes for long term
preservation.
• Enable producers (originators of assets to be preserved) to provide the archive with sufficient
descriptive information to assess, plan for, and carry out preservation processes that maintain the
integrity and fidelity of the content.
• Enable consumers who need comprehensive and interoperable preservation description information
(e.g., other archives and consumers who wish to use preserved assets in the production of new ones)
to receive standard preservation description information together with multimedia assets.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.

ISO/IEC 10646:2012, Information technology – Universal coded character set (UCS)
ISO/IEC 15938-2:2002, Information technology – Multimedia content description interface (MPEG-7) – Part 2:
Description definition language
ISO/IEC 15938-4:2002/Amd 2:2006, Information technology – Multimedia content description interface
(MPEG-7) – High-level descriptors
ISO/IEC 15938-5:2003, Information technology – Multimedia content description interface (MPEG-7) – Part 5:
Multimedia description schemes
ISO/IEC 15938-5:2003/Amd 5:2015, Information technology – Multimedia content description interface
(MPEG-7) – Quality metadata, multiple text encodings, extended classification metadata
ISO/IEC 15938-9:2005/Amd 1:2012, Information technology – Multimedia content description interface
(MPEG-7) – Part 9: Profiles and levels, AMENDMENT 1: Extensions to profiles and levels (Audio visual
description profile (AVDP)
ISO/IEC TR 15938-10:2004, Information technology – Multimedia content description interface (MPEG-7) –
Part 10: Schema definition
ISO/IEC TR 15938-11:2005/Amd 1:2012, Information technology – Multimedia content description interface
(MPEG-7) – Audiovisual description profile (AVDP) schema
ISO/IEC 21000-2:2005, Information technology – Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) – Part 2: Digital Item
Declaration
ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003, Information technology – Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) – Part 3: Digital Item
Identification
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ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003/Amd 1:2007, Information technology – Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) – Related
identifier types
ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003/Amd 2:2013, Information technology – Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) – Digital item
semantic relationships
ISO/IEC 21000-5:2004, Information technology – Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) – Part 5: Rights
expression language
ISO/IEC 21000-19:2010, Information technology -- Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) -- Part 19: Media Value
Chain Ontology
ISO/IEC 21000-20:2013, Information technology – Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) – Part 20: Contract
expression language
ISO/IEC 21000-21:2013, Information technology – Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) – Part 21: Media
contract ontology
ISO/IEC 23000-6:2012, Information technology – Multimedia application format (MPEG-A) – Part 6:
Professional archival application format
ISO 14721:2012, Space data and information transfer systems -- Open archival information system (OAIS) --
Reference model
ISO 15836:2009, Information and documentation – The Dublin Core metadata element set
ISO 15924:2004, Information and documentation – Codes for the representation of names of scripts
EBU Tech 3293, EBU Core Metadata Set v.1.5, 2014
DCMI Metadata Terms, http://dublincore.org/documents/2012/06/14/dcmi-terms/
Open Annotation Data Model, W3C Community Draft, http://www.openannotation.org/spec/core/
RDF 1.1 XML Syntax, W3C Recommendation, 2014, http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-syntax-grammar/
OWL 2 Web Ontology Language XML Serialization (Second Edition), W3C Recommendation, 2012,
http://www.w3.org/TR/owl2-xml-serialization/
3 Abbreviated terms
List of abbreviated terms.
AVDP MPEG-7, Audiovisual Description Profile (ISO/IEC 15938-9:2005/Amd 1:2012)
CCDM EBU, Conceptual Class Description Model
DID ISO/IEC 21000-2 MPEG-21, Digital Item Declaration
DIDL ISO/IEC 21000-2 MPEG-21, Digital Item Declaration Language
DII ISO/IEC 21000-3 MPEG-21, Digital Item Identification
DIP OAIS, Dissemination Information Package
EIDR Entertainment Identifier Registry Association
EBU European Broadcasting Union
ISAN International Standard Audiovisual Number
MPDI Multimedia Preservation Description Information
MP-AF Multimedia Preservation Application Format (subject of this document)
MPEG-A ISO/IEC 23000, Application Formats
OAIS Open Archival Information System
PA-AF MPEG-A, Professional Archival Application Format
PDI OAIS, Preservation Description Information
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ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15
PREMIS Preservation Metadata Maintenance Activity
PRONOM The National Archives’ technical registry (UK)
PUID PRONOM, Persistent Unique identifier
SIP OAIS, Submission Information Package
SMPTE Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
UMID SMPTE 330M, Unique Media Identifier
W3C World Wide Web Consortium
4 Terminology
For the terms not defined in this section, refer to the normative references for terms and definitions used
throughout this document.
4.1 MPEG-21 Terminology
MP-AF terminology is consistent with the terminology adopted in MPEG-21. As the reader of the MP-AF
specification may not be familiar with terminology from MPEG-21 Digital Item Declaration (DID), the definitions
of the following terms needed for the definition of MP-AF are included in this section.
4.1.1 Digital Item Identification (DII)
The standard (ISO/IEC 21000-3) used by MPEG-21 for identification of digital item and their components.
4.1.2 Resource
A resource is an individually identifiable asset such as a video or audio clip, an image, or a textual asset. A
resource may also potentially be a physical object (e.g. a video tape). All resources shall be locatable via an
unambiguous address.
The reader is reminded that the term asset in the definition above has a different meaning than the MP-AF
term Asset defined in clause 4.2.3.
4.1.3 Container
A container is a structure that allows items and/or containers to be grouped. A container itself is not an item;
containers are groupings of items and/or containers. Descriptors allow for the "labeling" of containers with
information appropriate for the purpose of the grouping.
4.1.4 Item
The term Item from MPEG-21 DID is used synonymously with Digital Item in this document.
An item is a grouping of sub-items and/or components that are bound to relevant descriptors. These
descriptors contain information about the item. An item that contains no sub-items can be considered a whole.
An item that does contain sub-items can be considered a compilation. Items may also contain annotations to
their sub-parts.
4.1.5 Component
A component is the binding of a resource to a set of descriptors. These descriptors are information concerning
all or part of the specific resource instance. A component itself is not an item; components are building blocks
of items. Components may be conditional (see MPEG-21 DID for details).
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ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15
4.1.6 Descriptor
A descriptor associates information with the enclosing entity. This information may be a component (such as a
thumbnail of an image, or a text component), or a textual statement. Descriptors may be conditional (see
MPEG-21 DID for details).
4.2 MP-AF Structure Terminology
This section introduces the terms of the relevant entities in the MP-AF data model. While this sections
provides definitions of the terms, the entities of the model are described in Section 5.1 (including a
visualization in Figure 1).
4.2.1 Work
A creation that retains intellectual or descriptive attributes independently of its manifestations. This concept is
also referred as creation or intellectual entity in other contexts.
4.2.2 Preservation Object
A Preservation Object combines information describing the intellectual and artistic attributes of a Work
together with Digital Items that encode the Work. It includes technical, descriptive and preservation metadata
and any other information needed to ensure consistent and reliable access to the Digital Item(s) over time. A
Preservation Object may contain Digital Items pertaining to one particular Representation together with
information and metadata specific to that Representation. It may also contain metadata common to all
Representations. A Preservation Object may contain other Preservation Objects.
4.2.3 Asset
A special type of Preservation Object describing a Work and the associated exploitation rights belonging to a
known owner. The entity holding the rights on the digital copies may be different from the one holding the
rights on the Work itself.
4.2.4 Group
A group is a logical aggregation of related Preservation Objects. It may represent a physical or virtual
collection, a bunch of items, a shipment, etc.
The data model supports Preservation Objects to be composed of other Preservation Objects. A Group is an
aggregation of Preservation Objects, but is not a Preservation Object itself.
4.2.5 Representation
A Representation is a specific and complete manifestation of the Work. Representations may differ in terms of
technical or descriptive properties while sharing the same intellectual and/or descriptive attributes of the Work
(e.g. different performances of the same Work, low vs. high definition representations of a movie).
A Representation aggregates the whole set of Essences plus any additional metadata needed for a complete
presentation of a Work.
4.2.6 Essence
Essence is a manifestation of a Work or part of a Work. It refers to the metadata needed for correctly
rendering media content including all associated Components.
4.2.7 Component
The Component is the entity holding specific technical metadata supporting the handling of the media
resource referenced by a Media Locator. Components can be Files or Bitstreams. It manages a virtual/internal
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ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15
file structure, multimedia resources and (optionally) referenced metadata (e.g., controlled vocabularies,
taxonomies, original content or metadata files).
4.2.8 File
A File is a Component materialized as a unit recognized by a computer system, subsystem, or application.
4.2.9 Bitstream
A Bitstream is a Component recorded as contiguous or non-contiguous data within a File. Its properties are
useful for preservation such as track information (e.g. audio and video tracks).
4.2.10 Media Locator
A reference or identifier of a storage media volume, Item or part of an Item containing at least one Component.
4.3 MP-AF Description Terminology
4.3.1 Common Core Metadata Set
The common core metadata set is made up of the following two categories.
4.3.2 Core Descriptive Metadata
A basic set of editorial properties describing the Digital Item.
4.3.3 Core Technical metadata
A basic set of technical properties of the Digital Item or Component.
4.3.4 Media
The term media is used in the document with the meaning of “multimedia” such as audio, video, medical
imagery and the like. When referring to the units of physical materials on which digital data are recorded, the
terms “storage media” or “physical media“ are used.
4.4 Multimedia Preservation Description Information (MPDI) Terminology
The preservation description information (PDI) applies to multimedia assets being preserved. MPDI adapts
and extends the concept of preservation description information from OAIS in order to better address the long
term accessibility of multimedia assets. MPDI consists of metadata for Provenance, Context, Reference,
Quality, Integrity, Authenticity, Fixity, and Rights.
4.4.1 Provenance
Provenance documents the chronology of events regarding the creation, modification, ownership and custody
of a resource, such as who produced it and who has had custody since its origination. It provides information
on the history of the multimedia content (including processing history).
4.4.2 Context
Context describes the circumstances that resulted in the production of the resource and how the preserved
resource relates to other resources. For example, it may describe why and how the resource was created, it
may indicate from which resources the current one has been derived, or it may specify the relationship to
other resources.
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ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15
4.4.3 Reference
Reference represents the information that is used for identifying the multimedia resources. It provides one or
more identifiers, or systems of identifiers, by which the resources may be uniquely and persistently identified.
Reference information supports the linkage of identical or related resources that might be stored in separate
repositories. These repositories may use different mechanisms for identifying resources (e.g. using different
standards for representing local identifiers).
4.4.4 Quality
Quality includes all the information related to the description of the technical condition of digital items and
resources. This information can at least partly be automatically extracted from content with specialized tools
but often requires manual revision and validation. This manual work causes considerable costs, which is an
additional reason for preserving it. Quality information includes audio and visual defects and characteristics,
their collocation in time and space and their severity. Additionally structural information and technical
metadata of resources in relation to relevant standards are considered. This latter kind of information is
contained in media container and bitstream metadata rather than in the multimedia content itself. Finally it is
also necessary to preserve the description of the hardware devices, tools and agents used for extracting and
reviewing that quality information.
4.4.5 Fixity
Fixity encompasses the information ensuring that resources (as described by their properties) are not altered
in an undocumented manner. This information is also used to verify the integrity of Digital Items. Thus, if the
fixity information for an item changes over time, the item has changed.
4.4.6 Integrity
Integrity represents the state of a Digital Item indicating the fact of being complete and unaltered. It can be
proven by verifying the presence of all required parts in an unaltered (i.e. not modified) state.
4.4.7 Authenticity
Authenticity encompasses information to enable an Agent to verify that an object is correctly identified and
free from (intentional or accidental) corruption (i.e. capable of delivering its original message). The Agents
that issue statements about authenticity must also be correctly identified. Authenticity encompasses identity
and integrity. Identity comprises all those attributes necessary to determine what a thing is (e.g., the original
recording of a Work). Integrity asserts that none of those essential attributes have changed, i.e. there are no
significant differences neither in the same resource over time nor between two resources thought to be copies
of the same asset. While identical copies are authentic, authenticity does not require complete equivalence.
Thus, a digital version of an analog original may be an authentic copy of the Work if it can be shown that the
differences between the two versions are not significant; e.g., all of the content is present and is structured
the same way, and all important elements or attributes, such as title, creator, performer, remain the same.
4.4.8 Rights
Rights encompasses information concerning legal, regulatory or contractual provisions that affect ownership,
control, access or use of resources insofar as they impact the long term preservation (e.g. intellectual
property, copyrights, privacy, etc.). Actions or events in the preservation of resources need to respect such
rights.
4.5 MP-AF Process Terminology
4.5.1 Activity
A preservation action performed on at least one Digital Item or Component. The activity is carried out by one
or more Operators known to the preservation system.
© ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved 7

ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15
4.5.2 Operator
An Agent or a Tool contributing to the execution of an Activity by performing (part of) it or being used to
perform it.
4.5.3 Agent
Person or legal entity (organization) involved in one or more Activities dealing with the processing of Digital
Items or Components.
4.5.4 Tool
A device, system or software used for executing Activities dealing with the processing of Digital Items or
Components.
5 MP-AF Data Model
The MP-AF data model allows to effectively represent all the relevant metadata for the preservation of digital
objects, with specific attention, but not limited to, multimedia, including images, graphics, video, animation,
sound and text, and any combinations of these.
This chapter is split into the description of the logical data model (section 5.1) that makes use of UML
diagrams, and the description of the normative reference implementation (section 5.2) that makes use of XML
Schema.
5.1 Logical Data Model
This section introduces the main entities of the MP-AF logical data model.
The definition of the elements/classes of the MP-AF data model follows the goal of maximizing interoperability
and maintaining logical compatibility with existing preservation data models. This should facilitate the adoption
of MP-AF model among organizations that already use compatible models, at least for data exchange
purposes, such as the migration between preservation systems (for software or hardware upgrade for
example) or for exchange between repositories.
The MP-AF data model is defined for representing the Multimedia Preservation Description Information
(MPDI) needed for discovering, preserving accessing and delivering multimedia resources.
An overview of the logical data model is shown in Figure 1 represented in UML language. It is made up of
entities with a <> stereotype, which correspond to the metadata types specified in clause 5.2.3.
The following subsections describe the MP-AF Digital Item Entities (section 5.1.1), the MP-AF Process
Entities (section 5.1.2) and their relations to MPEG-21 DID Entities (section 5.1.3).

The implementation of MP-AF shall provide a referencing mechanism to external resources (described in Section 5.2.4).
8 © ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved

ISO/IEC DIS 23000-15
Figure 1: UML diagram of the MP-AF logical data model.
5.1.1 MP-AF Digital Item Entities
The central e
...

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 23000-15
First edition
2016-07-15
Information technology — Multimedia
application format (MPEG-A) —
Part 15:
Multimedia preservation application
format
Technologies de l’information — Format pour application multimédia
(MPEG-A) —
Partie 15: Format pour application de la conservation des
multimédias
Reference number
©
ISO/IEC 2016
© ISO/IEC 2016, Published in Switzerland
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on the internet or an intranet, without prior
written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below or ISO’s member body in the country of
the requester.
ISO copyright office
Ch. de Blandonnet 8 • CP 401
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
[e-mail]
www.iso.org
ii © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
3.1 MPEG-21 terminology . 2
3.2 MP-AF Structure terminology . 3
3.3 MP-AF Description terminology . 4
3.4 Multimedia Preservation Description Information (MPDI) terminology . 4
3.5 MP-AF Process terminology. 6
4 Abbreviated terms . 6
5 MP-AF data model . 7
5.1 General . 7
5.2 Logical data model . 7
5.2.1 MP-AF Digital Item Entities . 8
5.2.2 MP-AF Process Entities . .16
5.2.3 Relation to MPEG-21 DID Entities .22
5.2.4 Specific subclasses of Activity and Operator .23
5.3 Implementation of the MP-AF data model .24
5.3.1 Implementation of structure .24
5.3.2 Top-level elements .24
5.3.3 Implementation of Specific Descriptor Types of Preservation Metadata .27
5.3.4 References to controlled vocabularies and other resources .44
5.3.5 Nesting of descriptors .44
6 Common core metadata set .44
6.1 General .44
6.2 Core descriptive metadata .45
6.2.1 Content metadata .45
6.2.2 Descriptive Metadata for Non-Content Entities .49
6.3 Core technical metadata .52
6.3.1 Properties for all content types.53
6.3.2 Properties for image/video content .54
6.3.3 Properties for audio content .55
6.4 Generic annotation .56
6.4.1 AnnotationDescriptorType .57
6.4.2 AnnotationStatementType .57
6.4.3 RDFXMLAnnotationStatementType .57
6.4.4 JSONAnnotationStatementType .57
7 Conformance .58
7.1 Conformance of MP-AF documents .58
7.2 External schemata .59
7.3 References .59
7.3.1 References to other resources .59
7.3.2 References to controlled vocabularies .59
7.4 Conformance to MPEG-21 .59
Annex A (normative) XML schema .60
Annex B (informative) Mapping MP-AF to other preservation metadata models .61
Annex C (informative) Taxonomies .66
Bibliography .68
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved iii

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical
activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the
work. In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee,
ISO/IEC JTC 1.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for
the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent
rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the
Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity
assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the WTO principles in the Technical
Barriers to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: Foreword - Supplementary information
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology, Subcommittee
SC 29, Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information.
ISO/IEC 23000 consists of the following parts, under the general title Information technology —
Multimedia application format (MPEG-A):
— Part 1: Purpose for multimedia application formats
— Part 2: MPEG music player application format
— Part 3: MPEG photo player application format
— Part 4: Musical slide show application format
— Part 5: Media streaming application format
— Part 6: Professional archival application format
— Part 7: Open access application format
— Part 8: Portable video application format
— Part 9: Digital multimedia broadcasting application format
— Part 10: Surveillance application format
— Part 11: Stereoscopic video application format
— Part 12: Interactive music application format
— Part 13: Augmented reality application format
— Part 15: Multimedia preservation application format
iv © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

— Part 16: Publish/subscribe application format
— Part 18: Media linking application format
The following part is under preparation:
— Part 17: Multiple sensorial media application format
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved v

Introduction
ISO/IEC 23000 (also known as ʺMPEG-Aʺ) is an MPEG standard that supports a fast track to
standardization by selecting readily tested and verified tools taken from the MPEG body of standards
and combining them to form a MAF (Multimedia Application Format). If a needed piece of technology
is not provided within MPEG, then additional technologies originating from other organizations can be
included by reference in order to facilitate the envisioned MAF.
The Multimedia Preservation Application Format (MP-AF ISO/IEC 23000-15) defines the Multimedia
Preservation Description Information (MPDI). MPDI extends the concept of Preservation Description
[4]
Information (PDI), providing metadata addressing the specific requirements for preserving
[13]
multimedia content. MP-AF defines a metadata format that enables users to effectively exchange
information (metadata) related to multimedia preservation operations and their outcomes. Typical
examples include the description of integrity checking and related results, content migration from one
system to another, replication of subparts or entire contents, content quality evaluation and related
quality report, relationships between the source and output of any transformation process, etc. At the
core of MP-AF is its data model definition provided through UML diagrams and formal descriptions and
a normative XML-Schema implementation. The model has been harmonized with MPEG-21 Digital Item
Declaration and the schema reuses considerable parts of existing MPEG technologies, most notably
MPEG-21 and MPEG-7.
ISO/IEC 23000 also provides the industry with a coherent and consistent approach to manage
multimedia preservation metadata supporting a variety of application scenarios, such a digitization,
format migration, content restoration, etc. This includes various applications, hardware/software
systems and processing methods used in different digital media administrative domains and being
independent of technological changes.
ISO/IEC 23000 defines a data model for preservation metadata and its serialization in XML. It thus
serves as an interoperable metadata format at the external interfaces of a digital preservation system.
The most widely known and adopted reference model for digital preservation is the Open Archival
[4]
Information System (OAIS), a framework for understanding and applying concepts necessary for
long-term preservation of digital information. In the following, the OAIS terminology is adopted for
describing the several preservation notions addressed by MP-AF.
OAIS defines information packages (IP) at the ingest (submission – SIP) and delivery (dissemination
– DIP) side of a preservation system. These packages enfold the object of digital preservation that is
made up of the content items (one or more) and associated resources and metadata. Different packaging
formats can serve as an implementation for the IP and the same type of wrapper could be used for
submission, dissemination, as well as internal (archive) IPs. According to the OAIS guidelines, the
Professional Archival Application Format (ISO/IEC 23000-6:2012, PA-AF), which has been designed
to provide a standardized packaging format for digital files, fulfils the needs for a packaging format
within MPEG technologies.
The basic objective of digital preservation is to enable the seamless communication of information
over time and free from loss or corruption. Traditionally, this has been achieved by the conservation of
physical media on which the information is inscribed and materially associated. If the physical object
persists without alteration, the information remains unchanged and is being communicated to any
person or system capable of receiving it.
Even if some physical change occurs, the essential characteristics of the information it carries may
remain intact. For example, the ink in a textual document may have faded, but the text can remain fully
readable. However, the persistence of digital information is complicated by several factors, mainly
technological change. Obsolescence may make digital storage media unreadable and digital encodings
indecipherable. Progress may make it desirable to use new software to process old data, but entails
the risk that the output is not faithful to the source. For multimedia, the complexity is increased by the
variety of formats used and the complexity introduced by the use of compression, codecs and wrappers.
For any use over time where the integrity of the data or fidelity to original properties are important,
controls that are independent of the technologies used to store and process the data need to be imposed.
vi © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

[4]
The foundation for such controls is Preservation Description Information (PDI ). PDI is metadata
and contextual information that identifies what is being preserved, defines its essential properties,
describes requirements for processing it, and identifies processes which generated, used or modified
Digital Items as well as their results.
Many organizations collecting multimedia content, such as archives, libraries, museums, etc. already
have digital preservation systems in place. These organizations have sometimes the need to exchange
multimedia assets and related metadata, for example
— to exchange assets between preservation systems/repositories within the organization or with
related organizations,
— to change/upgrade their preservation systems,
— to exchange content with service providers, and
— to provide preservation services for other organizations.
These exchanges need to include preservation description information that enables the receiving
organization both to assess the integrity and fidelity of the assets it receives and to establish a baseline
for curation and use of the assets. The description may include metadata about content, structure and
quality, as well as technical, historical and editorial information, and information about property and
use rights and conditions.
The following are the purposes of the MP-AF in brief:
— to enable the exchange of multimedia assets (multimedia resources plus associated metadata)
between different repositories by providing interoperable preservation description information;
— to enable archive management to react to specific events and determine when preservation actions,
such as migration, are needed to maintain the accessibility of preserved multimedia content;
— to enable automatic assessment of preservation strategies and their execution;
— to enable archive management to avoid corruption or loss of multimedia assets when changes are
made in the hardware, software or storage media used by the archive by providing standardized
descriptors to characterize multimedia assets and to describe preservation actions and outcomes
for long term preservation;
— to enable producers (originators of assets to be preserved) to provide the archive with sufficient
descriptive information to assess, plan for, and carry out preservation processes that maintain the
integrity and fidelity of the content;
— to enable consumers who need comprehensive and interoperable preservation description information
(e.g. other archives and consumers who wish to use preserved assets in the production of new ones)
to receive standard preservation description information together with multimedia assets.
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved vii

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 23000-15:2016(E)
Information technology — Multimedia application format
(MPEG-A) —
Part 15:
Multimedia preservation application format
1 Scope
This part of ISO/IEC 23000 specifies the standard representation of the multimedia description
information (MPDI) generated and used by an organization in the process of preserving a multimedia
asset for the purpose of facilitating the exchange of multimedia content between archives or other
stakeholders (e.g. publishers, broadcasters, service providers and the like), as well as subsequent
preservation and use.
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are
indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC 15938-4:2002/Amd 1, Audio extensions
ISO/IEC 15938-5, Information technology — Multimedia content description interface — Part 5:
Multimedia description schemes
ISO/IEC 15938-5:2003/Amd 5, Quality metadata, multiple text encodings, extended classification metadata
ISO/IEC 21000-2, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 2: Digital Item
Declaration
ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 3: Digital
Item Identification
ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003/Amd 1, Related identifier types
ISO/IEC 21000-3:2003/Amd 2, Digital item semantic relationships
ISO/IEC 21000-5, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 5: Rights
Expression Language
ISO/IEC 21000-20, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 20: Contract
Expression Language
ISO/IEC 21000-21, Information technology — Multimedia framework (MPEG-21) — Part 21: Media
Contract Ontology
ISO 15924, Information and documentation — Codes for the representation of names of scripts
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply. ISO and IEC maintain
terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved 1

ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
For the terms used in this document and not defined in this clause, please refer to the normative
references.
3.1 MPEG-21 terminology
MP-AF terminology is consistent with the terminology adopted in MPEG-21. As the reader of the
MP-AF specification may not be familiar with terminology from ISO/IEC 21000-2 MPEG-21 Digital
Item Declaration (DID), the definitions of the following terms needed for the definition of MP-AF are
included in 3.1.
3.1.1
Digital Item Identification
DII
standard (ISO/IEC 21000-3) used by MPEG-21 for identification of Digital Item and their components
3.1.2
Resource
individually identifiable asset such as a video or audio clip, an image, or a textual asset
Note 1 to entry: A resource may also potentially be a physical object (e.g. a video tape).
Note 2 to entry: All resources shall be locatable via an unambiguous address.
Note 3 to entry: The term asset in the definition has a different meaning than the MP-AF term Asset defined in 3.2.3.
3.1.3
Container
structure that allows Items and/or Containers to be grouped
Note 1 to entry: A Container itself is not an Item; containers are groupings of Items and/or Containers. Descriptors
(3.1.6) allow for the ʺlabellingʺ of Containers with information appropriate for the purpose of the grouping.
3.1.4
Item
grouping of sub-items and/or components (3.1.5) that are bound to relevant Descriptors (3.1.6)
Note 1 to entry: These descriptors contain information about the Item. An Item that contains no sub-items can be
considered a whole. An Item that does contain sub-items can be considered a compilation. Items may also contain
annotations to their sub-parts.
Note 2 to entry: The term Item from MPEG-21 DID is used synonymously with Digital Item in this part of
ISO/IEC 23000.
3.1.5
Component
binding of a Resource (3.1.2) to a set of Descriptors (3.1.6)
Note 1 to entry: These descriptors are information concerning all or part of the specific resource instance. A
Component itself is not an Item (3.1.4); Components are building blocks of Items. Components may be conditional
(see MPEG-21 DID for details).
3.1.6
Descriptor
associates information with the enclosing entity
Note 1 to entry: This information may be a component (3.1.5) (such as a thumbnail of an image or a text
component) or a textual statement. Descriptors may be conditional (see MPEG-21 DID for details).
2 © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

3.2 MP-AF Structure terminology
3.2 introduces the terms of the relevant entities in the MP-AF data model. While 3.2 provides definitions
of the terms, the entities of the model are described in 5.2 (including visualization in Figure 1).
3.2.1
Work
creation that retains intellectual or descriptive attributes independently of its manifestations
Note 1 to entry: This concept is also referred to as creation or intellectual entity in other contexts.
3.2.2
Preservation Object
combines information describing the intellectual and artistic attributes of a Work (3.2.1) together with
Digital Items (3.1.4) that encode the Work
Note 1 to entry: It includes technical, descriptive and preservation metadata and any other information needed to
ensure consistent and reliable access to the Digital Item(s) over time. A Preservation Object may contain Digital
Items pertaining to one or more particular Representation(s) (3.2.5) together with information and metadata
specific to that Representation. It may also contain metadata common to all Representations. A Preservation
Object may contain other Preservation Objects.
3.2.3
Asset
special type of Preservation Object (3.2.2) describing a Work (3.2.1) and the associated exploitation
rights belonging to a known owner
Note 1 to entry: The entity holding the rights on the digital copies may be different from the one holding the
rights on the Work itself.
3.2.4
Group
logical aggregation of related Preservation Objects
Note 1 to entry: It may represent a physical or virtual collection, a bunch of Items (3.1.4), a shipment, etc.
Note 2 to entry: The data model supports Preservation Objects to be composed of other Preservation Objects. A
Group is an aggregation of Preservation Objects, but is not a Preservation Object itself.
3.2.5
Representation
specific and complete manifestation of the Work (3.2.1)
Note 1 to entry: Representations may differ in terms of technical or descriptive properties while sharing the
same intellectual and/or descriptive attributes of the Work (e.g. different performances of the same Work, low
vs. high definition representations of a movie).
Note 2 to entry: A Representation aggregates the whole set of Essences (3.2.6) plus any additional metadata
needed for a complete presentation of a Work.
3.2.6
Essence
manifestation of a Work (3.2.1) or part of a Work; refers to the metadata needed for correctly rendering
media content including all associated Components (3.2.7)
3.2.7
Component
entity holding specific technical metadata supporting the handling of the media resource referenced by
a Media Locator (3.2.10)
Note 1 to entry: A Component can be a File or Bitstream (3.2.9). It manages a (virtual/internal) file structure,
multimedia resources and (optionally) referenced metadata (e.g. controlled vocabularies, taxonomies, original
content or metadata files).
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved 3

3.2.8
File
Component (3.2.7) materialized as a unit recognized by a computer system, subsystem, or application
3.2.9
Bitstream
Component (3.2.7) recorded as contiguous or non-contiguous data within a File
Note 1 to entry: If metadata are specific to streams or tracks (e.g. audio and video tracks of a file), Bitstream shall
be used and descriptors shall be added on Bitstream level.
3.2.10
Media Locator
reference or identifier of a storage media volume, Item or part of an Item containing at least one
Component (3.2.7)
3.3 MP-AF Description terminology
3.3.1
Common Core Metadata Set
contains basic technical and descriptive attributes, which can be easily mapped to different metadata
formats in use (also outside the preservation domain)
3.3.2
Core Descriptive Metadata
basic set of editorial properties describing the Digital Item
EXAMPLE Title or subject.
3.3.3
Core Technical metadata
basic set of technical properties of the Digital Item or Component
EXAMPLE Video resolution or audio sampling rate.
3.3.4
Media
ʺmultimediaʺ such as audio, video, medical imagery and the like
Note 1 to entry: When referring to the units of physical materials on which digital data are recorded, the terms
ʺstorage mediaʺ or ʺphysical mediaʺ are used.
3.4 Multimedia Preservation Description Information (MPDI) terminology
The preservation description information (PDI) applies to multimedia assets being preserved. MPDI
adapts and extends the concept of preservation description information from OAIS in order to better
address the long term accessibility of multimedia assets. MPDI consists of metadata for Provenance,
Context, Reference, Quality, Fixity, Integrity, Authenticity, and Rights. The requirements for MPDI are
detailed in Reference [13].
3.4.1
Provenance
documents the chronology of events regarding the creation, modification, ownership and custody of a
resource, such as who produced it and who has had custody since its origination; it provides information
on the history of the multimedia content (including processing history).
4 © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

3.4.2
Context
circumstances that resulted in the production of the resource and how the preserved resource relates
to other resources
EXAMPLE It may describe why and how the resource was created, it may indicate from which resources the
current one has been derived, or it may specify the relationship to other resources.
3.4.3
Reference
information that is used for identifying the multimedia resources
Note 1 to entry: It provides one or more identifiers, or systems of identifiers, by which the resources may be
uniquely and persistently identified. Reference information supports the linkage of identical or related resources
that might be stored in separate repositories. These repositories may use different mechanisms for identifying
resources (e.g. using different standards for representing local identifiers).
3.4.4
Quality
information related to the description of the technical condition of Digital Items and resources
Note 1 to entry: This information can at least partly be automatically extracted from content with specialized
tools but often requires manual revision and validation. This manual work causes considerable costs, which is
an additional reason for preserving it. Quality information includes audio and visual defects and characteristics,
their collocation in time and space and their severity. Additionally, structural information and technical metadata
of resources in relation to relevant standards are considered. This latter kind of information is contained in
media container and bitstream metadata rather than in the multimedia content itself. Finally, it is also necessary
to preserve the description of the hardware devices, tools and agents used for extracting and reviewing that
quality information.
3.4.5
Fixity
encompasses the information ensuring that resources (as described by their properties) are not altered
in an undocumented manner
Note 1 to entry: This information is also used to verify the integrity of Digital Items. Thus, if the fixity information
for an Item changes over time, the Item has changed.
3.4.6
Integrity
state of a Digital Item indicating the fact of being complete and unaltered
Note 1 to entry: It can be proven by verifying the presence of all required parts in an unaltered (i.e. not
modified) state.
3.4.7
Authenticity
information to enable an Agent to verify that an object is correctly identified and free from (intentional
or accidental) corruption (i.e. capable of delivering its original message)
Note 1 to entry: The Agents that issue statements about authenticity should also be correctly identified.
Authenticity encompasses identity and integrity. Identity comprises all those attributes necessary to determine
what a thing is (e.g. the original recording of a Work). Integrity asserts that none of those essential attributes
have changed, i.e. there are no significant differences neither in the same resource over time nor between two
resources thought to be copies of the same asset. While identical copies are authentic, authenticity does not
require complete equivalence. Thus, a digital version of an analog original may be an authentic copy of the Work if
it can be shown that the differences between the two versions are not significant, e.g. all of the content is present
and is structured the same way, and all important elements or attributes, such as title, creator, performer, remain
the same.
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved 5

3.4.8
Rights
information concerning legal, regulatory or contractual provisions that affect ownership, control,
access or use of resources insofar as they impact the long term preservation
EXAMPLE Intellectual property, copyrights, privacy, etc.
Note 1 to entry: Actions or events in the preservation of resources need to respect such rights.
3.5 MP-AF Process terminology
3.5.1
Activity
preservation action performed on at least one Digital Item or Component
Note 1 to entry: The activity is carried out by one or more Operators (3.5.2) known to the preservation system.
3.5.2
Operator
Agent (3.5.3) or a Tool (3.5.4) contributing to the execution of an Activity (3.5.1) by performing (part of)
it or being used to perform it
3.5.3
Agent
person or legal entity (organization) involved in one or more Activities dealing with the processing of
Digital Items or Components
3.5.4
Tool
device, system or software used for executing Activities dealing with the processing of Digital Items or
Components
4 Abbreviated terms
AVDP MPEG-7, Audiovisual Description Profile (ISO/IEC 15938-9:2005/Amd 1:2012)
CCDM EBU, Conceptual Class Description Model
DID ISO/IEC 21000-2 MPEG-21, Digital Item Declaration
DIDL ISO/IEC 21000-2 MPEG-21, Digital Item Declaration Language
DII ISO/IEC 21000-3 MPEG-21, Digital Item Identification
DIP OAIS, Dissemination Information Package
EIDR Entertainment Identifier Registry Association
EBU European Broadcasting Union
ISAN International Standard Audiovisual Number
MPDI Multimedia Preservation Description Information
MP-AF Multimedia Preservation Application Format (subject of this part of ISO/IEC 23000)
MPEG-A ISO/IEC 23000, Application Formats
OAIS Open Archival Information System
6 © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

PA-AF MPEG-A, Professional Archival Application Format
PDI OAIS, Preservation Description Information
PREMIS Preservation Metadata Maintenance Activity
PRONOM The National Archives’ technical registry (UK)
PUID PRONOM, Persistent Unique identifier
SIP OAIS, Submission Information Package
SMPTE Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
UMID SMPTE 330M, Unique Media Identifier
W3C World Wide Web Consortium
5 MP-AF data model
5.1 General
The MP-AF data model allows to effectively represent all the relevant metadata for the preservation
of digital objects, with specific attention to, but not limited to, multimedia, including images, graphics,
video, animation, sound and text, and any combinations of those.
Clause 5 is split into the description of the logical data model (5.2) that makes use of UML diagrams and
the description of MPDI descriptors (5.3). XML Schema is used to define the normative serialization of
the model.
5.2 Logical data model
5.2 introduces the main entities of the MP-AF logical data model.
The definition of the elements/classes of the MP-AF data model follows the goal of maximizing
interoperability and maintaining logical compatibility with existing preservation data models. This
should facilitate the adoption of the MP-AF model among organizations that already use compatible
models, at least for data exchange purposes, such as the migration between preservation systems (for
software or hardware upgrade, for example) or for exchange between repositories.
The MP-AF data model is defined for representing the Multimedia Preservation Description
Information (MPDI) needed for discovering, preserving, accessing and delivering multimedia resources.
An overview of the logical data model is shown in Figure 1 represented in UML language. It is made up
of entities with a <> stereotype, which correspond to the metadata types specified in 5.3.3.
The following subclauses describe the MP-AF Digital Item Entities (5.2.1), the MP-AF Process Entities
(5.2.2), their relations to MPEG-21 DID Entities (5.2.3) and the mechanism for defining specializations
of Activities and Operators (5.2.4). In each subclause, the involved part of the implementation schema
are reported in specific text boxes and explained.
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved 7

Figure 1 — UML diagram of the MP-AF data model.
5.2.1 MP-AF Digital Item Entities
The central entities in the model are those describing multimedia content. All of them are Digital Items
representing the following three levels of aggregation:
— preservation object and asset;
— representation;
— essence.
Some of the entities described in 5.2.1 are based on entities defined in MPEG-21 DID. Their relation to
the MPEG-21 DID entities is detailed in 5.2.3.
5.2.1.1 Digital Item
An intellectual/editorial entity to be preserved, a representation of such an entity or an essence. See
4.1.4. This entity is abstract, only its specializations may be instantiated.
5.2.1.1.1 ItemBaseType
Base type for Items described in place or references to Items. This type establishes the inheritance from
MPEG-21 DID model ItemType, and serves as a common ancestor for Items described in place or being
referenced. This enables Items and references to Items to be treated in the same way, thus supporting
splitting the structure definition within a document or over multiple documents in order to simplify
parsing the structure.
8 © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved






5.2.1.1.2 ItemType
Base type for Items described in place. It is the common ancestor of all types representing content.








Name Definition
URI identifying the Item. URI may be abbreviated as relative URIs, if they have the docu-
uri
ment URI as base URI.
5.2.1.1.3 ItemRefBaseType
Base type for reference to an Item.







5.2.1.1.4 ItemRefType
Reference to an Item. Items and references to Items can be treated in the same way, thus supporting
splitting the structure definition within a document or over multiple documents in order to simplify
parsing the structure.








Name Definition
This shall reference an element in the same preservation metadata document (a relative
ref
URL may be used) or an element in another document (using an absolute URL).
© ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved 9

5.2.1.2 Preservation Object
See 4.2.2.
Relations
— Preservation Object aggregates 0.n Preservation Objects: Preservation Objects may be recursively
nested in order to express the natural structure of various types of multimedia content. In this
particular case, it can be treated also as a single object (e.g. an entire audio CD vs. the tracks it
contains).
— Preservation Object aggregates 0.n Representations
5.2.1.2.1 PreservationObjectType
A Preservation Object.




maxOccurs=ʺunboundedʺ>

maxOccurs=ʺunboundedʺ>

maxOccurs=ʺunboundedʺ>







Name Definition
Condition Condition as defined by MPEG-21 DID.
Descriptor The Descriptor(s) of the PreservationObject. See 5.2.1.11 for permitted descriptor types.
Choice Choice as defined by MPEG-21 DID.
Item
Item may be of type PreservationObject or Representation only.
5.2.1.3 Asset
Asset is a specialization of Preservation Object, characterized by a mandatory descriptor for
ExploitationRights (cf. SMPTE definition of Asset). A PreservationObject having ExploitationRights has
to be represented as an Asset. See 4.2.3.
Relations
— Asset has 1.n ExploitationRights descriptors.
5.2.1.3.1 AssetType
A Preservation Object with associated exploitation rights.




maxOccurs=ʺunboundedʺ>

10 © ISO/IEC 2016 – All rights reserved

maxOccurs=ʺunboundedʺ>

maxOccurs=ʺunboundedʺ>









Name Definition
Condition Condition as defined by MPEG-21 DID.
The Descriptor(s) of the PreservationObject. See 5.2.1.11 for permitted descriptor types.
Descriptor
At least one ExploitationRightsDescriptor should be present.
Choice
Choice as defined by MPEG-21 DID.
Item
Item may be of type PreservationObject or Representation only.
URI identifying the Asset. URI may be abbreviated as relative URIs, if they have the docu-
uri
ment URI as base URI.
5.2.1.4 Representation
See 4.2.5.
Relations
...