Overview
ISO/IEC TS 22424-1:2020 - "Digital publishing - EPUB3 preservation - Part 1: Principles" defines high-level principles to make EPUB publications suitable for long-term preservation. The Technical Specification evaluates EPUB features from a preservation viewpoint, identifying features that are required, discouraged, or forbidden for archival use and describing how EPUB publications should be prepared and packaged for ingestion into archival systems. The specification focuses on EPUB 3 (primarily EPUB 3.0.1) and supports a dual strategy: making the object fit for preservation and packaging it for OAIS-style archives.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Preservation-oriented EPUB construction: Guidance on EPUB features to use or avoid (for example, embedding fonts is identified as a preservation requirement in the specification).
- Packaging as OAIS Submission Information Packages (SIPs): EPUB files should be submitted as well-formed, complete SIPs containing content, related metadata, and any additional documentation or versions needed for preservation.
- Identification and metadata:
- SIPs and objects within SIPs must be uniquely and persistently identifiable both during and after ingest.
- Metadata in SIPs should be standards-based and support validation of integrity, fixity and syntax.
- Editing of package metadata must be possible.
- Transfer and verification: SIPs should be transferable by any means and archives must be able to verify the identity of the submitting organization or person.
- Content rules and interoperability:
- Some EPUB features (e.g., use of EPUB fragment identifiers) are discouraged for submissions unless explicitly allowed by a submission agreement.
- Packaging methods must not restrict preservation methods or SIP size.
- Validation tools: The text references EPUBCheck (version 4.2.0) as the validator available for EPUB 3.x content.
Applications and who uses it
ISO/IEC TS 22424-1 is intended for:
- Digital preservation practitioners and archive managers preparing EPUB content for long-term storage.
- Publishers, aggregators and content creators who need to produce archivable EPUB publications.
- Repository and ingest system developers implementing OAIS-based workflows and SIP handling.
- Librarians and digital curators developing preservation policies and submission agreements.
Practical benefits include clearer submission requirements, improved interoperability with OAIS repositories, reduced preservation risk, and more reliable future access to EPUB content.
Related standards
- ISO/IEC TS 22424-2 (packaging and OAIS alignment) - complements Part 1 by specifying SIP construction and archive integration.
- EPUB specifications (EPUB 3.0.1 and later revisions) and validation tools such as EPUBCheck.
- OAIS (Open Archival Information System) model as the preservation framework referenced throughout the guidance.
Keywords: ISO/IEC TS 22424-1, EPUB preservation, long-term preservation, EPUB archiving, SIP, OAIS, EPUB3 preservation, metadata, EPUBCheck.