Space data and information transfer systems — Open archival information system (OAIS) — Reference model

ISO 14721:2012 defines the reference model for an open archival information system (OAIS). An OAIS is an archive, consisting of an organization, which may be part of a larger organization, of people and systems that has accepted the responsibility to preserve information and make it available for a designated community. It meets a set of such responsibilities as defined in this International Standard, and this allows an OAIS archive to be distinguished from other uses of the term "archive". The term "open" in OAIS is used to imply that ISO 14721:2012, as well as future related International Standards, are developed in open forums, and it does not imply that access to the archive is unrestricted.

ISO 14721:2012

provides a framework for the understanding and increased awareness of archival concepts needed for long term digital information preservation and access,
provides the concepts needed by non-archival organizations to be effective participants in the preservation process,
provides a framework, including terminology and concepts, for describing and comparing architectures and operations of existing and future archives,
provides a framework for describing and comparing differen