For preservation and beyond, broad and reliable format identification has proven to be a critical shared problem across many institutions. Recent discussions on the OPF blogs have illustrated this point, and showed that we all like using DROID and Fido but would also like to improve them.
The main challenge is to improve the coverage and quality of the signature files for Fido. The developers would create or update format signatures, and to ensure the quality we would specify the required information and embed a peer review process where a second developer has to sign-off on the new format record. At the end of the day we should have a much better set of signatures and format information that we can submit to PRONOM or elsewhere. To improve format records, attendees will just need a basic understanding of XML, but to hack signatures, will need to be comfortable with regular expressions and the command-line (for testing).
A alternative and parallel challenge is to improve Fido itself (this would require Python expertise), or improve other identification tools in impressive ways.
Prizes
The prizes are as follows:
First Prize, Samsung Galaxy Tablet
Second Prize, Samsung Galaxy Player
The prizes will be awarded to the developers who create, update and/or review the most new signatures, or who make the most significant contribution to the development of the existing preservation tools.
Link to OPF developers community:
http://wiki.opf-labs.org/display/PT/Developing+with+the+OPF
A group of experts from Open Planets Foundation member organizations will facilitate the process during the day and provide expert input:
