ISO 14721:2025

This document defines the CCSDS and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS). An OAIS is an Archive system consisting of hardware, software, information, and policy-based processes and procedures put in place and operated by an organization and its staff. The organization has accepted the responsibility to preserve information and make it available for a Designated Community. The organization may be part of a larger organization. The system meets a set of mandatory responsibilities that allow an OAIS Archive to be distinguished from other uses of the term ‘archive’. The set of mandatory responsibilities an OAIS Archive must perform are defined in guides the identification and production of OAIS-related standards.

The reference model addresses a full range of archival information preservation functions including ingest, archival storage, data management, access, and dissemination. It also addresses the migration of digital information to new media and forms, the information models used to represent the information, the role of software in information preservation, and the exchange of digital information among Archives. It identifies both internal and external interfaces to the Archive functions, and it identifies a number of high-level services at these interfaces. It provides various illustrative examples and some ‘best practice’ recommendations. It defines a minimal set of responsibilities for an Archive to be called an OAIS, and it also defines a maximal Archive to provide a broad set of useful terms and concepts.