It is difficult to make general recommendations for other data records (e.g. video, audio, statistics, software, etc.). Please contact us for advice. Our basic recommendations are as follows:

• It's often wise to save the files in multiple formats, i.e. a format suited to long-term preservation, in addition to its original format.
• For audiovisual material in particular, the source material must first be analyzed before any suitable recommendations can be made.
• Audio files: These should be as uncompressed as possible at high data rates and the metadata should be as complete and descriptive as possible. The best option is a WAVE file (.wav). If the files have to be compressed, then lossless compression is advisable.
• Video: The highest data quality possible including technical and descriptive metadata that is as comprehensive as possible.
• Websites: Websites should ideally be regularly saved as part of the Swiss National Library's program e-Helvetica Web Archive Switzerland. The ZHB can register websites with the Swiss National Library or look into alternative archiving options if necessary.
• Presentations, data records, statistical material, research data, program files/software, etc.: The current advice is that these files should generally be saved as up to three different file formats: (a) the original file including comprehensive metadata, (b) a readable, simple data format (e.g. .csv) and, if necessary, (c) PDF/A as a visual representation of the appearance of the original.