FITS (File Information Tool Set)
Description
FITS allows data curators to identify, validate, and extract technical metadata for the objects in their digital repository. It does this by encorporating a range of mostly third-party open source tools, normalising and consolidating their output.
Provider
Harvard Library
Licensing and cost
GNU Lesser GPL – free.
Development activity
FITS 0.2.0 was first released as open source in July 2009. As of April 2014 the latest release was version 0.8, released in January 2014. The tool was created to be used in Harvard’s Digital Repository Service, and development is active and ongoing.
Platform and interoperability
FITS is written in Java and is compatible with Java 1.6 or higher. It uses six external tools: JHOVE, Exiftool, National Library of New Zealand Metadata Extractor, DROID, FFIdent, and the File Utility; a few Harvard Library-created tools; and many open source libraries. Instructions for command line use are given for Windows and Unix.
Functional notes
FITS acts as a wrapper, invoking and managing the output from several other open source tools. Output from these tools are converted into a common format, compared to one another and consolidated into a single XML output file. Technical metadata is only output (and a part of the consolidation process) for tools that were able to identify the file. All other output is discarded.
Documentation and user support
Documentation exists in the form of a project wiki, including information for users, installers, and developers. The materials are written for an IT, rather than library/archive audience. The project actively uses the fits-users google group has 30 members, and is active as of January 2012. The FITS wiki also includes an issues tracker.
Usability
FITS uses a command line interface; it is designed to be integrated into other software workflows, and so is aimed at those with application design experience.
Expertise required
Installation and configuration require deep systems administration and application design knowledge, as well as familiarity with file format and metadata standards.
Standards compliance
FITS outputs in XML format.
Influence and take-up
The FITS website shows over 2000 downloads of the software. The tool was designed for and is in use at the Harvard Library Digital Repository Service.
User Experiences
Development Activity