Um...how is this better/different from already existing sites/efforts
around this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_formats
http://www.wotsit.org/
http://www.ace.net.nz/tech/TechFileFormat.html
http://www.fileformat.info/

At the very least, this new effort shouldn't start from scratch...
Roy

On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 2:36 AM, Ed Summers <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I imagine you've heard about the Just Solve the Problem month already,
> but if not, I thought Chris Rusbridge's email to the
> digital-preservation list was a good call for participation in the
> project ...
>
> //Ed
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Chris Rusbridge <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, Nov 1, 2012 at 4:00 PM
> Subject: Just Solve the File Format Problem month: can you help?
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> Some of you will know that Jason Scott, Rogue Archivist, is raising a
> citizen's army to attempt to solve the "file format problem*" in the
> month of November, 2012. The work is taking place via a wiki at
> http://justsolve.archiveteam.org/index.php/Main_Page, with a band of
> volunteers (you need to register to make changes to the wiki, by
> sending a username and email address to [log in to unmask]). I've
> added a few formats and groups of formats myself (at least as
> skeletons or empty placeholders).
>
> The best form of help is for some of you who know more about rarer
> data formats to register and help by editing the wiki yourself. It's
> pretty easy; I've never used MediaWiki before, and everything I've
> done so far has been by finding something like it and adapting the
> wiki source. Other people can make it beautiful and standardised later
> on!
>
> If you can't do that, you could email me information about missing
> data formats. This should include as much as possible of:
>
> - name, and what it's for (ie brief description)
> - web site with some authoritative information
> - web site with some examples, etc.
>
> Let's try and capture ALL these formats. As Jason says in his own
> inimitable way "Let's make that goddam army!".
>
> * Note, the "problem" is only vaguely defined, and after some angst
> (eg see http://unsustainableideas.wordpress.com/2012/07/04/the-solution-is-42-what-was-the-problem/),
> I think that's OK. Gathering a huge amount of information about file
> formats in one place will be a BIG HELP.
>
> --
> Chris Rusbridge
> Mobile: +44 791 7423828
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> Adopt the email charter! http://emailcharter.org/