“We propose an approach to digital content preservation that leverages the knowledge of the archival profession and helps archivists remain comfortable with the digital domain. One of the major needs to make this strategy possible is a digital equivalent to the physical container - the archival box or file folder - that defines a series, and that can be labeled with standard information in a defined format to allow retrieval when needed. The Self-contained Information Retention Format (SIRF) is defined to be that equivalent - a logical container for a set of (digital) preservation objects that also contains catalogs and metadata related to the entire contents of the container as well as to the individual objects. This logical container makes it easier and more efficient to provide many of the processes needed to address threats to digital content.

This document describes SIRF and the motivation for it along with its use cases and requirements. The use case model is used to derive the desired functional requirements of the SIRF format and the system that implements and uses it.  The model uses graphical symbols and text to specify how users or applications in specific roles use SIRF. The document describes the use cases from a usage point of view: it doesn't describe how systems implement SIRF internally, nor does it describe SIRF internal structures or mechanisms.”

The document is attached or can be reached via the SNIA's public review portal: