New Standard Address Long-Term Preservation of E-Documents

"PDF/A files will be more self-contained, self-describing, device-independent than generic PDF 1.4 files, and should allow information to be retained longer as PDF," said Susan Sullivan of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. "But, Federal agencies and other users should be aware that PDF/A does not stand alone. PDF/A must be implemented in conjunction with mechanisms to manage records according to legal and domain specific requirements."