MAG: A metadata set for managing and preserving Italian digital resources

The very recent introduction of the MAG format as part of the digitalisation process promoted by tbe «Biblioteca Digitale ltaliana» (BDI) does not, as yet, permit any kind assessment. It is however possible to outline the features of the format itself, without even having to go into overly technical detail, and clarify the needs MAG is expected to answer. It is well known, to the point of having become a commonplace over the years, that al the heart of information technology there lies a distinction between application programs and data, between - that is - the matter and the process of elaboration: one can often treat any given set of information with a variety of programs, and conversely one may employ a given program for the treatment of different sets of data. It is also time, however, that the dynamics which concern data as such - the gathering, updating, modelisation thereof - evolve on a time scale which is at considerable variance with the fast moving development of software.