Sustainability of Digital Formats
 Planning for Library of Congress Collections

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Identification and description

Full name	Audible.Com MP3
Description	Audible.Com wrapper containing an MP3 encoded bitstream. Audible.Com is a seller of recorded sound products, ranging from talking books to archived radio programs, e.g., Car Talk.
Production phase	Used for final-state, end-user delivery.
Relationship to other formats
Subtype of	AudCom, Audible.Com File Format
Contains	MP3_ENC encoded audio

Local use

LC experience or existing holdings	None
LC preference	General preference for recorded sound is WAVE_LCPM. For compressed audio, MP3_FF is preferred to AudCom_MP3; within the Audible.Com family, however, AudCom_MP3 is preferred to other encodings.

Sustainability factors

Disclosure	Not documented
Documentation	See AudCom, Audible.Com File Format
Adoption	See AudCom, Audible.Com File Format
Licensing and patent claims	See AudCom, Audible.Com File Format
Transparency	See AudCom, Audible.Com File Format
Self-documentation	See AudCom, Audible.Com File Format
External dependencies	See AudCom, Audible.Com File Format
Technical protection considerations	See AudCom, Audible.Com File Format

Quality and functionality factors (video)

Normal rendering	Good support.
Fidelity (support for high audio resolution)	Good
Support for multiple sound channels	Apparently not
Support for downloadable or user-defined sounds, samples, and patches	No
Functionality beyond normal rendering	No

File type signifiers

Tag type	Value	Note
Filename Extension	aa	See AudCom, Audible.Com File Format
Internet Media Type		See AudCom, Audible.Com File Format
Magic numbers		See AudCom, Audible.Com File Format

Notes

General
History

Format specifications

URLs
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Useful references

URLs
• Audible.Com web site. (http://www.audible.com)
• Discussion of formats at Audible.Com (http://www.audible.com/formats)

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