This document defines the CCSDS and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS). An OAIS is an Archive system consisting of hardware, software, information, and policy-based processes and procedures put in place and operated by an organization and its staff. The organization has accepted the responsibility to preserve information and make it available for a Designated Community. The organization may be part of a larger organization. The system meets a set of mandatory responsibilities that allow an OAIS Archive to be distinguished from other uses of the term archive .