Mafiset

Mafiset is a fictional open-standard data model and file format designed for managing metadata and multimedia assets within digital archives, libraries, and museums. The standard defines a metadata schema, a packaging format, and a preservation workflow to support long-term accessibility and integrity of digital assets.

The name Mafiset is derived from meta, asset, and set, reflecting its aim to unify metadata about asset groups. It was developed in a collaborative project among European cultural heritage institutions beginning in the early 2010s, with an initial public specification released around 2017.

Mafiset uses a layered approach: a core metadata model expressed in JSON-LD, an optional RDF serialization, and a packaging format that groups files with a manifest and checksums in a single archive. It supports versioning, provenance tracking, rights expressions, and preservation actions. Validation tools verify schema conformance, and interoperability is facilitated through mappings to established standards such as METS or PREMIS.

Within the fictional ecosystem, Mafiset has been adopted by several national archives, university libraries, and media museums. It is distributed under an open-source license, with reference implementations and community-driven documentation.

As a hypothetical standard, Mafiset faces challenges common to archival formats, including performance with large media collections, interoperability with commercial systems, and ongoing governance. Proposals for future updates focus on richer rights metadata, improved streaming support, and tighter integration with web archival tools.