# OAIS and ISO 16363 The Reference Model for an **Open Archival Information System (OAIS)**, also known as ISO 14721:2012, is the "gold standard" guiding how digital preservation should be done. **The ISO16363 standard was designed to provide the basis of an ISO audit and certification process.** In this section you can find: * [A guide to understand OAIS and the ISO 16363](/libsafe-advanced-manual/concepts/oais-and-iso-16363/understanding-oais-and-iso-16363.md): describes the key ideas of OAIS and ISO 16363 together with an explanation of what conformance to them requires. * [LIBSAFE ](/libsafe-advanced-manual/concepts/oais-and-iso-16363.md)[ support for OAIS/ISO 16363 Conformance](/libsafe-advanced-manual/concepts/oais-and-iso-16363.md): This section describes how LIBSAFE Advanced can be used to support preservation. Although no piece of software can preserve information by itself, the wrong software can prevent one from carrying out preservation. On the other hand, the right software can support and make it much easier for an archive to carry out preservation if properly configured. * [Planning for preservation](/libsafe-advanced-manual/concepts/oais-and-iso-16363.md): as with any serious activity, digital preservation requires planning. This section describes what needs to be done. * [ISO 16363 certification guide](/libsafe-advanced-manual/concepts/oais-and-iso-16363.md): describes why certification is important, why an archive should be certified and what needs to be done. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.libnova.com/libsafe-advanced-manual/concepts/oais-and-iso-16363.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.