Skip to content

Workflow for born digital description

Jump to bottom
Daniel Michelson edited this page Aug 18, 2022 · 56 revisions

May not be accurate, use with caution

  • Open the project spreadsheet and identify the next collection to be described. Enter your name under the "Person claiming work" column.

  • Identify all of the entries for the collection; note the identifiers for each digital object.

  • Get a sense of the collection to which the digital materials belong:

    • Open the Resource record in ArchivesSpace and review the entire finding aid in order to better understand the context of the digital files. This includes the Biographical/Historical note, Scope and content, Series descriptions, and the container list.
    • Note where media is described in container list and whether the location gives any contextual information about the contents of the media (especially for media filed in the same folder with paper records).
    • Pay attention to specific names, events, dates, and acronyms in the finding aid which may provide clues as to the contents/subject matter of the digital files.
    • Note if there are any restrictions for the collection (collection-level restrictions are also listed in the last column of the project spreadsheet).

  • Get a sense of the digital materials to be described:

    • Open the google drive folder and open the digital file list(s) and digital processing log(s) (if there is one) with the matching identifier(s). (if there is no file list for a digital object in the folder, let Margy know)

    • Note any potentially sensitive digital content, especially if the collection carries partial restrictions (see guidelines about restricted and sensitive content)

    • Check the project spreadsheet notes - was there any media that could not be copied in part or full?

    • (optional) Locate the digital objects on the storage server and poke around. Open the "documentation" subfolder and look at photographs of the original media. (see Locations of digital assets and metadata).

  • In ArchivesSpace, create or edit the archival objects for each digital object, according to the description guidelines and Data-entry instructions:

    • Locate the appropriate accession and find where the physical media is described in the container list and add the description of the digital content to the same archival object(s).

    • If no physical media is listed, add a description of both the media and digital content (see instructions for describing computer media).

    • If there is no container list for an accession, skip that collection and make sure that A2C team is aware that the list needs to be added.

  • Add the digital object record(s) to the archival object(s), as outlined in the guidelines for creating Digital object records.

  • Add file lists or log files as additional digital objects

  • Add description to the top-level of the resource record to reflect the digital materials, according to the data-entry instructions.

    • If collection includes restrictions on access, or there are any questions about access to the digital content due to format of materials, contact Margy.

    • Add a Revision statement for finding aid.

Visual flowchart

CONTENTS

References

ArchivesSpace User manual

Clone this wiki locally