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Workflow for born digital description

mrjessup edited this page Mar 18, 2020 · 56 revisions
  • In the A2C Project Trello board under "Digital description" list, identify a collection to be described {details tbd, the list doesn't exist yet}

  • In the project master spreadsheet identify all of the entries for the collection; note the "Digital Location" given in the spreadsheet.

  • Locate the digital objects on the storage server location shown in the spreadsheet (LibPres or LibNAS) (see Interpreting the AIP for more information).

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

    • Open the "documentation" subfolder and review the log file (if there is one), and photographs of the original media
    • Open the "metadata" subfolder and review the file list(s)
  • Open the Resource record in ArchivesSpace and review the general collection description.

  • Update the collection (resource)-level description as appropriate, to reflect the digital materials, according to the description guidelines.

  • Locate the physical media in the container list and add the description of the digital content to the archival object(s). If the physical media is not listed, add a description of both the media and digital content (see instructions for describing computer media).

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

  • If collection includes restrictions on access, or there are any questions about providing access to the digital content due to format of materials, add a note to the Master Spreadsheet describing the issue and "flag" the collection by adding a comment addressed to the Digital Preservation Archivist (Margy Jessup) to do further assessment (see When collections should be flagged below). If there are no restrictions or access issues proceed to step 9.

  • (optional) Add file lists or log files as additional digital objects (see instructions).

  • Add a Revision statement for finding aid.

  • Publish the finding aid (instructions).

flowchart

When collections should be flagged for the Digital Preservation Archivist:

Born-digital content should be flagged for further assessment by the Digital Preservation Archivist (DPA) if they have fall under one or more of the following categories:

  • there is a note in the log file or master spreadsheet specifically stating that content needs to be reviewed prior to access; or any note about sensitive, confidential, or restricted content.
  • the collection carries access restrictions and you think the digital content falls within the area of restriction (example: access note states that there is confidential third-party material that needs to be separated out before the collection can be open).
  • there are many unknown or obscure file formats and more information is needed about how to access the content.

CONTENTS

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