Migrated content meets standards outlined in Emory Preservation Policy
This document serves to demonstrate the completion of part of Scope Statement 7 of the Digital Library Program’s project deliverables:
Migrated content meets standards identified in Emory Preservation Policy.
The following summaries explain how the Curate platform captures, stores, and/or makes available the primary and secondary characteristics of migrated content that are identified in the Preservation Policy as necessary for long-term preservation.
Primary Characteristics
The intellectual content of the object
This refers to the content-bearing digital files with which the consumer interacts. Curate supports the ingest of digital files for preservation in two ways: a batch ingest process using a CSV file, or the manual creation of works using a form. Both processes allow the creation of works that comprise multiple files and/or filesets. Each file/fileset requires inclusion of a preservation master file and can also accommodate derivative files. These files can be designated as Primary Content, Supplemental Content, or Supplemental Preservation to signify its role in the preservation package. The SIP Mapping Worksheet can assist content preparers in determining how to designate content components for ingest.
The descriptive metadata associated with the object
All materials ingested for preservation must have sufficient descriptive metadata to allow future users to know what the materials are if they become unusable. Minimum standards for descriptive metadata are established by the Library-Cabinet approved Core Metadata Guidelines. Available metadata fields in Curate are established by the DLP metadata profile, which specifies the metadata fields available for use and whether their values are required, recommended, or optional.
The copyright and license status of the object
All content that is ingested into Curate must first be reviewed by Scholarly Communications or other approved staff to determine the content’s copyright and/or license status. Certain rights metadata fields (a local rights statement, a standardized rights statement, and a classification of the data as either public, internal, confidential, or restricted) are required. Other possible rights metadata fields are outlined in the metadata profile.
Secondary Characteristics
The chain of custody of the object
The Preservation Policy specifies that the actions taken upon an object in the repository must be recorded at least from the point of ingest into the repository, if not earlier. Curate supports the ingest and display of work-level metadata documenting four preservation workflows: ingest, accession, deletion, and decommission. An audit trail is generated at the time of ingest. Metadata is recorded at the work level for the validation and policy assignment preservation events. At the fileset level, metadata is captured to record message digest calculation, file submission, virus check, characterization events, and fixity checking events.
The object’s representation
In addition to the binary data that makes up an object, information about the object’s structure and relationships (between its own parts and between the object and other objects in the repository) must be preserved. Works in Curate can be created to show parent/child relationships as well as structural relationships (such as displaying the front and back of a photograph). Works in Curate are also assigned to a primary source collection at ingest.
Fixity for the object
Fixity is the method by which digital objects are reviewed to ensure that validity and integrity are maintained. Upon ingest into Curate, checksums are generated for each file, with three checksums calculated for each preservation master file. The files’ fixity can be checked at will by clicking the “Run Fixity Check” button that appears on each fileset’s view page. Fixity will also be checked at regular intervals using a scheduled background process which runs fixity checks on any objects that have not had a fixity check within a 90 day period.