Workflow:LAC Pre-Ingest Workflow
Workflow Description
Review Digital Transfer Assessment Form (DTAF) and provide strategic advice to acquiring staff on potential challenges for pre-ingest, archival processing, and long-term digital preservation
Transfer the content
Ensure that the content has a persistent identifier (e.g., Registration Control Number; barcode for containers where physical storage media are stored)
Confirm security classification of records and infrastructure that is required for processing information at this level of classification
Create a processing workspace on the Pre-ingest server (or classified infrastructure). Note: The Pre-ingest server is a server location where processing workspaces are organized by a standardized directory structure
Ensure that all appropriate metadata and metadata generating templates are copied to the processing workspace (MET subfolder)
Complete a physical carrier inventory documenting all physical storage media involved in the transfer. Media must be numbered sequentially (e.g. "01" or "001").
Review and complete Digital Processing Checklist
Write protect physical media when possible
Insert into drive/attach to computer/anti-virus software (LAC network network will automatically scan for viruses; if a virus is detected, do not copy the data and document the virus in the Pre-ingest Report
Review file format/directory structure of physical media at a high level
If interactive CD/DVD content or authored AV content is detected, do not perform pre-ingest for the physical carriers containing that content. Follow workflow for authored AV content. Document this in the Physical Carrier Inventory spreadsheet
Create sub-folders for physical media on the Pre-ingest server. If a physical carrier is blank or unreadable, do not create a subfolder for it
Copy the content to the Pre-ingest server using SafeCopy. If issues occur, troubleshoot via SafeCopy or other checksum software like Fsum or MD5summer
For any content that is unreadable, send to Digital Preservation for extraction. Record this in Physical Carrier Inventory
Use TreeSize Pro to create a digital object listing of all digital objects successfully copied to LAC infrastructure
Run DROID on the entire registration and create a DROID export (*.CSV) for all content
Start populating the Pre-Ingest Report. Record pre-ingest volume, number of files, and number of folders
Weed transitory objects (temporary files, system files, configuration files, Thumbs.db, program files) that are not required to render the information of long-term value
In the Pre-Ingest Report, record if viruses were detected as part of the virus scan
If authored Audio or video files are present, add a note that content must be processed according to a separate AV workflow.
Non-authored AV material (i.e. unstructured AV material that has been copied to the Pre-Ingest server)can be processed in the same manner as other digital records.
Use TreeSize Pro file search to identify any duplicated records existing within the corpus
Purpose, Context and Content
Pre-ingest is the technological review of digital records transferred to LAC. It involves technical appraisal using multiple software tools to automate the process. The goal of pre-ingest is to aid in creating a SIP that conforms to LAC’s preservation policies and that which LAC has a reasonable success of preserving in its repository and making accessible for the long-term.
There are two major tasks for pre-ingest:
Weed any digital records that should not have transferred in the first place (i.e. computer files that are configuration, developmental, temporary, software files etc.). Identify file format or other issues that need addressing prior to or during appraisal/selection/description by archival staff.