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3.3 Define ingest activities and preservation actions

Created by Gry Vindelev Elstrøm on Apr 07, 2014 · last edited by Gry Vindelev Elstrøm · on May 14, 2014 (view history) · 7 versions

	Preservation Procedure Policy: Define Ingest activities / preservation actions
Related Guidance Policy	Functional preservation
Definition/ Description	To be able to secure the long term preservation of the digital material it is necessary to validate and characterise file formats before ingest into the repository (or before and after migration). The organisation should also obtain the necessary metadata generated during these actions.
Why	Proper ingest activities/preservation actions ensure that the content and condition of the digital collection are well known and therefore easier to make the best digital preservation choices for.
Risks	Refraining from validation, characterisation and obtaining of proper metadata endanger the preservation of the digital collection both in the short and long term as the organisation will not be able to act according to the needs of the collection.
Life cycle stage	Create or Receive, Ingest, Preservation Action
Stakeholder	Technology Manager/System Architect: have to provide technology solutions for functional preservation
Cross Reference	Bitpreservation Metadata Preferred Format
Examples	UK Parliamentary Archives : “Digital resources which are selected for preservation will be accessioned into an appropriate preservation environment. The process of accessioning encompasses both steps to bring those resources under intellectual control (e.g. cataloguing and transfer of custody), and the more technical processes of ingest, which may include characterisation (see 5.5.1), quarantine, validation, and the physical transfer of digital objects and metadata into a digital repository environment.” (Source:, http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/digitalpreservationpolicy1.0.pdf)
Control Policy	For ingest: Format Identification MUST be possible Format validation SHOULD be automatic Format MUST be an ISO standard The file checksum algorithm MUST be <name of algorithm> File checksum algorithm SHOULD be run on ingest
Questions to foster discussions	Has your organisation defined which ingest activities / preservation actions to perform? Does your organisation have a plan for obtaining metadata from ingest activities / preservation actions?