Digital Access and Storage Levels
- Sarah Berry
Analytics
Before a digital item (born-digital and digitized) is moved into storage, it first must move through the following workflows, as applicable:
Accession and Appraisal
Born-Digital Processing
Digital Transfers
File Name QC
Digitization
Digital assets will be stored in the appropriate digital space depending on its intended use, restrictions, formats, and other relevant criteria identified by SCA and Digital Stewardship staff.
USU has three available storage spaces for digital files:
Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3): A Cloud-based storage service that makes it possible to retrieve data from anywhere. Preservica is the content management system and portal for accessing files stored with S3.
Amazon Glacier: A cloud storage service that is typically used for archiving data and storing backup files. This storage system does not allow immediate retrieval.
Local Drive: Local storage access on the Library’s network. Access is controlled by LIT, but data is immediately retrievable.
Access and Storage Levels
Public
Files that will be accessed by and freely available to the public through Preservica’s Universal Access will receive the “Open” security tag. All public files will be stored within the Preservica S3 storage system. Public access files will generally be JPG (or JPG2000), PDF, MP3, and MP4. Files may be ingested into the system as access files or, if necessary, created as a derivative of a preservation file by Preservica.
Relevant workflows: Metadata creation, Preservica ingest procedures
Restricted or Custom Access
Files that are restricted to specific ip addresses or password protected external user accounts will have custom access security tags. These files should not be accessible to the general public but will be stored in S3 for controlled access for specific users.
This level also extends to our “Dark Archive,” which contains files that will not be public but may need to be accessible to staff for retrieval. Any files that will not be made available to external stakeholders will receive the “Closed” security tag.
File formats will vary, but will typically be JPG, PDF, MP3, and MP4 “access” formats. Other files such as CSV or text files may be stored in S3 with restricted access. High resolution TIF or other preservation formats may be assigned to this access and storage level on a case-by-case basis.
Relevant workflows: Metadata creation, Preservica ingest procedures
Preservation
Files that will not be public and do not need to be easily accessed from the “Dark Archive” in S3 will be stored in Glacier. These files will generally consist of larger preservation files or non-universal formats that we want to keep for long-term preservation purposes. Formats may include WAV, TIF, MOV, Excel, Doc, PDF, JPG, or any other formats that will not be stored in S3. These files are not immediately retrievable but can be accessed upon request if needed.
Relevant workflows: Possible end point in all workflows
Do Not Retain
These files will not be stored in the Preservica S3 or Glacier storage systems. Files assigned to this level may be access files sent to patrons by request, or files that have been identified during appraisal or processing as having no long-term value. Files created during the digitization process and assigned to this level will be stored in Box (Cloud) with a temporary link for patrons to access and download.
Relevant workflows: Digitization workflow. See Digitization team for questions.
Temporary Working Files
Files that are not yet ready to be moved into S3 or Glacier storage will remain on the local DI Drive. The Drive will serve as a temporary digital staging area for processing, digitization, and transfers. All formats could be stored here before being assigned to one of the following levels: Public, Restricted/Custom, Preservation, Do Not Retain.
Relevant workflows: Digital transfers, Born-Digital Processing, File Name QC, Digitization