Born-Digital Processing Procedures

Updated August 2024

Processing Digital Accessions:  

These procedures do not include steps to create a finding aid, catalog records, or a digital collection from these files.   

Arrangement and Organization  

1. When the curator is ready to process the collection, they will send the Digital Archivist an email requesting access to the files. The curator must include the accession number in the request so the Digital Stewardship team will know which files are needed.   
    

2. The Digital Archivist will copy those files onto the SCA-Working-Files partition of the drive where the curator has Read Write access for processing.   

   • Note:  A copy of the unprocessed files will be maintained on the DI partition while processing is taking place. This ensures that the files will always have a backup preserving original organization. 
      

3. Born-digital files may be organized according to the discretion of the curator and/or processing archivist. Curatorial decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis to determine the structure and hierarchy of the digital files in the collection. The digital archivist will serve as a resource, if needed.
   
   

   • The collection will receive a collection number. 

   • Organization may include creating file folders by series, or other appropriate sub-groups. 

   • File and folder names are not changed at this stage, but labels may be attached in the form of a prefix or suffix (label following an underscore) to identify intended structure. 

   • Items with restrictions or PII concerns identified and documented. File names will reflect access restrictions. 
     
     

 File Disposal 

Individual files may be deaccessioned or deleted according to procedures and best practices. All file disposals should be documented. Final decisions are up to the discretion of curators and archivists. 

Documentation and File Storage 

4. Once the curator or processing team is done processing the files, they will notify the Digital Asset Librarian, the DAL will copy the processed files on the SCA-Working-Files partition to the collection’s final location within the hierarchical structure of the DP partition.  
   
   

   • At this point, the digital transfers backup copies on the DI partition will be deleted. 
      

5. The DAL will replace the accession number with the SCA Collection Number as a file name prefix and will rename files according to established file name conventions.   
   
   

   • A renaming list will track the original names and the updated names on a processing inventory.  

   • The DAL will request a comparison report to ensure that all files on the SCA-Working-Files partition transferred to the DP. 

   • A final “Processed” inventory may be requested, which tracks the names and final file paths of the collection. 

     • Permanent file path will be sent to processing team 

     • SCA processing staff will now follow ACAD finding aid and cataloging procedures 
        

6. The DAL will move the unprocessed files in the SCA-Working-Files partition to a temporary folder on the same partition called “Holding-Backup” to serve as an emergency copy until the files on the DP have been backed up by LIT.  
   
   

   • After 30 days, delete the copy of the unprocessed files from the SCA-Working-Files partition.  
      

7. All inventories and comparison reports will be saved in a collection folder called “Inventories.” (File path: DP/_Inventories) 
   
   

   • All administrative inventory files associated with this collection will be named according to naming conventions and will include the collection number as a prefix. 

   • Collections should have a submission information packet (SIP), processed inventory, and comparison reports tracking the movement of files between partitions.  
      

8. For external storage media that will be preserved and maintained in a physical archival folder or box: A full inventory with the original file names and processed file names and file path will be printed and stored with the storage media (hard drive, USB) 
   
   

   • Note: This step may not be necessary for media with a very small number of files. This will be up to the discretion of the curator or archivist(s) handling the collection. 

Related Resources: 

DI Drive Partition Descriptions: https://usu.box.com/s/zk3tddxgkdiqhk1kipnc2895d0bek7bi  

https://usulibrary.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AYD9d  

File Type Ingest and Preservation Index: https://usu.box.com/s/3h6p7nfnf2hw61mck8mrz7baex6jikog  

Born-Digital Processing Flowchart and Decision Tree. Use this to determine whether materials are considered “processed” in terms of potential public access.