Overview of the Bentley Historical Library's ingest and processing procedures for digital archives. Provides information on the development of the Bentley's past practice and current workflows as well as the AutoPro processing tool. Also includes a preview of the 'ArchivesSpace-Archivematica-DSpace Workflow Integration' project, with funding awarded from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in April 2014. Presentation delivered at the March 13, 2014 meeting of the Mid-Michigan Digital Practitioners at Grand Valley State University.

1. GOOD ENOUGH?
GOOD ENOUGH?
GOOD. ENOUGH!
Finding what works for processing born-digital
archives at the Bentley Historical Library
Mike Shallcross
U-M Bentley Historical Library
MMDP @ GVSU – 2013.03.14
shallcro@umich.edu

2. Digital Curation Division
• Formed April 2011
• Reports to Director of Bentley Historical Library
• Responsibilities:
• Web archives
• Digitization projects
• Transfer and ingest of born digital archives
• Staffing:
• April 2011: 2 FTE, 1 grad student
• March 2014: 4 FTE, 3 grad students
3/14/2014 1

3. 3/14/2014 2

4. “Digital Processing” in terms of OAIS
3/14/2014 3

5. • Term reflects local requirements/needs (Ingest?)
• Encompasses traditional archival functions:
• Appraisal
• Intellectual Arrangement
• Description
• Requires steps to ensure authenticity, integrity, and
security of content:
• Assume intellectual control of content
• Perform preservation actions
• Establish integrity of materials
• Goal: creation of Archival Information Package (AIP)
3/14/2014 4
SIP AIP
“Digital Processing” at the Bentley

6. Developing a Digital Processing Workflow (2010)
• MeMail Project (2010-2011): Mellon Foundation grant
• Reviewed literature and relevant projects (PARADIGM,
AIMS, Archivematica, etc.)
• Defined requirements based on local needs and
resources
• Developed manual workflow; successful, but…
• 40 discrete steps: highly labor intensive & difficult to train staff
• 20+ numerous software applications
• Strict conventions for naming/saving log files and metadata
• Numerous opportunities for user error
31 Octoberr 2012 5

7. Working Smarter (2011-2013)…
• Inspired by the Archivematica Digital Preservation
System and the National Archives of Australia’s Digital
Preservation Software Platform (DPSP)
• Attempted to address issues with manual workflow by
automating workflow steps
• Proof of concept: creation of preservation copies
• Expanded to other steps
• Introduced complete prototype in early 2012: the
AutomatedProcessor (AutoPro)
3/14/2014 6

8. 3/14/2014 7

9. AutoPro: Overview
• Comprised of 31 Windows CMD.EXE and VBS scripts
• Guides archivists and student processors through a nine step
workflow (manual and automated steps)
• Provides a single interface to call more than 20 applications and
command line utilities
• Employs Windows Command Prompt (CMD.EXE)
• Documents all actions and modifications (if any):
• Log files for all operations
• Produces a PREMIS preservation metadata file
• Used to successfully process over 160 deposits of digital
materials (including deposits of more than 45,000
files/100 GB)
3/14/2014 8

10. 3/14/2014 9

11. Storage and Access: DSpace
• Not designed for digital archives.
• Limited access functionality; need to develop easy to
download DIPs for some collections
• At the same time…
• BHL unable to implement its own repository (limited IT/$$$)
• U-M Library provides IT support and preservation expertise
• Additional copy of AIP deposited in dark archives
• Develop access portal in future
3/14/2014 10

12. What’s Next for Digital Processing @ BHL
(2014-2016)
• Mellon Foundation Grant proposal: “ArchivesSpace,
Archivematica, and DSpace Workflow Implementation”
• Develop conventions and functionality to permit transfer of
data/metadata among ArchivesSpace, Archivematica, and
DSpace
• Create metadata once; reuse in multiple systems
• Streamline deposit of content in preservation repository
• Share code, procedures, and documentation with community
• Enhance preservation functionality of DSpace
3/14/2014 11

13. THANK YOU!
3/14/2014 12