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
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3.
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4.
“Digital Processing” in terms of OAIS
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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)
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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
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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)
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8.
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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)
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10.
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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
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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
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13.
THANK YOU!
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