Preparation of objects during the pre-ingest process

The librarians coordinate deliveries to the library with the producers. The Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) – German National Library of Science and Technology has published guidelines on special requirements governing delivery. Examples include the Delivery Agreement on BMBF Research Reports (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) (in German) and guidelines on Submitting doctoral theses (in German).

In cooperation with the Digital Preservation team, acquisition teams prepare their objects for digital preservation during pre-ingest. The Process diagram: Pre-ingest below describes the pre-ingest process using the example of creating an METS transfer structure.

The packages created in this way are submitted by the Digital Preservation team at defined intervals, and are described as transfer information packages. The following transfer information packages are specified:

1. SIPs with a simple structure and one representation
   SIPs with a simple structure can be submitted as ZIP files or as folders.
2. Objects with multiple representations or complex data structures
   for objects with multiple representations or complex data structures
3. Connection to the repository via OAI or another interface

Before data are automatically ingested, the Digital Preservation team conducts a preliminary analysis, which involves the following steps:

• Checking for completeness of submitted data
• Checking the structural and legal metadata recorded by the responsible acquisition team
• Preliminary analysis of submitted data: identification and validation of objects, documentation of results

A second analysis is conducted after ingest; the results of the two analyses are matched.