|
Logo
Guidance for Donors, Dealers, and Archival Repositories

2.1.1 Information and documentation sharing

1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 Sharing information and documentation can help donors, dealers, and other parties understand a repository’s concerns about born-digital materials and will help set expectations about the scope of the acquisition, what processes staff members will undertake, and what the repository needs from the donor or dealer and vice versa. Examples of information repositories may share with donors include:

  • 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 1
  • Collection development policy for born-digital materials
  • Policies and procedures related to the acquisition, transfer, copying, embargo/restriction, user access, long-term preservation, and secure disposal of digital media and files
  • Guidance in how to handle digital media and files and document the process
  • Guidelines for preparing acquisition agreements or contracts

3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 One area of particular concern involves the condition of the digital files included in collections offered to repositories. In order to protect the integrity of digital files, or to ensure that the files arrive at a repository with their original content, dates, and other information unchanged, donors and dealers should not manipulate, rearrange, extract, or copy files from their original sources in anticipation of offering the material for gift or purchase.

4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 1 In some cases, a donor might want to preview the contents of old disks or files to search for private files that she does not want to transfer. When a donor or dealer decides to access a disk or look at files on a computer before transferring ownership, it is important to work with repository staff to document what, if anything, has been done to the digital media and files during the assessment process, when, and by whom. This documentation will help the repository establish the provenance of the born-digital materials. Donors, dealers, and repository staff should also take care to handle digital media (e.g., physical objects such as disks, flash drives, etc.) carefully, in a way that does not damage them or compromise their value. Even turning on a computer may risk altering files, and opening files in applications can change dates and times, possibly affecting the future value of the materials. Digital specialists at archival repositories may be able to provide useful advice to donors and dealers.

Page 6

Source: https://mcpress.media-commons.org/borndigital/initial-collection-review/preliminary-assessment-of-digital-media-and-files/information-and-documentation-sharing/