Deposition Process

During the submission of digital resources to the repository, the data undergoes a curation process in order to ensure quality and consistency. We assist you in meeting necessary requirements for sustainable resource archiving: data have to be provided with metadata and in preferred formats, persistent identifiers (PIDs) have to be assigned, IPR issues have to be resolved and clear statements with regard to licensing and possible use of the resources are to be made.

Deposition involves four stages

  1. Preparation steps on your side before the submission

  2. The actual submission and handing in of the data

  3. Checks on the data on our side after we received the data, which can result in the need to review the data on your side and a resubmission

  4. Actual archiving and publication of data

ACDH Repo Graphic


Before submission

  • Gather information: Please have a look at our Collection Policy to make sure your data fits into the scope of ARCHE. You will find further information about the formats, metadata, licences and legal issues in the FAQ.

  • Contact ACDH: You can get in touch with us prior to the actual submission in order to answer open questions, make sure your data suits the ARCHE requirements, and inform us about your deposition plans well in advance.

  • Select data: Not all data might be relevant for archiving. Please assess your data and select your data with reference to our Collection Policy. Ask yourself: Is my data suitable for ARCHE? Do I have the rights to deposit it? How significant is my data? Is it unique or non-replicable? Is the quality of the data adequate? Can I provide required metadata? Is there sensitive data which needs special attendance?
    For a quick self assessment you can have a look at the Decision Tree provided by the Digital Preservation Coalition.

  • Compile lists: In order for the ARCHE team to decide upon ingesting your data, a list of files with a short overall description is necessary. Tools for this task are listed in the FAQ.

  • Rename and restructure: Make sure your file names adhere to our file naming conventions, and do not contain any special characters. Ask yourself if your file structure is understandable for others and adjust or document where necessary.

  • Formats: Please have a look at the “Filenames, Formats and Metadata” section. If your data is not in the correct format please convert them or contact us for further guidance.

  • Documentation and metadata: Providing adequate and comprehensive documentation is fundamental. Have a look at the “Filenames, Formats and Metadata” section.

  • Rights and legal issues: Before the actual deposition of your data legal issues have to be attended for. You will be required to sign the Deposition Agreement acknowledging that you are the holder of rights to the data and that you have the right to grant the rights set forth in this agreement. Choosing a suitable licence and access mode to your data is also part of this process.

  • Protecting sensitive data: Finally you also have to make sure any sensitive information, like personal information, confidential data or geographical information about archaeological find-places at risk is either anonymised, left out or obfuscated. If you have consent for publishing sensitive data please provide it. Consult the Guidance on the Deposition of Sensitive Digital Data by the ADS for further advice.

Submission

When all of the above is settled, you are ready to deliver your data to ARCHE.

Please approach us under acdh@oeaw.ac.at with a request for deposition. Please consider that the deposition including curation may be a lengthy process and allow for enough time.

Based on the provided information matched against our Collection Policy we evaluate the suitability of the data for ARCHE. In case of rejection, we will try to help you find an alternative deposition service.

In case of acceptance, the actual handing over of the data is currently handled individually, either by handing over offline mobile storage devices, or online means of data transfer (email, SFTP, oeawcloud storage).

Curation step

  • Automated checks: After your data is deposited in ARCHE, it passes through some automatic checks, including virus check, check for conformance of file names (no blank space or special characters used), check for completeness of the minimum amount of metadata, check for accepted formats, and validation of formats.

  • Documentation and completeness: A data curator goes through your provided metadata to check for consistency, understandability and completeness. The curator will also look into your data to verify that it matches the provided metadata and nothing is missing. If any issues come up, the data curator will get back to you. We will try to delegate this task to a curator with expertise in the field your data covers, although we cannot guarantee this for all subjects.

  • Rights clearance: A data curator will check for any legal issues not touched upon and make sure the signed contracts are valid.

  • Customisation of presentation: Optionally the online presentation of the data can be customised by including logos, title images, and tweaking other details.

If any of the above results in errors or open questions, a data curator will get back to you.

Archiving & publication

  • Archiving: As soon as your data passed all checks and legal issues are settled, it will be archived, which means it will be safely stored in the repository system and additionally mirrored to our partners (ARZ and MPCDF) for bitstream preservation. This is detailed in [“Storage procedures”].

  • Publication: Data will be published on ARCHE and it is assigned a PID for stable reference. ARCHE uses handles for persistent identification.
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