Stage new or updated content for digital preservation

You've got: A set of digital files that you want preserved in the LOCKSS network. You have checked the content to make sure that they are appropriate for semi-private preservation in LOCKSS. You have exported, copied, or packaged in a location where you are ready to transmit them over the network. These files may be either a new unit of content to preserve, or they may be an update to an existing unit.

Now you need: To STAGE the content in a secure and convenient location for the ADPNet preservation nodes to harvest a preservation copy of the content. In almost all cases, the staging area that you will use is the ADPNet drop server, drop.adpn.org. To stage new or updated content on the drop server, you will upload it to your institution's space on the server using common SFTP file-upload tools like WinSCP.

In very unusual cases, the LOCKSS network is also capable of harvesting content that you stage using a special area of a web server, or a web service, that you (i.e., your Member institution) runs. If you think it might be the best option, contact the TPC to explain the situation.

So here's what you do:

• If you haven't done this before, contact the TPC to request a staging area on the drop server for your institution.

• Once you have your staging area set up to accept new content: package your files for staging on the drop server.

• Once your files are packaged into an AU and are ready to be considered as an Archival Unit (AU) by the LOCKSS daemon: upload your files to the staging area.
  • Use WinSCP (or any other SFTP tool that you like) to upload the whole packaged-up directory to drop.adpn.org, storing it under the drop_au_content_in_here subdirectory of your staging area.
  • If this is a NEW AU -- a new series of digital content, or a new, discrete addition to an existing series -- make sure that your AU's directory name is unique. If the AU is one part of an ongoing series, you may want to use serial numbers to distinguish them.
    • For example, say you have a series of AUs called "Digitization Masters Files." Each AU contains new content in new files, representing the new digital masters files produced over time by your digitization project. To preserve a new AU in this series, you might stage it with a name like Digitization-Masters-File-01305, where 01305 is a serial number that uniquely identifies this AU and distinguishes it from the earlier and later AUs in the same series.
  • If this is an UPDATE to an existing AU make sure that your AU's directory name is identical to the name that you used previously when you ingested the older version of the content, which this version replaces.
    • For example, say you have a set of database files called "Transcription Metadata" which stores Microsoft Access relational database files containing data tables that record the meta-data entered by staff or volunteers during an ongoing transcription project. The `.accdb` files representing the content of the database persist as a single unit, but over time new records are added to the tables contained in them, which should be reflected in their preservation copy. When you first staged this content, you staged it with a name like Transcription-Metadata-Database. To stage an update to the content in that AU, you would now stage it under the identical name, Transcription-Metadata-Database, to signal to LOCKSS preservation nodes that this is an updated version of the same AU.

• Notify ADPNet TPC to let us know you’re ready to go ahead with the ingest.