Metadata elements

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This page identifies a minimum set of metadata elements designed to ensure authenticity and interoperability of preserved objects and to facilitate their retrieval.

Design process

This process involves:

1. Using the InterPARES Chain of Preservation (COP) model and the CoP/PREMIS crosswalk to identify required elements for objects preserved by Archivematica
2. Analyzing existing metadata in the Archivematica AIP log files and METS.xml file in order to map them to METS and PREMIS elements (see Existing elements)
3. Comparing 1) to 2) in order to determine what gaps exist in Archivematica
4. Filling in the gaps - eg by modifying workflow to produce and/or capture missing elements
5. Structuring the required elements into the Repository eXchange Package (RXP) specification
6. Determining what metadata belongs in the DIP(s)

Proposed PREMIS metadata for original file

This table is a template for metadata elements for the original file. Please note the following:

• The format semantic unit would be repeated as needed if FITS identified several possible formats for the file
• For most files, the relationships semantic unit would be used twice: once to link the preservation copy and once to link the access copy
• The eventOutcomeDetail semantic unit would be repeated as needed to capture detailed information generated by an event
• This table includes one event as an example (normalization); a real PREMIS file would contain information about numerous events (see Event metadata, below)
• This table includes two agent entities: an organization (City of Vancouver Archives) and a software program (Archivematica). The organization is the agent for manual events such as reviewing the SIP, while Archivematica is the agent for automated events such as normalization. Further agents may be included (such as individuals, workstations etc) but the two agents specified in this table would be a minimum.

PREMIS entity	Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
object	objectIdentifier	objectIdentifierType	UUID	mandatory unit and component
object	objectIdentifier	objectIdentifierValue	0db50321-6d7b-4291-89ec-a8b0adc1ff96	mandatory unit and component
object	objectCategory	none	file	mandatory unit and component
object	objectCharacteristics	compositionLevel	0	mandatory unit and component
object	objectCharacteristics/fixity	messageDigestAlgorithm	MD5
object	objectCharacteristics/fixity	messageDigest	e479688508922354bdab09bca60d8d0e
object	objectCharacteristics/fixity	messageDigestOriginator	City of Vancouver Archives
object	objectCharacteristics	size	787510
object	objectCharacteristics/format/formatDesignation	formatName	Windows Bitmap	format is a mandatory unit; must use either formatDesignation or formatRegistry
object	objectCharacteristics/format/formatDesignation	formatVersion	3.0	format is a mandatory unit; must use either formatDesignation or formatRegistry
object	objectCharacteristics/format/formatRegistry	formatRegistryName	PRONOM	format is a mandatory unit; must use either formatDesignation or formatRegistry
object	objectCharacteristics/format/formatRegistry	formatRegistryKey	fmt/116	format is a mandatory unit; must use either formatDesignation or formatRegistry
object	objectCharacteristics	objectCharacteristicsExtension	<fits xsi:schemaLocation="http://hul.harvard.edu/ois/xml/ns/fits/fits_output http://hul.harvard.edu/ois/xml/xsd/fits/fits_output.xsd" version="0.3.2" timestamp="8/10/10 7:28 PM"> + selected FITS output	objectCharacteristicsExtension is used for additional object characteristics not covered by PREMIS, for instance format specific metadata that is defined externally.
object	originalName	none	/SAE Project files/newsletters/20100223/cover image.bmp
object	relationship	relationshipType	derivation
object	relationship	relationshipSubType	is source of
object	relationship/relatedObjectIdentification	relatedObjectIdentifierType	UUID	mandatory unit and component if there is a related object
object	relationship/relatedObjectIdentification	relatedObjectIdentifierValue	270bd067-0483-4c5f-bdec-f2cbd6e651aa	mandatory unit and component if there is a related object
object	relationship/relatedEventIdentification	relatedEventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID	"For derivative relationships between objects relatedEventIdentification must be recorded."
object	relationship/relatedEventIdentification	relatedEventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]	"For derivative relationships between objects relatedEventIdentification must be recorded."
event	eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID	mandatory unit and component
event	eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]	mandatory unit and component
event	eventType	none	normalization	mandatory unit and component
event	eventDateTime	none	2009-12-01T09:09:00-02:00	mandatory unit and component
event	eventDetail	none	program="ImageMagick"; version="6.6.4.0"; command="%convertPath% %fileFullName% +compress %preservationFileDirectory%%fileTitle%.%preservationFormat%"	This element can be used to record information about software used and eliminates the need to have agent entities for software programs
event	eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome	{Normalized; Not normalized}
event	eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote	Normalization failed Already in preservation format. No need to normalize
event	linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system	used to link an agent to an event; not mandatory but recommended
event	linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7	used to link an agent to an event; not mandatory but recommended
agent	agentIdentifier	agentIdentifierType	repository code	mandatory unit and component
agent	agentIdentifier	agentIdentifierValue	CVA	mandatory unit and component
agent	agentName	none	City of Vancouver Archives
agent	agentType	none	organization
agent	agentIdentifier	agentIdentifierType	preservation system	mandatory unit and component
agent	agentIdentifier	agentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7	mandatory unit and component
agent	agentName	none	Archivematica
agent	agentType	none	software

Proposed PREMIS metadata for normalized file (preservation copy)

Unlike the table above, this table shows all the metadata elements that should appear for a normalized file. The two events recorded are creation and checksum generation.

PREMIS entity	Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
object	objectIdentifier	objectIdentifierType	UUID	mandatory unit and component
object	objectIdentifier	objectIdentifierValue	270bd067-0483-4c5f-bdec-f2cbd6e651aa	mandatory unit and component
object	objectCategory	none	file	mandatory unit and component
object	objectCharacteristics	compositionLevel	0	mandatory unit and component
object	objectCharacteristics/fixity	messageDigestAlgorithm	MD5
object	objectCharacteristics/fixity	messageDigest	e479688508922354bdab09bca60d8d0e
object	objectCharacteristics/fixity	messageDigestOriginator	City of Vancouver Archives
object	objectCharacteristics/format/formatDesignation	formatName	Tagged Image File Format	format is a mandatory unit; must use either formatDesignation or formatRegistry
object	objectCharacteristics/format/formatDesignation	formatVersion	6.0	format is a mandatory unit; must use either formatDesignation or formatRegistry
object	objectCharacteristics/format/formatRegistry	formatRegistryName	PRONOM	format is a mandatory unit; must use either formatDesignation or formatRegistry
object	objectCharacteristics/format/formatRegistry	formatRegistryKey	fmt/10	format is a mandatory unit; must use either formatDesignation or formatRegistry
object	relationship	relationshipType	derivation
object	relationship	relationshipSubType	has source
object	relationship/relatedObjectIdentification	relatedObjectIdentifierType	UUID
object	relationship/relatedObjectIdentification	relatedObjectIdentifierValue	0db50321-6d7b-4291-89ec-a8b0adc1ff96
object	relationship/relatedEventIdentification	relatedEventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID	"For derivative relationships between objects relatedEventIdentification must be recorded."
object	relationship/relatedEventIdentification	relatedEventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]	"For derivative relationships between objects relatedEventIdentification must be recorded."
event	eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID	mandatory unit and component
event	eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]	mandatory unit and component
event	eventType	none	creation	mandatory unit and component
event	eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:44-03:00	mandatory unit and component
event	eventDetail	none	program=ImageMagick; version=6.6.4.0; command=%convertPath% %fileFullName% +compress %preservationFileDirectory%%fileTitle%.%preservationFormat%
event	linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system	used to link an agent to an event; not mandatory but recommended
event	linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7	used to link an agent to an event; not mandatory but recommended
event	eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID	mandatory unit and component
event	eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]	mandatory unit and component
event	eventType	none	message digest calculation	mandatory unit and component
event	eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00	mandatory unit and component
event	eventDetail	none	program="MD5deep"; version="3.6"
event	linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system	used to link an agent to an event; not mandatory but recommended
event	linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7	used to link an agent to an event; not mandatory but recommended
agent	agentIdentifier	agentIdentifierType	preservation system	mandatory unit and component
agent	agentIdentifier	agentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7	mandatory unit and component
agent	agentName	none	Archivematica
agent	agentType	none	software

Event metadata

Receive SIP (SIP gets placed in 1-receiveSIP)

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	ingestion
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	repository code
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	CVA

Check checksums

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	fixity check
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none	program="MD5Deep"; version="3.6"
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome	{pass; fail}
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7

Generate checksums

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	message digest calculation
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none	program="MD5Deep"; version="3.6"
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote	e479688508922354bdab09bca60d8d0e
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7

Review SIP

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	SIP review
eventDateTime	none	[date - may not be automatically generated]
eventDetail	none	[free text field - could include information about the Submission Information Agreement against which the SIP was checked, etc.]
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome	{pass; conditional pass}
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote	some files missing appraisal required
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	repository code
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	CVA

Place SIP in quarantine

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	start quarantine
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	repository code
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	CVA

Remove SIP from quarantine

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	end quarantine
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7

Unpack zipped files

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	unpack
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none	program="easyextract"; version="0.1.0"
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote	unpacked Newsletter.zip
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7

Assign UUIDs

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	create UUID
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none	program="UUID"; version="1.6.2"
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote	270bd067-0483-4c5f-bdec-f2cbd6e651aa
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7

Remove prohibited characters

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	filename cleanup
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none	program="detox"; version="1.2.0-1"
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote	Original name="cover image.bmp"; cleaned up name="cover_image.bmp"
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7

Scan for viruses

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	virus check
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none	program="Clam AV"; version="0.95.2"
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome	pass
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7

Identify format

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	format identification
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none	program="File Information Toolset"; version="0.2.6"
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome	{positive; tentative; unidentified}
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote	fmt/116
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7

Validate format

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	validation
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none	program="File Information Toolset"; version="0.2.6"
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome	{pass; partial pass; fail}
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote	format="Windows Bitmap"; version="3.0"; result="Well-formed and valid"	It is important to include the format and version against which Jhove is validating the file; otherwise it can misidentify or fail to identify the format and give a false positive for validation (for example, when it identifies the format as "bytestream" and then declares the file "Well-formed and valid"). This semantic unit can be repeated if there is a specific error message relating to failed validation.
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7

Normalize to preservation format

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	normalization
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none	program=ImageMagick; version=6.6.4.0; command=%convertPath% %fileFullName% +compress %preservationFileDirectory%%fileTitle%.%preservationFormat%
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome	{Normalized; Not normalized}
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote	Normalization failed Already in preservation format. No need to normalize
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7

Generate access copy

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	access copy generation
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none	program="ImageMagick"; version="6.6.4.0"; command="%convertPath% %fileFullName% %accessFileDirectory%%fileTitle%.%accessFormat%"
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome	{Access copy generated; access copy not generated}
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote	Normalization failed Already in access format. No need to normalize
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7

Create file

This event is recorded only for preservation and access copies, not for original files

Semantic unit	Semantic component	Sample value(s)	Notes
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierType	Archivematica ID
eventIdentifier	eventIdentifierValue	[alphanumeric code]
eventType	none	creation
eventDateTime	none	2010-08-01T09:08:46-01:00
eventDetail	none	program="ImageMagick"; version="6.6.4.0"; command="%convertPath% %fileFullName% +compress %preservationFileDirectory%%fileTitle%.%preservationFormat%"
eventOutcomeInformation	eventOutcome
eventOutcomeDetail	eventOutcomeDetailNote
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierType	preservation system
linkingAgentIdentifier	linkingAgentIdentifierValue	Archivematica-0.7