Born-digital cataloguing
Last updated
Was this helpful?
Last updated
Was this helpful?
This sub-page lists the ways in which born-digital cataloguing departs from the approach to paper-based material. It should be read in conjunction with the general page.
Collections Development will have virus checked media, uploaded the contents to AWS via Archivematica and recorded basic metadata in the CALM accession record and collection file on SharePoint.
If additional digital media is found at point of cataloguing, follow the procedures for extracting born-digital material in the (Section 3.3.4.7) and for processing it (Section 3.3.5.1). The number assigned to the media should follow on from the numbers assigned to the media already extracted (if applicable). Check the accession record to see if the physical media has been retained – this will be noted in either the Acquisition_Note or Process_Note and will provide either a date of destruction or an explanation for why the physical media was retained.
If there is no information about destruction, then you should assume the physical media has been retained, as prior to 2023 physical media was retained by default and therefore no destruction/retention information was recorded.
For more recent accessions, the physical media will only have been retained if it has material value, or contains useful cataloguing metadata (e.g. lengthy titles that Collections Development did not have had time to transcribe).
Collections Development will have undertaken high-level appraisal at the point of acquisition but more granular appraisal will be required during cataloguing. See .
This should be undertaken in conjunction with appraisal and cataloguing so that the digital material only needs to be looked at once. See the Sensitivity Review section of the internal for full details on how to go about it.
Born-digital arrangement should adhere to the standard provenance principles. See the section Final Arrangement for guidance on arrangement within a hybrid archive. The item level should comprise a set of digital files with shared context that is a manageable size for a researcher to consult. In most cases the item will correspond to a piece of removable media (e.g. a floppy disk). But in the case of high capacity media, such as a hard drive, it may be appropriate for the items to correspond to smaller subsets of material, such as the high-level folders on the drive.
Consult the rest of the manual to details on the fields to use for born-digital cataloguing and guidance on how to use them.
Once the digital material has been re-ingested to AWS and cataloguing is complete, the physical media can be destroyed, if not already done so, unless the decision is made to retain it within the archive due to its strong material value.
Physical media should only be retained if it holds significant material value, for instance relevant visual decoration. In this instance the physical media should be packaged in an archival folder and stored with the paper archive. It should be given its own catalogue record and the description field should include this statement: “This physical media has been preserved within the archive for its material value. The content of the media is described and accessed through its own catalogue record: [PublicRef]. The content cannot be accessed by ordering this item.” This statement should be written on a piece of acid-free paper and tied around the physical media in the folder.
Born-digital cataloguing guidelines were revised in 2020 and the decision made to follow the guidelines going forwards, but not to re-catalogue existing born-digital material. Consequently, the catalogue contains records that do not conform to current cataloguing practice. Alongside the use of fields listed in Section 8. Superseded cataloguing, notable differences include a variety of uses of the Extent field.
Previously, piece-level records were created for every digital file and folder contained within an item. In almost all cases, these records have now been deleted.
Collections Development will have ingested all digital material from a single accession into secure storage as a single “bag”. Once appraisal has been undertaken and the arrangement finalised, the digital material should be re-ingested so that there is one “bag” for each item. Follow the procedures set out in . Contact the Digital Platform team to get the original accession bag deleted from secure storage.
If you come across any born-digital material which was missed at acquisition stage (e.g. a CD-ROM within a booklet), follow the ingest procedures in the (Section 3.3.4.7).
Removable media requires specialist disposal arranged via Facilities. Follow the instructions in Collections Development's (sections 3.3.5.3.2 and 3.3.5.3.3).