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Importing new digital heritage items (ZIP archive workflow)

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The steps given below reflect a general workflow used by our team for many projects

  • You will likely adapt this to your own workflow that best fits your projects and resources. 
  • This document does not provide a start-to-finish walkthrough. As the whole workflow consists of several unique steps, this document instead refers to detailed resources on each of those steps.

1) Prepare the ZIP archive folder structure and metadata templates

  • ZIP archive structure for roundtrip
    • There isn’t a single structure that will work for all imports – it depends on the content being worked with. 
    • In *most* cases, there will be one digital heritage metadata sheet, one or media asset metadata sheets, and then the actual media assets in a subfolder.
    • File naming for the spreadsheets is critical.
  • Downloading metadata import templates
    • Downloading the template from your site ensures that you are working with the most current version. This template is changed periodically, for example, if a metadata field is added or changed in a Mukurtu version update.
    • See File formats, character encoding, and spreadsheet tools for more information on choosing a suitable spreadsheet tool.

2) Add media assets to the ZIP archive

  • ZIP archive structure for roundtrip
  • The specific placement of your media files will vary, depending on your folder structure.
    • If all your media assets are contained in a single “media” or “files” or other folder, place them all there.
    • If you prefer to arrange your media assets in a more complex folder structure, for example separate folders for “audio”, “file”, “image”, and “video”, or a different structure, place them accordingly.
  • You will use this folder structure/filepath when populating the media metadata spreadsheet(s).

3) Populate media metadata spreadsheet(s)

  • Media asset metadata fields for roundtrip 
    • Media asset metadata
    • Required fields are GUID, Provider, Media Source, and Title. Protocol is strongly recommended.
    • Other fields that directly support other features are People, Tags/Keywords, and Contributor.
    • All other fields can usually be skipped.
  • When importing new media assets, use the GUID field, not the SID field. 
    • You will use this field in the digital heritage metadata spreadsheet.
    • A media asset cannot use the same GUID as another media asset or item. Every single GUID in the site must be unique.
  • In the Media Source field, spelling, capitalization, and file extension are all critical when completing the filepath.
    • Eg: if a folder is named media, you cannot enter it as Media
    • Eg: if a media asset is image_001.jpg, you cannot enter it as image_001.jpeg

4) Populate digital heritage metadata spreadsheets

  • Digital heritage metadata fields for roundtrip
  • When importing new items, use the GUID field, not the NID field.
  • In the Media Assets field, enter the GUID of the corresponding media asset(s).
    • If an item has multiple media assets, separate them with semicolons.
    • A digital heritage item cannot use the same GUID as another item or a media asset. Every single GUID in the site must be unique.
  • Required fields are GUID, Title, Community, Protocol, Category, Item Sharing Settings, and Username.

5) Compress ZIP archive

  • Give your sheets, media, and folders a final review. Make sure that required fields are correctly filled in and formatted.
    • Make sure all sheets are UTF-8 encoded CSV files.
  • When done you will compresse your top level folder (eg: “Import_01”) into a ZIP archive (eg: “Import_01.zip”).
  • This varies by operating system.

6) Import ZIP archive