Material Flows
Understanding Material Flows
Material flows define how Producer Agents deposit content. Staff users configure the following material flow parameters:
- Metadata forms, which define the types of information the Producer Agents must provide about the content. This can include author, title, owner, creation date, and description.
- Submission formats, which define how Producer Agents upload files and what limitations are applied to the files. Submission formats can be created for:
- Manual deposit (For more information, see Manual Deposit.)
- Automated deposit (For more information, see Automated Deposit.)
- Access rights options, which define the options the Producer Agents can select to control who can view the content.
- Retention periods, which allow users to limit the period for which content will be stored in the system.
- Content structure templates, which determine the XML framework for providing content metadata when content is deposited automatically. The Rosetta system supports Dublin Core and METS.
Once a material flow is configured, Deposit Managers can associate the material flow with generic Producer profiles.
Multiple material flows can be associated with a single Producer profile. For example, a Deposit Manager can associate the Producer profile with different material flows for depositing audio, video, and text content.
Similarly, a generic material flow can be associated with multiple Producer profiles. For example, a Deposit Manager can assign a material flow that enables depositing video content to multiple Producer profiles.
Negotiators can personalize generic material flows for the needs of specific Producers.
Metadata Forms
A metadata form contains fields that Producer Agents must complete in order to describe the content that they deposit.
Metadata forms are configured by Deposit Managers. To build metadata forms, Deposit Managers use the elements that are defined in the Dublin Core, an internationally recognized metadata standard. Dublin Core defines various metadata elements that describe content. These elements include:
- Creator
- Date
- Description
- Format
- Language
- Subject
- Title
When configuring a metadata form, Deposit Managers select the elements that need to be included on the metadata form. Optionally, Deposit Managers can specify possible values that Producer Agents can provide for each element. For example, a Deposit Manager can add an element for language and define three predefined options: English, German, and Spanish. A Producer Agent would then be required to select one of these languages when specifying the language of the deposited content.
Deposit Managers can associate a metadata form with multiple material flows.
Submission Formats
Submission formats govern how Producer Agents upload files and what limitations are applied to the files. Deposit Managers can associate a submission format with multiple material flows.
Submission formats define the following parameters of the Producer Agents’ content:
- Types of files
- Number of files
- Size of files
Submission formats support the following methods of uploading files: - Manual Deposit
- Automated Deposit
Manual Deposit
When depositing manually, Producer Agents select files to be uploaded. Producer Agents can upload files using one of the submission formats listed in the following table, as defined by a Deposit Manager.
| Submission Format | Files Are Uploaded... | Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| HTTP Load | One by one | The submission format limits:
|
| Detailed | One by one | The submission format specifies
|
| Bulk | Multiple files simultaneously | The submission format limits
|
| CSV (comma-separated values) | One by one or multiple files | The submission format limits:
|
Automated Deposit
When depositing automatically, the files are uploaded to the Rosetta system from a predefined location on a remote server or local computer. The location is defined in the material flow. Producer Agents can use the automated deposit for uploading large amounts of content.
The following submission formats are supported for automated deposit:
- File Transfer Protocol (FTP), for content that is located on a remote server
- Network File System (NFS), for content that is located on a local computer
Access Rights Policies
An access rights policy is metadata that defines who can access an intellectual entity (IE) and when the IE can be viewed. Because staff users can assign an access rights policy to multiple IEs, this metadata is known as shared metadata. A Staff Member can also edit a shared access rights policy for a specific IE.
An access rights policy consists of expressions. An expression defines conditions that a user must meet in order to access the IE. These conditions might include an IP address range from which the IE can be viewed or a period of time after which the IE can be accessed. A policy can contain multiple expressions based on different criteria.
Access rights policies can be configured by a Back Office Administrator, a Deposit Manager, or a Negotiator. IEs are assigned rights based on the options that are given in the Material Flow to the Producer Agent.Then during SIP processing, Assessor/Approver/Arranger can re-assign different AR to each IE.
Once the IEs are in the Permanent repository, editors can re-assign AR policies to IEs.
Retention Periods
A retention period specifies a limit on how long content will be stored in a repository. Like an access rights policy, a retention policy can be assigned to multiple IEs and is thus known as shared metadata.
Retention periods can be based on time elapsed (for example, ten years following date saved to the system) or a specific date (for example, December 31, 2020). Material associated with the retention policy is deleted when the time elapsed or the date specified passes. Users can specify that the material be moved to recycling, and thus be available for restoring, rather than being deleted from the system permanently.
The system runs the retention period removal job nightly, along with a job that analyzes upcoming deletions, which can be viewed in a BIRT report.
Users can bypass the retention period if they want their content to be saved indefinitely.
Content Structures
Content structures determine the XML framework for providing content metadata. The Rosetta system supports various metadata standards, including Dublin Core, CSV, and METS.
Content structures are configured by a Back Office Administrator. Staff users can associate existing content structures with material flows.