Definitions of 'Act' terminology in rights fields

[Jenny Mitcham]

Hi,

Here at the University of York we are currently trying to work out how we will use the rights fields in AtoM.

I've been discussing this with colleagues and we are struggling to work out what each of the 'Act' terms really means (ie: Delete, Discover, Display, Disseminate, Migrate, Modify, and Replicate).

I've been referring back to the PREMIS data dictionary on which the rights section of AtoM is based and it gives some definitions of terms used for Act:

"Suggested values: 

replicate = make an exact copy 

migrate = make a copy identical in content in a different file format 

modify = make a version different in content 

use = read without copying or modifying (e.g., to validate a file or run a program) 

disseminate = create a copy or version for use outside of the preservation repository 

delete = remove from the repository"

This is helpful, however, 'Discover' and 'Display' are not defined. We had been arguing about what the difference between Discover, Display and Disseminate were and how this relates to the physical and digital objects and the archival description within AtoM. Can anyone help shed light on this?

Many thanks,

Jen

--

Jenny Mitcham
Digital Archivist
Borthwick Institute for Archives

University of York
Heslington
York
YO10 5DD

Telephone: 01904 321170

Borthwick Institute website: http://www.york.ac.uk/borthwick/
Digital archiving blog: http://digital-archiving.blogspot.co.uk/

Twitter: @Jenny_Mitcham

[Dan Gillean]

Hi Jen,

This question has come up before, and I'm copying and adapting an earlier response for you. The short answer is, the Archivematica team, in consultation with a development partner, introduced the terms to help fill perceived gaps in the available terms for how they were using and interpreting the existing acts in their institution. We felt they were useful, and eventually introduced them in AtoM's PREMIS template as well - although you are correct, they are not derived directly from the standard.

We do not yet have documentation up for the PREMIS template, bu we will be adding this to the 2.2 documentation, because the PREMIS Rights module in AtoM will be receiving a significant overhaul, which will see the PREMIS template given its own page (instead of just a modal), expanded and updated to conform with PREMIS 2.2, and rights added via the PREMIS module will be made actionable on digital objects: that is to say, you will be able to choose an act (e.g. replicate, migrate, etc), and then determine the anonymous user's (e.g. public users, those not logged in) access to each version of the digital object -  the master, the reference display copy, and the thumbnail. Our default settings will be as follows:

Disallow = deny access to all versions (master, reference, thumbnail)

Conditional = deny access to master and reference, allow access to thumbnail

Allow = access to all.

You can configure these permissions, and select which act is actionable. Many users might find "display" to me more intuitive and understandable for their staff than some of the other terms, but it will be up to you.

Related issue tickets:

• https://projects.artefactual.com/issues/7463
• https://projects.artefactual.com/issues/4937

Since we don't yet have any public documentation up on the PREMIS template, I'm going to copy over the notes I have from previous correspondence on all the terms, as a reference for other users. I'll get to the display and discover terms last, so please bear with me :)

First, for the established terms:

[FROM: PREMIS Editorial Committee. Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies (PREMIS) Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata. Version 2.2. July 2012. Accessed December 14, 2013. http://www.loc.gov/standards/premis/v2/premis-2-2.pdf]

From the act suggested vocabulary (4.1.7.1, p. 225)

replicate = make an exact copy
migrate = make a copy identical in content in a different file format
modify = make a version different in content
use = read without copying or modifying (e.g., to validate a file or run a program)
disseminate = create a copy or version for use outside of the preservation repository
delete = remove from the repository

It is up to the preservation repository to decide how granular the controlled vocabulary should be. It may be useful to employ the same controlled values that the repository uses for eventType.

From the eventType suggested vocabulary (2.2, p. 134)

deletion = the process of removing an object from repository storage
dissemination = the process of retrieving an object from repository
replication = the process of creating a copy of an object that is, bit-wise, identical to the original

From the Glossary:

Deletion: Process of removing a Digital Object from repository storage. (p. 258)

Dissemination: Process of retrieving a Digital Object from the Preservation Repository’s archival storage and making it available to users. In the context of OAIS, Dissemination involves transforming one or more Archival Information Packages (AIP) into a Dissemination Information Package (DIP) and making it available in a form suitable for the Preservation Repository’s Designated Community. (p. 259)

Replication: Process of copying a Digital Object so that the copy is bit-wise identical to the original. Media Migration and Media Refreshment are specific types of Replication. (p. 262)

---

For the additional terms, Evelyn passed on this information to me - she was involved in the original development work that saw these new terms introduced to Archivematica:

"... However, "discover" and "display" were terms that we implemented in consultation with Rockefeller Archive Center, who funded development of the PREMIS 2.2 template in Archivematica. "Discover" is based on "Resource discovery", i.e. exposing metadata through searches, and "display" is simply the idea of displaying an image or other digital object as opposed to hiding it from view. PREMIS doesn't get this granular when it comes to access rights because it is a preservation metadata standard. However, Rockefeller Archive wanted to distinguish between being able to retrieve metadata ("discover") and being able to view the digital object ("display"). So we adopted those terms in Archivematica and subsequently used them in AtoM as well."

 

The important corollary to this is the quote I included in the first terms - namely, that those included in the PREMIS act vocabulary are suggested terms, and that it "is up to the preservation repository to decide how granular the controlled vocabulary should be." I interpret this to mean that the most important thing is that the terms are consistently used and controlled in their definitions and relationships, even if they do not conform exactly to the suggested terms.

Also, based on the Glossary definition for dissemination, you could argue that Archivematica performs the dissemination when uploading a DIP into AtoM - so applying a control that restricted access to uploaded digital objects derived from DIPs is not in fact disallowing dissemination - in this case, dissemination has already taken place into the access system, and the administrator wishes now to restrict access to these derivatives.

We have found it useful to offer users a way to distinguish between these acts, so that display can be used for applying access restrictions. However, like all controlled vocabularies in AtoM, the PREMIS Act terms are all maintained in a taxonomy in AtoM (called Rights act) - as such, they can be deleted, edited, or added to by users to customize for local use.

Cheers,

Dan Gillean, MAS, MLIS
AtoM Product Manager / Systems Analyst,
Artefactual Systems, Inc.
604-527-2056

@accesstomemory

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[Jenny Mitcham]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your detailed explanation. Just one more question. Would some of these terms be used equally to apply to physical objects as digital? So for example, for recording that you can not show anyone a particular physical item until 2020, you could use the act 'display' with 'allow' and then the date in 2020 that you would allow access to this document in its physical form?

I think we will primarily use 'discover' to show whether the catalogue metadata was discoverable or not (could this ultimately lead to the metadata being surpressed within AtoM?) and 'display' to indicate whether something can be produced in the searchroom (or as a digital surrogate online if we have one).

Useful to know we can edit the taxonomies too.

Cheers,

Jen

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[Dan Gillean]

Hi Jen,

Interesting questions! Thanks for following up.

You are of course free to use AtoM's features as they best serve your local institutional practice, but here's a bit more information that might influence the viability of the approach you are suggesting.

The PREMIS standard describes itself as "the international standard for metadata to support the preservation of digital objects and ensure their long-term usability." That is to say, its focus and purpose is intrinsically centered around digital preservation and access, and the rights described therein have been drafted to support metadata requirements for digital objects in a repository.

In light of this, the PREMIS 2.2 template and related functionality that will be introduced in the next AtoM release have been designed with this in mind - that is, the actionable rights statements are designed to work with digital objects in AtoM. For now, PREMIS rights statements added to AtoM will not be visible to public users - so adding a rights statement about a physical object will not in fact allow your public users to see the information. In the future, we would love to add PREMIS rights to the Visible elements module in AtoM, so administrators can determine if they want the Rights area visible in archival descriptions or not. Adding such a feature would require community sponsorship for us at Artefactual to be able to undertake it.

As to whether or not the inclusion of the term "Discover" in the acts taxonomy implies that one day you might be able to suppress metadata - it's difficult to say. At the moment, the publication status (Draft or Published - though we are contemplating changing these terms to Public and Private to clarify their meaning and avoid confusion about internal processing status), combined with the Visible elements module (which would allow you, for example, to choose whether or not certain description fields, including digital object metadata fields, are visible to public users) already offers users a way of effectively suppressing some or all of a description from public visibility - this includes search and browse results in AtoM as well. I think that someone would have to come up with a strong use case for us to consider such a feature - and they would need to be willing to sponsor its development.

My recommendation for you at the moment is to make use of the existing fields in ISAD(G) that relate to access - such as 3.4.1 Conditions governing access, and 3.4.2 Conditions governing reproduction. Using publication status and Visible elements in conjunction with an internally-directed PREMIS Rights statement on discovery might be a way to indicate to staff when a description marked "Draft" might be available to be published - though again, you have other options if you like. You could for example choose a field you will never display to the public (Archivist's notes perhaps?) and use this for adding such internal observations, and then restrict the visibility of this field via the Visible elements module.

Either way, I will be very curious to hear what you think of the changes we are introducing in AtoM 2.2 when it is available, and ultimately what path you choose to follow.

Regards,

Dan Gillean, MAS, MLIS
AtoM Product Manager / Systems Analyst,
Artefactual Systems, Inc.
604-527-2056

@accesstomemory

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