Digital transfer preparation extract
Learn more about how to prepare a test sample of your digital records and their metadata for us to analyse.
We need to check a sample extract before full transfer
For us to determine whether a digital transfer is feasible, your public sector organisation first needs to prepare a test or sample extract or copy of some eligible digital information and records (digital records) and their metadata for us to analyse.
Useful links
Using this guidance for a full transfer
You can also use the process outlined on this page to prepare a full extract of all eligible digital records when we agree to proceed with a full transfer.
Contact us before you use any online tools
This is the most technical part of a digital transfer, but there are some free online tools that can help. Please contact us for specific guidance and advice if you’re considering using any of these tools.
Identify extract requirements
We’ll meet with you to create a list of requirements for the test extract. These specific requirements will be based on information gathered about your organisation’s:
information environment
technical capabilities.
To help us with this information gathering, a Digital transfer information gathering checklist template may be used.
Useful links
Digital transfer information gathering checklist template 23/Fm10 (PDF, 150KB)
Export the extract
We recommend using the export format options of the systems your digital records are stored in to export copies of a test set of eligible records and their associated metadata. The easiest option is to export all the metadata fields available in the system. Then you can analyse them with us to decide which fields provide context and help with discovery.
But if your systems do not have metadata export functionality, you may need to access inhouse technical knowledge or IT support to do this. We can provide some advice and support, but you may also need to consult the system designers or vendors.
Create a transfer metadata file
The extract needs to be accompanied by a transfer metadata file (TMF) or list that includes metadata for each digital record.
Even if you’re transferring digital records from a shared drive or similar — where there’s no separate descriptive metadata available — we still require a TMF to be created or generated. In essence, generating a TMF is the same as populating a list template in the paper environment.
From our experience with previous transfers from shared drives, DROID (Digital Record Object Identification — a free online tool created by The National Archives in the United Kingdom) can be used to generate and copy file format identification metadata into a .csv file. This creates a list for transfer. This metadata is limited but includes:
file path (identifier)
file name (title)
file size
date last modified
file/folder and
checksum values.
If you have more metadata than this available, you might need to input some manually. Or we can work with you to merge this into a more complete metadata set. Completing this step accurately will ensure the capture of metadata necessary to add value to the digital records.
Generate checksum values
A checksum value is an essential metadata element we need to ensure the integrity of your digital records. You must generate checksums before you transfer to us. You can do this either from within the original storage system or immediately after the records are exported from it.
You must provide the checksum values to us as part of the metadata describing each digital record, or in a separate TMF (ideally both). Providing the checksum for each transferred record allows us to validate each one to make sure that all the digital records have been transferred successfully and that no changes or errors were introduced during the transfer.
Checksums can be generated by DROID as well as other free online tools such as:
Free Commander (Windows), and
SHA1SUM or MD5SUM (Linux).
Useful links
Transport the extract to us
You’ll need to copy the extract and the TMF to a removable hard drive that can be secured with encryption (we can provide this if required). Alternatively, you can arrange another method for secure transport to us, such the download option from a secure system or environment, or Government Cloud services.
Before transporting the extract to us, you must check that all the records are synchronised or have been copied correctly. We recommend using the tool rsync (Remote Sync - a tool for transferring and synchronising digital records across computer systems, by checking their timestamp and size). This tool preserves the integrity of the digital records and their accompanying metadata, and we are happy to help you use it.
Remember, you must not delete any digital records or metadata. At this stage, we only need a reliable copy.