ADAPT Born-Digital Procedures

The Archival Description and Processing Team, or ADAPT, includes archivists from Manuscripts, University Archives, and the Public Policy Papers divisions in Special Collections. As a team, they work to create archival description and processing procedures to apply to all Special Collections archival material, including born-digital materials. Below are links to documentation the team has created to inform users and other professionals of some of those procedures, including standard processing steps for all born-digital archival content, and tips on accessing some of the many digital file types users may find in our collections.

Born-Digital Processing Information Note

ADAPT processes all born-digital archival materials according to a baseline standard that includes PII scans, virus scans, file identification, and checksum generation. The ADAPT Born-Digital Processing Information note lists these baseline actions and explains what they are and why we perform them on born-digital materials. This link redirects to an external Google Doc.

Tips on Accessing Born-Digital Content

Many of the born-digital files found in Special Collections are unusual or were created with software not readily available on most computers. Tips on Accessing Born-Digital Content offers some advice on software that will allow users to view most files, as well as some suggestions for a wide array of file types. This link redirects to an external Google Doc.