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Overview

Welcome to the Preassembly Application!

For returning users of the application, please consult the user documentation listed in the sidebar.

Preassembly is an application for depositing files into the Stanford Digital Repository (SDR). It is open to staff of the Stanford University Libraries and is designed to work in conjunction with another SDR application called Argo.

The basic outline of the deposit process is as follows:

• Use Argo to "register" items: this assigns them unique repository identifiers
• Organize and stage your files for deposit
• Use Preassembly to deposit the files
• Review the results using Argo

Preassembly can also be used to update existing items. The process is much the same as above, except that the items won't need to be registered a second time. Once created, each item retains its repository identifier throughout its lifecycle. When an item is updated, historical versions of its files and metadata are retained in the repository's preservation system.

The Preassembly approach

Preassembly is designed around processing batches of content. A batch can be anywhere from a single item to thousands of items totaling multiple terabytes of data. No matter the size of the batch, the Preassembly deposit process is always the same:

• users arrange files into folders (one folder per item)
• place those folders on a file share which the Preassembly app can access
• and then submit a web form through the Preassembly app that contains instructions for how the batch should be processed.
• Preassembly then copies the files from the file share and deposits them into the SDR

Because Preassembly is designed for library staff use, it is integrated with library-managed file shares. Users have multiple options for how to submit files to Preassembly. Depending on the user's departmental affiliation, they may be able to use their one department's server. Alternative, users have the option of transferring files via FTP or using a file transfer tool called Globus, which is designed for sharing files within university networks. The process of staging files for deposit is explained further on its own page.

About the name "Preassembly"

The name "Preassembly" is a legacy of the application's origin as an internal application within the Digital Library Systems and Services department. The process of depositing files into the repository involved a step called "Assembly", which preceded ingest into the repository. "Assembly" was the assembling of files and metadata into "digital objects", which is the generic term for the unit of information that the repository stores. In that context, "Preassembly" referred to steps taken before Assembly - literally, "Pre-Assembly."

In the future the application may be given a name that is less specifically tied to internal processes.