Upload digital objects¶

Link a single digital object to an archival description¶

A single digital object can be linked directly to an existing archival description in AtoM via the “Link digital object” option. Users can either upload a digital object, or link to an existing resource available on the web. Instructions on how to do both are included below.

To link a single digital object:

1. Navigate to the view page of an existing archival description in AtoM. You can do this by browsing or by searching for a specific archival description - see Access content for more information on navigation in AtoM.
2. Click on the “More” button in the button block; from the menu that appears, select “Link digital object”.
3. AtoM will redirect you to the link digital object edit page. Users can either upload a digital object, or link to an existing digital object available on the internet.
4. To upload a digital object, cick the “Choose File” button to navigate to and select a file on your computer or device. Click “Open” once item has been selected from the window that will appear.
5. To link to an object on the internet, enter the URL to the external object to which you wish to link.

6. Click the “Create” button in the button block. When you return to the view page, the reference display copy will be displayed in the digital object field, above the other fields linked to that archival description.

   Note

   Users can view or play the reference display copy (depending on the type of digital object). Authenticated (i.e. logged-in) users can also download the master digital object.

7. Objects with multiple pages, such as multi-page TIFFs or PDF files, will by default be displayed with single-page reference display copies. To have them viewed with a pager to allow the user to browse through the pages, go to Admin > Settings > Global > Upload multi-page files as multiple descriptions and select “Yes”; this will also cause all pages of a multi- page object to appear individually as child records of the description to which the object was uploaded. (See: settings).

You can upload any file format, but only supported formats can be viewed or played directly in AtoM. For a list of formats, see File formats. Formats that are not supported can still be uploaded: clicking the object will download it to the user’s desktop where (assuming the user has the required software) it can be viewed or played.

See below for more information on making changes to your digital object.

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Upload multiple digital objects¶

In AtoM, there is a 1:1 relationship between archival descriptions and digital objects - that is, only one digital object may be associated with an archival description, and all digital objects require an associated description. However, to enable a rapid workflow where users can upload multiple digital objects without first having to create associated descriptions, AtoM includes an option to upload multiple digital objects at once, as children of a selected archival description. Users can choose what level of description is used when the placeholder descriptions are created; a title can also be added to each uploaded digital object, which will then be used as the title for the related description.

To upload multiple digital objects in AtoM:

1. Navigate to the view page of an existing archival description in AtoM. You can do this by browsing or by searching for a specific archival description - see Access content for more information on navigation in AtoM.
2. Click on the “More” button in the button block; from the menu that appears, select “Import digital objects”.
3. Select a title for the objects - this will be used as the title for the associated archival description that will be created for each object uploaded. Each object will also have its own title field once selected, but if you do not wish to individually name each object, an automated title can be added to all objects using the title field at the top of the upload page. Currently the default is image 01, image 02, etc. (which will appear as a placeholder (i.e. image %dd%) in the “Title field”).
4. Choose a level of description. Unlike the Link a single digital object to an archival description option, which attaches the digital object directly to the archival description at that level, the “Import multiple objects” option requires the user to designate a level of description (e.g.: Fonds, Subfonds, Collection, Series, Subseries, File, Item, Record group, Part, etc).

5. Click the blue “Select files” link and select multiple files to upload.
6. Once selected, the page will show previews of all the objects. If you like, you can edit the title for each object under to the preview. Remember, the title you enter here will be the title used for the associated archival description that will be created for each digital object uploaded.
7. You can quit the upload process at any time by clicking the “Cancel” button in the button block; any digital objects already uploaded will not be saved. Note that simply navigating away from the page by any other means, without first clicking “Import” will also result in no new digital objects being uploaded.
8. Click the “Import” button in the button block when you are satisfied with your changes. When you return to the view page, you will see that the objects have all been attached to the archival description as child records of that description.

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Upload PDF¶

A user can link a single PDF and import multiple PDFs into AtoM. A full-text search of the content of the PDF is available through the main search box. PDFs that have a text layer will work, including all OCR PDFs and born-digital PDFs that include a text layer (e.g., exported Word documents) will work. Search results will refer users to the PDF that contains the search term(s), but will not reveal the location of the term(s) within the PDF.

Currently, AtoM 2.0 truncates PDF text after the first 65,535 bytes.

As mentioned above, it is possible to upload multi-page TIFFs or PDF files to be displayed with a page viewer and to upload each page as a child object of the parent. To enable this feature, see settings.

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Edit digital objects¶

Any digital object that has been uploaded and linked to an archival description can be edited at any time by an authenticated (i.e. logged-in) user. To do this:

1. Navigate to the view page of an existing archival description that has an existing digital object.
2. Click on the “More” button in the button block; from the menu that appears, select “Edit digital object”.
3. You will be redirected to the digital object’s edit page. On this page, all representations (i.e. master representation, reference representation and thumbnail representation) of the digital object will be listed, along with information on their Filename, Filesize and Media Type.

Edit digital object rights¶

4. The rights permissions for all versions can be edited. Actions can be permitted or restrictted (i.e. added or removed) as needed. To do this, select the “Add new” button that appears at the end of each representation section, below the “Rights records” table:
   • Select the Act (i.e. Delete, Discover, Display, Disseminate, Migrate, Modify, or Replicate).
   • Set the Restriction (i.e. Allow or Disallow).
   • Select a timeline by including a Start date and End designate.
   • Include a Rights holder. A drop-down menu will appear as you begin to type.
   • Include Rights note(s) as needed.
   • Select a Basis for the permission (i.e. Copyright, License, Statute, Policy or Donor)
5. When the permission has been created and all fields filled, click “Submit”. The new entry will appear in the Rights records table.
6. Permissions can be edited by clicking the pencil at the end of the entry. They can be deleted by clicking the “X” next to the pencil.

See also

• Make rights actionable on digital objects

Edit reference and thumbnail representations¶

7. If you wish to use a different image as the thumbnail or reference version this is also performed from the Edit digital object screen. First click delete in Reference representation or Thumbnail area.

8. AtoM will ask the user to confirm that they would like to delete the thumbnail/reference image. After confirming, the Edit digital object screen will allow the user to upload a new reference representation by clicking Browse and selecting a file from their computer, or auto-generate a new representation from the master image.

Delete digital objects¶

To delete a digital object that has been uploaded and linked to an archival description:

1. Navigate to the view page of an existing archival description that has an existing digital object.
2. Click on the “More” button in the button block; from the menu that appears, select “Edit digital object”. You will be redirected to the digital object’s edit page.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Delete”. You will be prompted to confirm that you wish to “Delete” the digital object; click “Delete” once again. You will be redirected to the archival institution’s view page.

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Digital object storage¶

In AtoM, administrators can track digital object storage per repository. Storage limits may be placed on individual repositories by in-house server capacity or on hosted server agreements.

If you are utilizing a multi-institutional / portal instance of AtoM, you will need to check with the site administrator to learn the digital object storage limitations.

For more information, see Managing digital object storage.

Files formats¶

A number of file formats are supported as digital objects in AtoM. Files in other formats can still be uploaded to AtoM; they just cannot be directly accessed or streamed within AtoM itself. In these cases the user must download the file from AtoM to his or her desktop and (assuming the user has the requisite software) access the content there.

The table below shows image, audio and video formats which can be viewed in AtoM:

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