Wellcome Library FAQ on material transfer

Q: What does material transfer mean?

A: Material transfer is the name for the means by which material is moved from your institution or location to the Library. Paper archives are put into boxes and may be collected by Library staff, born digital material is copied to a CD-ROM, DVD, tape or portable hard drive and collected or sent to the Library. We have a preferred method as we need to ensure that the material you provide the Library with arrives intact.

Q: Is the means of material transfer important?

A: Yes. Each of us needs to be assured that the material you intend to give us is securely transferred, i.e. it isn't lost or accidentally read by a third party, and that it arrives in a complete and functional form. We need to have as much control over the process as possible to ensure security of transfer and to guard the integrity of the material.

Q: Do I have to deliver the material to the Library personally?

A: No. Unless you or your organisation is located a long way from the Library we would prefer to collect the material from you using our own equipment. Alternately you could courier material to us.

Q: Do you have a preferred method of material transfer?

A: Yes. We will negotiate the transfer with you, arranging mutually convenient times. We will also explain what you can do to make the process as easy as possible for everybody. To ensure a secure and safe transfer of material we prefer to collect it from you. We prefer to use our own portable USB powered hard drives and would advocate the assignment of validation keys either to individual files or (if you are providing many files) to the media on which they sit.

Q: Do I have to follow your preferred method of transfer?

A: We have a preferred method of working because it gives us control over the process of material transfer. If you'd prefer to work another way we'd be happy to discuss that with you.

Q: Why can't I just email my material over to you as an attachment?

A: Email is a process over which we have no control. Limits on email gateways, uncertainty of email transmission, remote possibility of interception by a third party, remote possibility of corruption during the transmission process all add to the uncertainty that material might or might not arrive intact.

Q: What do I have to do?

A: It would be helpful if you prepared the material ready for us to collect it from you. Identify exactly what you want to donate to the Library. Place the material in a location where we can easily find it and on a machine into which we can plug our USB powered hard drive.

Q: Is there anything else you need to know about my material?

A: It would help if we knew some technical information about the material. We will ask you to tell us what you know about such things as, the operating system (Windows, Mac etc) version of the operating system (XP, OSX etc) what applications or programs created the material, (Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, Dreamweaver etc). We need the versions of these applications if you know them. We also need to know some of the context of the material, who created it, why, and when. What was it created for? We have a form that we can send you that asks these questions.

Q: What about passwords etc?

A: If you are donating material to us it would help us if you removed any passwords. Generally we can't accept material for long term preservation if it is password protected. You should talk to us about any restrictions in the use of the material.

Q: What do you do when you receive my material?

A: The first thing we will do is write to tell you that we have received your material. Then we put material through a thorough ant-virus and anti-malware check. Even if it successfully passes those checks it goes into a months quarantine at the end of which we run the same checks again. We will write to tell you that your material has passed these checks. If your material fails these checks we will write to you letting you know that this happened and what the problem is. We may ask that you provide us with a duplicate set of the material. Once we have checked that the material is clean and that we can open each of the files we will provide you with a full list of everything that you have sent us.

Q: What happens if my material fails a virus check?

A: We would notify you of any problems. We can't accept material that has a virus infection, we would ask you to 'clean' the material and re-submit it to us.

Q: Where can I get further information?

A: The Library has produced a series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about working with digital material. Staff will be happy to send you this material. Alternately you are welcome to contact Library staff.

Q: Is there someone in the Library I can talk to?

A: Yes. There are two contacts at the Wellcome Library who are available to answer your questions:
Natalie Walters, Archivist, - n.walters@wellcome.ac.uk
Dave Thompson, Digital Curator - d.thompson@wellcome.ac.uk
Phone +44 (0)20 7611 8888

FAQ 4 October 2007