Introduction to automation for digital preservation professionals (Face-to-face version)

Developer:
Jarrod Harvey

Date Developed:
February 2020

Version:
v1

Maintenance:
Jarrod Harvey (jarrodharvey@gmail.com)

Delivery mode:
Face to face, guided by an instructor.

Summary:
This course aims to equip digital preservation professionals with skills for automating repetitive inputs when appraising, accessioning and ingesting large collections of digital objects. Participants will learn a file management automation tool called Organize. Software called Boostnote will be used for storing file management automation rules for later reference. Software called Sublime Text will be used for text editing. By the end of the course, participants will have the skills to make edits to a configuration file and enter a simple command at the command line that will let them automatically:

Clean up ‘garbage’ files
Move all images (and other file types) into their own folders
Bulk rename files
See what is “inside” all files that are older/newer than a certain date
Copy files to different folders based on words in filenames.

Skills required:
Participants are not expected to be familiar with the command line or editing configuration files, but they should be prepared to learn how to use them. They are expected to be proficient in the following computer skills:

Searching for files using Spotlight (Mac) or Windows Search (Windows)
Renaming files
Extracting ZIP files
Setting the default software to open a file with
Downloading files from the Internet
Installing software
Moving files from one folder to another
Navigating through different folders
Reading and following documentation
Looking up what an error message means and trying to fix it

Technical requirements:
Participants require access to a computer running either Windows or MacOS, with administrator rights to install software.

Time required: 4 hours.

Course materials

Material for the presenter to use before and during the course
Contents:
- Checklist of things to have ready prior to the session
- Course feedback form
- Course outline
- Equipment required for the Introduction to Automation for Archivists course
- Schedule
- Slides
- Scripts for non-exercise tasks
- Exercises - script

Download: IntroToAuto_PresenterMaterial_F2F_V1.zip (29.2 MB)

Material that participants need before and during the course begins
Contents:
- Required software
- Software installation - notes
- Self-knowledge questionnaire
- Command line cheat sheet

Download: IntroToAuto_ParticipantMaterial_F2f_V1.zip (318 KB)