Today, business and administrative processes are mapped in digital environments. Digitization does not stop at the archive: digitally generated documents are also archived digitally without media discontinuity. docuteam has many years of expertise and specific know-how in the development, construction and operation of digital archives and is constantly developing the necessary software components further.
What is docuteam cosmos?
docuteam cosmos is a modular software solution that covers all aspects of archiving analog and, in particular, digital documents. It includes components for the indexing and description of analog and digital archive material, for the creation, processing, storage and usability of digital archive packages as well as for the publication and presentation of this data.
Why digital archiving ?
There is data that must be kept usable over very long periods of time. These can be contracts, minutes, plans, project documents or photographs – depending on the institution, there are different types of documents. For public institutions, archiving laws stipulate that certain documents must be archived. For private companies, some data is so valuable that they want to have access to it long after the statutory retention periods have expired.
The challenge of digital archiving is to keep data usable over very long periods of time and, above all, to be able to prove that it is authentic.
- Long periods of time mean that data can still be found, displayed and reused even after several generations of hardware, operating systems, software and file formats have changed. This certainly refers to periods of several decades and it can be assumed that the producers of the data can no longer be personally questioned about the formats and software products used.
- Authentic means that the archived documents are actually what they claim to be. For example, it must be possible to prove that a contract was concluded in its current version and was not subsequently amended. The most important measure to support authenticity is the documentation of the context of origin, known as evidence.
How is docuteam cosmos structured?
The OAIS standard, Open Archival Information System (ISO 14721:2012), has become established worldwide to tackle the challenge of digital archiving..
This standard is a reference model that focuses not only on the technical structure, but also on the entire organization of the archive. The OAIS defines the central tasks and responsibilities of the digital archive, contains functional and information models and defines the most important terms. As it is neutral towards data types and formats, system architectures and institutional types, the OAIS model provides an essential basis for exchanging information about digital archiving across sectoral boundaries.
docuteam cosmos is an implementation of the OAIS standard.
What happens during digital archiving?
According to the OAIS reference model, we basically distinguish between four different stages or functional blocks:
The data is bundled into so-called submission packages. This can be done in a variety of ways: manually (e.g. data from file repositories), semi-automatically (e.g. a photo collection with separate metadata) or fully automatically (e.g. from a file-producing business management system). These submission packages then go through a configurable multi-stage process in which the data is checked and prepared so that it can be stored in a digital repository. Part of this process can be format migrations, which produce archivable file formats from the original data. All actions are logged so that “data about data” (metadata) is created and seamless documentation is made possible. The information contained in this metadata is the prerequisite for being able to preserve and use the archive data in the long term.
The primary data and the associated technical metadata are stored in a digital repository. The digital repository and the associated storage technology is software that specializes in long-term archiving.
In addition to the digital repository, there is an application that stores the description (descriptive metadata) of the archived data. This is often a so-called archive information system.
Without the possibility of further use of the archived data, digital long-term archiving would be pointless. Archived data is often accessed via the archive information system, via specialized applications such as a so-called digital reading room or directly from specialist applications.
In addition, there are the overarching tasks:
Digital long-term archiving is an ongoing process. On the one hand, archive data must be managed and monitored. On the other hand, suitable measures must be taken if circumstances change in such a way that preservation measures become necessary for the stored archive data.
Software
A digital long-term archive is a complex system made up of various components. The various docuteam cosmos applications perform specific tasks and functions within an OAIS.
Types of operation and use
Your archive is managed by docuteam. The archivists use docuteam cosmos for this purpose. You supply the data and use the archive, docuteam does the rest. You do not need your own professional archive staff and ensure that your data is professionally managed and archived.
You use docuteam cosmos or parts of it as Software as a Service. You obtain the necessary software as a service and do not need to worry about system administration, backups, updates, etc. The service is paid for annually at a flat rate. A contract regulates the details.
We install, parameterize and integrate docuteam cosmos or parts of it on your infrastructure. You are responsible for operation, backup, monitoring, etc. docuteam concludes a maintenance contract with you.
Who uses docuteam cosmos?
docuteam cosmos has established itself as one of the leading solutions in the field of digital long-term archiving and is used by numerous archives in very different contexts. The number of these archives is constantly increasing, which gives the solution stability and a long-term perspective.
Components of docuteam cosmos are currently in use in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France and Sweden.
Our customers and clients include:
State and provincial archives in Switzerland and Austria operate their digital long-term archives with docuteam cosmos on their own infrastructure.
The docuteam cosmos cloud offering makes a digital long-term archive for city archives a reality.
The cost and organizational structure of docuteam cosmos allows the management of a digital long-term archive even for municipalities without their own professional archive staff.
Our clients include medium-sized companies as well as global corporations from the industrial, manufacturing, retail, banking, insurance and media sectors.
Several universities and research institutes are among our customers.
The field of application of docuteam cosmos is not limited to classic archives.
A wide range of non-governmental and parastatal organizations have extremely rich archives.
International organizations count on docuteam cosmos.
Why docuteam cosmos?
Comparison of cosmos with competitor systems
When evaluating a system for long-term digital archiving (OAIS), you should pay attention to a few critical points.
FAQ
We are always available to answer your questions and discuss your specific concerns and needs.
A digital archive makes it possible to separate active and finalized documents. Only data that needs to be kept permanently or for several decades is stored in the archive.
There are good reasons for removing and archiving data from a business management system after just two or four years: Reducing the load on the system, early conversion to archivable file formats, selecting files to be archived while staff still know the business, etc. The triage model according to eCH-0164 describes this case. In addition, every customer has a large amount of data that has never been imported into the business management system and is nevertheless worth archiving, for example series of minutes, photos, digitized resident control cards, etc.
No, we can’t do that and neither can anyone else. But we guarantee that we operate digital archiving based on the internationally established standard (OAIS) and thus come as close as possible to such a guarantee. An essential component of OAIS is the so-called “Preservation Planning”. Data and metadata are periodically checked in the archive repository and migrated to new archive formats as required and in consultation with the customer. Digital archiving is a continuous process and is not completed once it has been moved to archive storage.
The data belongs to you and does not fall into any bankruptcy estate. As an additional safeguard, you have the option of backing up the data on your own infrastructure. As our solutions are based on established standards, the primary and metadata can also be used without docuteam.
Yes, you can either use your existing archive information system or docuteam context for indexing. However, separating responsibility for analog and digital archives causes coordination effort and additional costs for provision. It can also jeopardize the coherence of the archive index.
The archived data and metadata belong to you. If you no longer require our services, we will deliver your archive packages from the archive storage in a standardized form. We do not want to create any dependency on our system. The exported archive packages are based on international standards so that they can also be imported into other systems.
The national standards eCH-0160 (Switzerland), EDIDOC (Austria) and SEDA (France) are in widespread use. There are also Matterhorn METS, docuteam dublin core and various individual transfer processes. The number of standards covered is constantly increasing.
The exit strategy is an integral part of the solution, as the necessary components and mechanisms are built in. Keywords for this are: Metadata standards, licensing, storage standard (OCFL), completeness of data in the repository storage area, human and machine readability of metadata, integrity assurance mechanisms and independence from storage technologies.
docuteam feeder, the responsible component in docuteam cosmos, can be configured very flexibly and can basically transfer data in any form. If metadata is to be transferred from the original systems, it must be available in a structured form. A transfer process is then implemented based on the existing conditions and an analysis of which data and metadata is to be transferred and in what form. This can be done for document management systems or specialist applications and databases, for example.
A connection of docuteam cosmos to a third-party system can be designed in different ways. As a minimum, it means that data can be transferred from the third-party system (e.g. by means of export and subsequent conversion). However, a connection can also be designed in such a way that the long-term archive can be accessed from the third-party system (example: in a business management system, long-term archiving of a file can be triggered at the touch of a button, and the file can also be requested from the long-term archive again at the touch of a button).
No, there are many automation options.
No, we can merge the primary data (files) and metadata (descriptions) during ingest.
Yes, this is possible as long as the archive information system can be accessed via an interface.
No. docuteam cosmos has a modular structure and does not require a specific archive information system. However, the depth of integration and options vary depending on the product.
Absolutely, the possibility of such a phased approach is one of the strengths of the modular approach of docuteam cosmos.
Yes, of course, that is at your discretion.
Absolutely, this is a common use case.
Obtain docuteam cosmos as Service. docuteam looks after the archives of many corporations, institutions and companies that find themselves in exactly the situation described. Get in touch with us!