Contribute

The Adventist Digital Library accepts digitized materials from our contributing partners. If you or your organization has materials that you would like to see on the Library website, please work with one of the partners listed on the About page.

If you are a contributing partner, here is how to submit digital content. If you have any questions, please email content@adventistdigitallibrary.org.

Refer to the Digitization and File Format Guide for detailed technical guidelines.

Refer to the Metadata Guide for metadata guidelines.

Scenario 1: You have physical books, documents, photos or media that still needs to be digitized.

Step 1. Email content@adventistdigitallibrary.org and we will send you a contribution kit that will contain up-to-date instructions and metadata templates customized for your institution, which will includes batches of AAIN numbers.

Step 2. Complete each template during your digitization preparation process.

Step 3. Scan your materials and save the resulting files with either the AIN number or your internal identifier.

Step 4. Package your scans into .ZIP files (see Packing below) and upload them to the ADL DropBox account. Your organization will be provided a private folder for this purpose.

Step 5. Your submission will be validated and any metadata or quality issues will be communicated back to you.

Step 6. Your content will be loaded into the Library during the following scheduled ingest cycle.

Scenario 2: You have content from an existing digital repository that you wish to contribute.

Step 1. Email content@adventistdigitallibrary.org and we will send you a contribution kit that will contain up-to-date instructions and metadata templates customized for your institution, which will includes batches of AAIN numbers.

Step 2. Fill out the templates with the metadata from your digital repository, making sure that are required fields are completed.

Step 3. Package up your scans (see Packaging below)

Step 4. Upload both the metadata sheet and the packaged files to the ADL DropBox account. Your organization will be provided a private folder for this purpose.

Step 5. The Metadata Sheet will be validated and your content will be loaded into the Library during the following scheduled ingest cycle.

Scenario 3: You have born-digital content to submit.

Currently this is an area we are still exploring and would like to work with you on implementing a procedure. At a minimum we could setup a DropBox folder where you would be able to place born digital documents as you receive them, and create a custom metadata sheet allocating you a block of AAINs that you can assign as needed.

ADL Metadata Templates

Even though the internal Library database uses the MODS metadata standard established by the Library of Congress, contributors will submit their data as Excel spreadsheets at this time. This format has the advantage of convenience and simplicity for most applications.

For contributors who have significant numbers of records in MARC or DC formats, we have experience converting these formats into our standard Metadata Sheets for ingestion. Please contact us and we would be happy to share what we have learned.

The Library supports Unicode character encoding. An important tip is to be careful when importing or copying and pasting data. Double check that any special characters are transferred correctly.

A number of fields, like subject keywords, are standardized before ingestion into the Library. We will collaborate with you to ensure that the finished product meets your expectations before it is uploaded. For other fields such as name and publisher, the best strategy is to document the field just as it is printed in the original document, including any abbreviations used.

Packaging Files for Submission

Some content, like image files, PDFs, and multi-page TIFFs, are always entirely contained in a single file. Other content, like digitized books and documents, are often scanned as individual pages organized into folders. ADL can process both styles.

Single-file content like photos or PDFs must be named with either the AAIN or the unique filename listed in the metadata template. The filename can contain whatever other information you wish to add. For example the following are all valid:
22-042-343.01.PDF
James White 1865___22-042-344.00.JPG
22-042-345.00__Faith of Our Fathers.TIF

Multi-file content should be arranged in folders, with each folder name containing the unique identifier, much like above. Within each folder, each page file should be named in such a way as to allow them to alpha sort in the correct sequence. There are no requirements for naming the page level files beyond this one.

The content for each batch, whether multiple image files or multiple folders, should be zipped prior to submission. The zip filename should include the batch number taken from the metadata template's filename. For example:
22-042.zip
White Photos___22-042.zip

Thank you for your contributions!