First steps into command line tools for preservation
Lode Scheers Nastasia Vanderperren
Do you already use the command line for digital preservation tasks? It’s a lightweight, yet powerful instrument that is available on every computer. It allows you to manage your computer or automate repetitive tasks, but can also be used to carry out digital preservation tasks and quality control, with tools like e.g. Jhove, FFmpeg, bagIT, rclone, ExifTool, Xmlstarlet or Siegfried. Useful for every (digital) archivist whose nature of work has shifted from paper to digital. 

Why use the command line?
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The command line is one of the most useful and efficient tools we have as computer users, but it can feel overwhelming when you first start using the tool. Small cultural heritage organisations do not always have the means to hire a full-time IT professional, requiring employees to familiarise themselves with new digital skills and tools. In our hands-on workshop, we will guide the participants in taking their first steps using the command line to carry out various digital preservation tasks.

What will you learn?
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We will dive deeper into tools for working with files in bulk:
 - validating files with Jhove or a Tiff validator;
 - transcoding videos with FFmpeg;
 - transferring files from an online storage service to an offline storage using rclone;
- reading and writing embedded metadata in image, audio and video with ExifTool;
- extracting information from XML files with Xmlstarlet;
- identifying files with Siegfried;
- packaging files in a bagIT;
- ...

The exact list may change depending on the needs or questions of the participants. We expect to introduce 4 to 5 command line tools.

The Windows command prompt and Powershell are not compatible with the command line interface of macOS and Ubuntu. That is why Windows users need to install Microsoft’s WSL2 and set up Ubuntu before joining the workshop.
We will discuss the participants needs and questions in a Zoom call which will be organised around 2 weeks before the workshop. We recommend the participants to join this session as it serves as a way to answer technical questions or troubleshoot some installation issues before the workshop.
information technology for dp start 2 preserve