Introduction
The preservation plan for theses content follows from policies and practices described in York University Libraries’ Digital Preservation Policy. This document explains the practical steps that York University Libraries take to preserve the intellectual content of theses in digital format. It outlines the basic tools, methods, and standards used for the long-term preservation of theses.
Content Formats
For the preservation of theses content, York University Libraries require a PDF of the content, accompanied by descriptive metadata. Some theses content includes supplementary image files, audio or video files, or data files in various digital formats. York University Libraries urges thesis submitters to provide preservation format supplementary files, for a given type, to commit to the 'full' preservation level. For supplemental formats that do not meet the York University Libraries' criteria for preferred formats, the supplemental files will only be preserved at the Bit-level. York University Libraries continuously monitors developments in file formats to determine if and when formats require migration (see Environmental Monitoring of Preservation Formats).
Submission Format
Theses submissions generally consist of a PDF file and associated descriptive metadata. For submissions that include supplemental files, those supplemental files should be submitted in a preservation format.
Analysis on Ingest
Upon ingest, every file is subject to identification of its file format and validation using the File Information Tool Set (FITS). The output of the FITS identification and validation processes are recorded and associated with the object.
Content Excluded
York University Libraries do not ingest files that are not referenced (either as part of a representation or as associated media) in the associated metadata.
Acceptable Formats
For the Full Preservation level for theses the acceptable format is PDF. The Full Preservation level for a supplementary file is defined in the relevant Preservation Action Plan (Audio, Image, or Video).
Last revised: January 11, 2023