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Export ADOs to CSV Action

Archipelago has a specialty Action, labeled Export Archipelago Digital Objects to CSV content item, which enables you to generate a CSV file for a selected group of Archipelago Digital Objects (ADOs).

Where to Find

In default Archipelago deployments, this speciality action is found in the Action menu for the main Content page:

  • Accessed through the Content menu item
  • Directly at /admin/content

Export To CSV Action from Content

And in the Action menu for the Advanced Batch Find and Replace view:

  • Accessed through the Tools menu > Advanced Batch Find and Replace
  • Directly at /search-and-replace

Export ADOs to CSV Configuration Options

After selecting a group of ADOs through either the 'Content' or 'Find and Replace' pages, you will have the following options available for using this speciality Action.

  1. Expand related ADOs to UUIDs: when enabled, all related ADOs (ismemberof, etc) are going to be expanded to their UUIDs. This allows changes to parentship to be made on the CSV.
  2. Do not export Media/Files: when enabled, file references and their associated technical Metadata (as:filetype JSON keys, e.g as:image) will be skipped. This allows pure Descriptive Metadata to be exported to CSV.
  3. Convert Media to Portable Absolute URLs: when enabled, all File references will be converted to absolute URLs and their associated technical Metadata (as:filetype JSON keys, e.g as:image) will be skipped. This allows CSVs to be used to ingest new ADOs in other repositories.
  4. Attach CSV to a new AMI Set: when checked, a new AMI set with the exported data will be created and configured for "Updating" existing ADOs.
  5. If attaching to a new AMI Set, you will have the option to Please Give your AMI Set a name: If empty, Archipelago will create a (quite) generic one for you (defaults to 'CSV Export/Import AMI Set').

Export To CSV Action Configuration

Select Apply when you are ready to move forward to the next step of using this Action.

Executing the Action and Downloading the CSV

After selecting your Export ADOs to CSV Configuration Options, you will be directed to a page showing a summary list of the 'Items selected' (list may be truncated depending on the amount of items you selected). You will then need to select Execute Action to proceed.

Selecting Execute Action will trigger the generation of the CSV in real time, directly in your browser session. This may take a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on the amount of items you selected to include. You will see a progress bar updating while this Action is running.

When the Action is finished, you will see a temporary Status Message stating: "Your source data was saved and is available as CSV at", followed by a link to the CSV file generated. Be sure to click on the CSV link and download before navigating away from this temporary Status message. No worries if you accidently navigate away from this page before downloading the generated CSV, you can find a temporary copy of the CSV file generated at: - Accessed through the Content menu > Media Files - Directly at /admin/content/files

Or: you can simply configure and run the Action again to generate another copy of the CSV if needed.

If you selected the option to attach to Attach CSV to a new AMI Set, you will also see a status message stating: "Well Done! New AMI Set was created and you can see it here" (and 'see it here' will be linked to the corresponding AMI Set). You will be able to access the AMI Set from the AMI Sets tab on the main Content page found at /admin/content or directly at /amiset/list.

Export To CSV Action Status Message

Recommendations

This specialty Action is quite useful for generating CSVs to use for reviewing select batches of materials found in your repository, but it is not intended to be used to generate a complete CSV containing all of your Archipelago repository's digital objects and collections. Depending on the size of your repository, generating a CSV for all of your assets may exceed your browser's timeout processing limits/bandwidth (see 'Known Solr-Related Issue' note below) and also result in a CSV file that is unable to be opened by standard spreadsheet software such as Google Sheets or MS Excel.

Known Solr-Related Issue

Solr has a fixed limits configured for the maxiumum number of results able to retrieved, so if you make a very large query/select a very large number of ADOs to include that exceeds your fixed limits for Solr, you will only retrieve up to the maximum specified in your Solr limits.

You can find the related Solr configurations sections the Advanced section of the 'Edit search server' page found at /admin/config/search/search-api/server/esmero_solr/edit. Take caution with making any changes here, and be aware that changing the maximum query settings will impact your Solr query setup sitewide, not just as pertains to the 'Export ADOs to CSV' Action.

Export To CSV Action Known Solr Issue

We would recommend executing this specialty Action using Archipelago's Find and Replace to narrow down your selected ADOs more easily using the Facets available for the Find and Replace interface. We would also recommend keeping your selected batches limited to an amount of objects you can reasonably assess and review using your normal spreadsheet review workflows and software.

Thank you for reading! Please contact us on our Archipelago Commons Google Group with any questions or feedback.

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