Chapter 3: Pre-ingest: From early contact to data transfer

Introduction

This chapter focuses on what data archives do to ensure that the incoming data meet the criteria of data collection and quality requirements before the data are accepted in the archive for further curation and preservation.

After introducing the concept of pre-ingest and why it is important, the chapter is organised into four main parts following a timeline, starting with outreach activities before the data submission or leading to it, and ending with rejection or acceptance of the deposit and transition to data curation in the archive. The principles to follow in pre-ingest are complemented with examples of how data archives do it in practice.

After finishing this chapter, you should be able to understand the rationale with the pre-ingest phase, and to define, evaluate and develop pre-ingest activities relevant and meaningful to your data archive.