METS Toolkit

This "toolkit" of freeware, commercial, and CDL-developed resources will help contributors create and submit METS digital objects. It may also be useful for other individuals and institutions; however, please note that that the toolkit is designed to aid contributors and therefore contains some tools specific to our processes.

Encoding and Digitization Specifications

• CDL Guidelines for Digital Objects, Version 2.0 [PDF]
  • CDL Digital File Format Recommendations [PDF]
  • CDL Structured Text Working Group TEI Encoding Guidelines, Version 1.0

Collection Management Tools

CDL Hosted Archivists’ Toolkit / Archon Service
A CDL-hosted version of the Archivists' Toolkit (see below) is available to contributors.  By hosting the application, we seek to provide the technical infrastructure for institutions that do not have the capacity to host the backend databases locally.  Institutions only need to implement the application client to use the system.

Archivists' Toolkit
An open-source archival data management system developed by UC San Diego, New York University, and the Five Colleges, Inc. The toolkit can generate EAD finding aids and METS digital objects. If you are hosting the application locally, please consult our OAC requirements guide; the guide explains how to generate exports to meet OAC specifications.

CONTENTdm
A commercial digital asset management product developed by DiMeMa, Inc. CONTENTdm Standard XML exports can be used in conjunction with the 7Train tool to generate METS files.

DigiTool
A commercial digital asset management product developed by Ex Libris Ltd. DigiTool can export METS digital objects.

MOAC Digital Asset Management Database (DAMD)
An open-source, FileMaker-based museum collection data management system developed by the Museums and the Online Archive of California (MOAC) consortium. The toolkit can generate METS digital objects.

WebGenDB
A METS creation tool maintained by the UC Berkeley Digital Publishing Group (UCB DPG), primarily for use by the UC Berkeley libraries.

• WebGenDB Object-Finding Aid Linking and Production Workflow

Collection Management Tool Comparisons

The following documents, created for UC archives and special collections departments, will help institutions identify content management and creation systems for digital assets. It is primarily aimed towards UC repositories that do not have a strategy in place or are seeking to replace what they currently use with a more robust solution. The matrix shows whether the application can generate EAD- and METS-based outputs, which may be submitted to CDL for preservation and access services; it is also a good general reference for comparing systems.

• Collection Management and Creation Strategies: Summary and Features Matrix [PDF]
• Appendices [XLS]

Transformation Tools

7train is an XSLT 2.0-based tool for generating METS files from standardized XML inputs (e.g., CONTENTdm Standard XML exports, OAI records, etc.).

ARK (Archival Resource Key) Tools

ARKs can be generated by any institution, using our minting software; alternatively, contact us if you'd like the CDL to generate a list of ARKs for you. An ARK is a URL created to allow persistent, long-term access to information objects.

Additional Resources

For additional methods, tools, and other resources used by repositories to generate METS objects, consult the METS website.

See also our resources section for a list of other general resources and websites with information about digital asset creation and management.