Step 1 - Initiation

Once you have generated V3 VEOs in accordance with the requirements of the PROS 19/05 Create, Capture and Control Standard and associated specifications and guidelines, and manually tested them using the V3 Analysis tool available in the VERS 3 technical development package, they are now ready to be formally validated by PROV. 

To commence, let your transfer archivist know that you have V3 VEOs ready to be submitted to PROV for validation. 

We only require a small sample, therefore we recommend not commencing VEO generation for all records to be transferred until a batch of test VEOs have been validated, and any required amendments have been made. 

Please note the VEO design and creation process requires subject matter expertise in archival principles, agency recordkeeping, and information technology to be available through the validation process.

Agency actions:

• confer with your IT provider to ensure they are available to advise and support the design and generation of VEOs from agency systems.
• before submitting, ensure VEOs meet the technical and archival requirements outlined in the PROS 19/05 Create, Capture and Control Standard, associated specifications and guidelines.
• test the VEOs using the V3 Analysis tool. 
• contact your transfer archivist to organise the testing. 
• submit test V3 VEOs for validation. 

PROV actions:

• transfer archivist to liaise with agency to arrange delivery of test V3 VEOs for validation. 

Resources:

• PROS 19/05 Create, Capture and Control Standard
• PROV VEO creation products

Step 2 - Testing

The testing will be conducted by your transfer archivist. The VEOs will be validated against the requirements set out in PROS 19/05 Create, Capture and Control Standard and associated specifications and guidelines to ensure they are technically valid and meet the archival requirements (see below). 

The process of validating the V3 VEOs is an iterative process. Your transfer archivist will test your sample VEOS, guide you through the results and advise on resubmission of test VEOs if required.

Technical Assessment

To be technically “valid” the VEOs must: 

• fulfill the requirements of PROS 19/05 S2 Minimum Metadata Specification
• fulfill the requirements of PROS 19/05 S3 Long Term Sustainable Formats Specification 
• fulfill the requirements of PROS 19/05 S4 Constructing VEOs Specification
• fulfill the requirements of PROS 19/05 S5 Adding Metadata Packages to VEOs Specification 
• be able to be ingested into the PROV Digital Archive.

Archival Assessment

In order to be archivally ‘valid’ the VEOs must meet the criteria outlined in the PROS 19/05 G Guide to Representing Records in VEOs. In summary, this means: 

• the VEO provides an authentic representation of a record
• the VEO accurately represents the way information was structured or organised into a record by business users when the record was in active use
• that records should be selected for VEO creation based on how they were organised, grouped, or viewed by business users when in active use
• the grouping of records for VEO creation aligns with the PROV Archival Control Model series entity
• that records are NOT identified and grouped for VEO creation by disposal status alone (Retention and Disposal Authority class)
• records can be separated according to the public access status that will apply to them post transfer. 

Agency actions:

• be available for consultations regarding the design and creation of VEOs
• generate and submit test VEOs
• revise VEOs in response to test results.

PROV actions:

• transfer archivist conducts the technical and archival validation of test VEOs, including testing the ingest into the Digital Archive
• advise test results and VEO revisions required.

Resources:

• PROS 19/05 Create, Capture and Control Standard
• PROS 19/05 S2 Minimum Metadata Specification
• PROS 19/05 S3 Long Term Sustainable Formats Specification 
• PROS 19/05 S4 Constructing VEOs Specification 
• PROS 19/05 S5 Adding Metadata Packages to VEOs Specification
• PROS 19/05 G Guide to Representing Records in VEOs
• PROV Archival Control Model 

Step 3 - Repair and resubmit

This step applies if your VEO design needs to be amended to fully meet the criteria outlined in Step 2. 

Once your transfer archivist completes testing, they will contact you with feedback, questions, and any design suggestions. If your agency is using a product not seen by PROV before and the vendor is currently developing the capability, they also should be present through these consultations.  

After you have amended your VEOs according to the feedback and suggestions, resubmit them for testing (Step 2).  

Please note VEO validation testing is an iterative process. It may take multiple rounds of testing and feedback to achieve a fully valid VEO.

 Agency actions:

• agency to amend VEO design as discussed in consultation with PROV.
• submit revised test VEOs.

PROV actions: 

•  transfer archivist to be available for consultation and arrange delivery for revised test VEOs. 

Step 4 - Finalise

Once your transfer archivist has determined that the test VEOs fulfill the technical and archival criteria, including that the VEOs are able to be ingested into the digital archive, you will be notified that your VEOs have passed validation. 

You are now ready to proceed with the creation and transfer of V3 VEOs. 

Agency actions: 

• Once notified that your VEOs have passed validation, you can proceed with the next steps in your transfer project as outlined in the Digital records transfer step-by-step.  

PROV actions:

• Transfer archivist to notify agency and assist in planning next steps. 

Resources:

• Digital records transfer step-by-step