Quick Start Guide: Importing Outlook email (.pst)
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Follow the steps in this Guide to move a collection of Outlook email (.pst) through each step of the email preservation workflow. This includes import to, processing in, and export from the ePADD desktop client followed by upload of a preservation package to your Nextcloud staging area.
Requirements: You need to install the ePADD@Harvard set of tools on your local computer and request DRS depositor access permissions (if you don't have them already).
Importing email (Appraisal module)
NOTE: Before importing a new archive into ePADD, ensure that the previous user properly cleaned up ePADD from their session.
The path to importing an email archive into ePADD always starts in the Appraisal module, which opens by default when you start ePADD. In this example, the archivist will import and process an Outlook PST file.
Start ePADD by double-clicking the downloaded executable file. While the client is loading, this splash screen displays:
The Appraisal module will open in a browser window. If the Appraisal module opens to the Import page, you’re good to continue. If the module opens to the Browse page, there is already an email archive being processed in this module. You should finish processing the archive and export it before attempting to import a new archive.
Fill out all fields in the About this Archive section.
Import the email archive. To import an Outlook pst file, scroll down to the Non-Mbox email files section. Note that this import option requires an active Emailchemy for ePADD license in order to convert the incoming pst files to mbox (ePADD’s internal email file format).
Click Browse to select the folder or file location.
Enter a Name of email source.Skip the Upload a Sidecar File option for now. You’ll return to it later. This option is activated only after an import finishes.
Click the Next button. ePADD will display a progress window.
When the import is finished, ePADD will give you an option to select/deselect folders in the import. Check the folders you want to go forward with and click Next.
ePADD displays another message indicating progress of creating the email archive. Depending on the size of the import, it may take some time as ePADD imports, deduplicates messages and performs a computational analysis on the email to extract metadata the archivist can use to appraise the email archive.
When the import finishes, the Appraisal module’s Browse page displays with a dashboard of information about the email archive.
If you get an error during the import process, delete the email archive and start again. To delete the archive, click on the information button located to the right of the email archive’s title on the ePADD dashboard. Click the Delete button. Then click Yes to confirm.
Importing the drsConfig.txt file (Appraisal module)
In the ePADD preservation workflow, you do not interact directly with Batch Builder but you do need to supply DRS batch metadata. You'll do this by adding batch metadata to a drsConfig.txt file and then adding this as a "sidecar" file to the email archive you are processing.
Sidecar files can only be imported via the Appraisal module and only *after* the associated email archive has been imported. If you plan to export the email archive to the Processing module, you need to import drsConfig.txt before that happens (the Processing module cannot import the drsConfig.txt file).
Follow these steps to create a DRS batch configuration file and import it as a sidecar file to ePADD.
At a convenient location on your file system, create a plain text file and name it “drsConfig.txt”. Fill this file with DRS batch metadata – for more information see Creating a drsConfig.txt file.
In the Appraisal module, click the Import choice on the main menu at top of the page. Scroll down to the Upload Sidecar File section at bottom of the page.
Click the Upload icon to open an Upload window.
Click the Choose File option and navigate your local file system to select the drsConfig.txt file and click Upload.
Transferring email to Processing module
The Appraisal module is intended to be used by the donor to do initial review and restriction of their own email. The Processing module is intended for the archivist to complete review and appraisal of the email before exporting it. Both modules offer almost identical options - review and appraisal tools in the Appraisal module are also in the Processing module. Once you import email via the Appraisal module, ePADD is flexible in terms of what you do next and in what module.
Because the appraisal module does not provide any unique functionality, and because this tutorial needs to cover how to move to the Processing module, the next step is to export the email from the Appraisal module and import into the Processing module.
How to export email from Appraisal module:
Click the Export menu option at the top of the screen.
Under Export to next ePADD module click Browse to select the folder or file location where the export directory will be saved.
Under Exported Archive Name is the name that will be assigned to the export directory – by default in the form "ePADD archive of (name of archive creator)". You can modify the name if needed.
Click the Export button. The export may take some time, depending on size of the archive. When complete, the exported directory is ready to be imported into the processing module.
How to import email into Processing module:
Open the Processing module. Point your browser at: http://localhost:9099/epadd/switch-module. Click the down arrow, select Processing, and that module will open.
From the main menu at top, click Add. A Starting a new collection form will open. Under Accession folder, click Browse and navigate your file system to find and select the exported email directory from the Accessions module. Fill out other fields as needed (required fields are asterisked). You can return to this later if needed. Click Import Accession when you're ready.
When the import finishes, the Processing module’s Browse page displays with a dashboard of information about the email archive.
Reviewing and processing email
Once ePADD has finished importing the accession, the archivist can begin processing the materials from the Browse screen. The majority of this processing involves reviewing email to see if it's within scope and if it contains sensitive material.
Using Dashboard tools
ePADD provides a dashboard of tools to help with email review:
Correspondents: A list of all email addresses (to, from, mentioned) in the archive, and ePADD's best guess at the contact's name and other email addresses.
Entities: A list of all people, places and corporate names recognized by ePADD.
Labels: Summary of labels used. New labels can be added here if needed.
Image attachments: A gallery of all images attached to emails.
Other attachments: All other file types attached to emails, available for download.
Folder view: All emails sorted by folder (e.g. Inbox, Sent, Drafts).
Determine whether all folders are within scope of the collection.
Review "Deleted Items" folders to determine whether they should be kept.
Lexicon search: Keyword searching based on defined lexicons to identify sensitive or out of scope materials. Lexicons can be added manually or installed directly; see the Lexicon ReadMe file and the User Guide for more information.
Reports (Data Import log): Ensure there were no major import errors.
More: Some additional tools. See the User Guide for more information.
Applying labels
As you review email, you can add one or more labels to messages to indicate various statuses. Most statuses are informational only. ePADD comes with three default labels but you can create custom labels as needed:
Do Not Transfer: Messages marked "Do Not Transfer" are not moved to the next module, effectively restricting/deleting them from the preservation and access copy of the email archive.
Cleared for Release: Indicates the message that was previously labeled with at least one restriction is now cleared for release and can be transferred to the next module(s).
Reviewed: Indicates the message has been reviewed, and can be used to help track your progress reviewing the email archive.
To label a message, navigate to the message or set of messages, then select a label or set of labels from the Labels dropdown.