Importing Works with an Archivist Account

Hello! These instructions are intended for use by an archivist (and/or volunteers designated by the archivist) working with the Open Doors committee to manually import their archive’s works to the Archive of Our Own, and refer specifically to documents and account permissions shared during the committee’s import process.

If you have any questions about our procedures, or wish to request help importing your archive to the AO3, please contact the Open Doors committee using our contact form. Under the Archive of Our Own Terms of Service, all archive imports must be authorised by Open Doors.

You should have or have access to:

• the link to (and name of) the AO3 collection created for your archive
• the login information for the caretaker account (with archivist permissions) created for your archive import
• URLs of the works you would like to import (if pre-arranged, you can refer to the spreadsheet showing all works to be imported)
• the tags mapping spreadsheet showing which tags on AO3 correspond best to the tags originally used by your archive
• the archivist note text as agreed upon in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
• if pre-arranged, URLs of any works hosted by the OTW (e.g., fanart, podfic, etc.)

 

1. Open the page for your AO3 collection. In the upper-right hand corner, click on the words Log In.
   
2. Enter the username and password for your archivist account. (For convenience, you can also check the box next to Remember Me so that you don’t have to log in next time.) Then click on the words, Log In.
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4. Click the Post to Collection button.
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6. On the next page, click the Import from An Existing URL instead? button.
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8. Copy a batch of original URLs for a single creator, and paste them into the URLs field. (Note: Make sure there is only one URL per line.)
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10. Under the text window for entering URL links, in the Preferences section, check the box Import for others ONLY with permission.
11. Enter the creator’s name in the field, Author Name, and then enter the creator’s email address in the field, Author Email Address. (If there is a second creator, enter their information in the fields below the first creator.)
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13. Check the box next to Lock all imports to registered users only.
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15. For the other three required fields on this page, select the following (you will individually alter the work drafts after import):
    • Rating: No Rating
    • Warnings: Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings
    • Fandom(s): If this is a single-fandom archive, use the fandom name here. If this is a multifandom archive, choose any fandom that is used in this batch–you will change this field as needed later.
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17. Click on the Import button in the lower right-hand corner of the page.
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19. On the next page will be links to all the drafts you have created. Right-click on the first one to open the draft in a new tab.
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21. Click on the Edit button in the lower right-hand corner.
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23. From this page, you can individually edit the work’s tags.Refer to the tags mapping spreadsheet from Open Doors for the following:
    • Rating
    • Warnings
    • Fandom(s)
    • Category(s)
    • Character(s)
    • Relationship(s)
    • Additional tags
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25. In the Preface section of this edit page is a line for Notes. Check the box next to at the beginning, and insert the archivist note text (as agreed upon in the MOU) into the field that appears. This section (or the notes section at the end of the work) can also be used for any notes used by the original creator.
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27. In the Associations section of this edit page is a check box to Set a different publication date. If desired, find the original date of the work on your archive, and backdate the work in the field that appears.
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29. In the lower right-hand corner of the page, click the Post Without Preview button.
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