Uploading to the DRS

Faculty and staff at Northeastern can upload files up to 1GB each to their own DRS collections, or, if authorized, you can also upload to your department, lab, or project's collections.

The DRS stores and shares materials made or acquired by Northeastern staff, faculty, and students. There's no official collection development policy about what can be deposited - the library welcomes materials that staff and faculty believe are worth sharing and keeping for the long term.

DRS staff respect copyright laws and expect users to follow these rules too. You should only upload:

- Materials you created yourself, or
- Materials you have permission to share

When uploading, you must confirm that you have the rights to share these materials and that you're following all DRS policies, University policies, and laws. The DRS will clearly show who created or owns the files in the file’s metadata.

The DRS accepts all file types, but works best with common ones like .doc, .docx, .pdf, .jpg, and .tiff. If you upload a file type the system doesn't recognize, it will be compressed into a .zip file for downloading later.

On this page, you'll find instructions for uploading files to the DRS in two ways:

  • One file at a time
  • Groups of photographs using our photo loader (also called the IPTC photo loader)

Need help? The Digital Production Services staff can assist you if you want to:

  • Upload many files at once
  • Upload single files larger than 1GB

For assistance, use the DRS contact form or email Library-Repository-Team[@]northeastern.edu.

Upload one file

To upload individual files to the DRS: 

  • Sign in with your Northeastern username and password
  • Click your name in the top right corner of the page
  • Select and open a collection or create a new collection
  • Click the “Add” button located in the navigation path at the top of the page or the bottom right corner of the page
  • Click “Upload File”
  • Read and agree to the Terms of Service
  • Select the file you would like to upload
  • Click “Upload”

You will be asked for some basic information about your file, like the title, creation date, creator name(s), and a description. You will also have an opportunity to assign permissions for accessing the file and set an embargo to prevent the file from being downloaded for a period of time. 

Quick Guide: Uploading a file

Screenshot of a user's My DRS page

Navigate to the collection where you want to deposit a file.

A screenshot of the DRS upload file options

Click the "+Add" button in the breadcrumbs or the lower right portion of the page.

A screenshot of the DRS upload file selection page

Read and agree to the terms, select the file you want to upload, and select the appropriate proxy option, if prompted (not all users can act as a proxy, so this option will not be presented to all users).

A screenshot of a file being processed for upload

Click the "Upload" button to submit your file. The file will be processed.

A screenshot of the DRS metadata submission page

Enter the title of your file, the date it was created, the names of the people or entities responsible for creating the file, a description for the file, and at least one keyword.

A screenshot of the permissions selection page

Select whether you would like the file to be public or private. If needed, select the name of the group who should be able to manage the files (or view, if the file is private).

A screenshot of an uploaded file being processed

Once done, click "Submit". Your file will be processed and ready to view and download within a minute.

A screenshot of a successful file upload

Reload the page to view the fully processed file.

Upload many photographs

If you work at Northeastern and have many photographs to upload, you might be able to use a special batch loading tool, called the photo loader or the IPTC photo loader. This tool lets you upload many photographs at once.

The tool was initially developed for the university photographers and is based on how they process and share their photographs. To use this tool, you'll need to add some information to each photo, such as:

  • The photographer's name
  • Keywords that describe the photo

You can add this information using Photoshop or other photo management programs like Lightroom, Bridge, or PhotoMechanic.

Interested in using the photo loader for your project? Email library-repository-team@northeastern.edu to learn more.

1. Edit Your Files

  1. Open your files in your photo editing software of choice
  2. Open the IPTC metadata options (under "File Info" in the "File" menu for Photoshop)
  3. Add the appropriate information in the following fields:
    1. Creator: Add the photographer's name in the "Creator" field, enclosed in quotation marks
      1. For example: "Washington, Ruby"
    2. Headline: Add the title of the photograph
    3. Description: Add a description of the photograph
    4. Keywords: Add as many keywords as you think are useful (only 1 keyword is required; 3-5 is recommended)
  4. Apply the new values to the file (click "Okay" and "Save" in Photoshop)

2. Prepare Your Files for Upload

  1. Select the files you would like to upload to a single collection in the DRS
  2. Right click on the files to compress them into a .zip file or compress them using zipping software of your choice
     

3. Upload Your Files to the DRS

  1. Go to https://repository.library.northeastern.edu 
  2. Sign in to the DRS
  3. Click the down arrow next to your name and select "My Loaders" from the dropdown menu
  4. Select the blue loader button on the left side of the page that corresponds to your department
  5. On the following page:
    1. Read and agree to the Terms of Service
    2. Choose the destination collection for the files
    3. Select the .zip file
    4. Click upload

4. Verify Your Upload Was Successful

  1. You will receive an email when the load is complete
  2. You can review the load report by going to https://repository.library.northeastern.edu/my_loaders  and clicking "View Report" for your most recent load
    1. Rows highlighted in green were uploaded successfully
      1. Click "View" to view the uploaded file
    2. Rows highlighted in yellow indicate the metadata for the file was modified to replace certain characters
      1. Click "View IPTC" to view metadata values
    3. Rows highlighted in red encountered an error and could not be uploaded.
      1. The error will display in the "File Status" column
      2. Click the "View IPTC" button to the specific value that prevented the file from being uploaded

Quick guide: IPTC photograph loader

A screenshot of a Photoshop information edit page

Step 1: Edit your files

  1. Open your files in your photo editing software of choice (Photoshop is used in this example)
  2. Open the IPTC metadata options (under "File Info" in the "File" menu for Photoshop)
  3. Add the appropriate information in the following fields:
  • Creator: Add the photographer's name in the "Creator" field, enclosed in quotation marks (for example: "Aoun, Joseph")

A screenshot of a Photoshop information edit page

Step 1: Edit your files (continued)

  • Headline: Add the title of the photograph
  • Description: Add a description of the photograph
  • Keywords: Add as many keywords as you think are useful (only 1 keyword is required; 3-5 is recommended)
  1. Apply the new values to the file (click "Okay" and "Save" in Photoshop)

A screenshot of the compress option on a Mac

Step 2: Prepare your files for upload

  1. Select the files you would like to upload to a single collection in the DRS
  2. Right click on the files to compress them into a .zip file or compress them using zipping software of your choice

A screenshot of the DRS My Loaders page

Step 3: Upload your files to the DRS

  1. Go to https://repository.library.northeastern.edu 
  2. Sign in to the DRS
  3. Click the down arrow next to your name and select "My Loaders" from the dropdown menu
  4. Select the blue loader button on the left side of the page that corresponds to your department

A screenshot of the DRS back loader selection page

Step 3: Upload your files to the DRS (continued)

  1. On the following page:
    1. Read and agree to the Terms of Service
    2. Choose the destination collection for the files
    3. Select the .zip file

A screenshot of the loader report page

Step 4: Verify your upload was successful

  1. You will receive an email when the load is complete
  2. You can review the load report by going to https://repository.library.northeastern.edu/my_loaders  and clicking "View Report" for your most recent load
    1. Rows highlighted in green indicate the file was uploaded successfully
      1. Click "View" to view the uploaded file
    2. Rows highlighted in yellow indicate the metadata for the file was modified to replace certain characters
      1. Click "View IPTC" to view metadata values
    3. Rows highlighted in red indicate the system encountered an error and could not process the file.
      1. The error will display in the "File Status" column
      2. Click the "View IPTC" button to the specific value that prevented the file from being uploaded