SI 667 Labs (Winter 2026) on SI 667 - Winter 2026

Lab 07 Key

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 11:25:36 -0500

Lab Guidance and Solutions

Problem 1: Create directories to use for the reports, which will be the basis of your PDI.

Use the mkdir command to make two new directories in the course files folder, one titled sf_out and the second br_out.

Problem 2: Running Siegfried. Siegfried is a useful tool to create an inventory and a bulk process for file characterization information. Run the command on the PKG-web-files-small directory and output the reports to the sf_out directory.

Lab 08: Information Packages with BagIt

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 15:30:59 -0500

This lab asks you to explore the BagIt file packaging structure, which was discussed in class. BagIt is a specification for a file-level information package, which contains basic descriptive information as well as PDI. Because it relies on operating system level information, it can be readily created for local files, and various tools support its creation. In this week’s lab, the BagIt library in python was demonstrated. This can be run in a standalone .py file. But, for this lab, you are welcome to use the Jupyter notebook from the samples at: https://github.com/morskyjezek/bagit-walkthrough-lcwa.

Lab 06 Key

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 15:21:30 -0500

Answers will vary. Your answers should discuss the nature of the various CoreTrustSeal certification elements and their relationships.

Original lab questions: Lab 06: CoreTrustSeal Hexagonal Thinking Diagram

Lab 07: File Characterization with Siegfried and Brunnhilde

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 15:14:13 -0500

This week’s lab questions are prompts that aim to guide you in the file inspection process and to reflect on the information that you can glean in this process. The problems below are designed to run on the course files, which you have previously downloaded, and that the directory is named si667-2026-main.

Note: this guide page on the course activities site demonstrates using Siegfried and Brunnhilde for file reporting and characterization.

Lab 05 Key

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 12:47:18 -0500

This lab will allow you to explore concepts and tools related to various digital “materialities” and initial tools to create basic file fixity information, another step toward creating preservation metadata. The files you should use for the assignment are from the course file collection you downloaded previously; if you don’t have the files, download an unzip them again from https://github.com/morskyjezek/si667-2026.

Lab Questions: Using the Shell for File Identification and Characterization

Q1.

Use the file command to inspect files and create a MIME Type registry. For this question, use files in the PKG-text-data directory.

Lab 06: CoreTrustSeal Hexagonal Thinking Diagram

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 17:07:47 -0500

In this lab you will

Engage with the CoreTrustSeal requirements.
Create a hexagonal diagram from a list of concepts.
Explain your choices.

What to submit

Upload 1 PDF to Canvas.

Instructions

Note: you may work on the diagrams in small groups in class, but must each submit your own reflection in Canvas.

First, review the provided information about the CoreTrustSeal and its checklist. Make sure to understand what the CoreTrustSeal is, why it’s important, and what each item on the checklist means.
Prepare Your Hexagons: On each hexagonal card or sticky note (or digital equivalent), write a different criterion from the CoreTrustSeal checklist. You should end up with a hexagon for each item on the checklist.
- You may use the following template if you like, or you can create your own diagram using pen & paper, or any tool of your choice: Lab 6: CTS Hexagons Template.
Analyze the Criteria: Consider each criterion and think about its meaning, importance, and implications. How does each criterion contribute to the trustworthiness of digital repositories?
Creating Connections: Start to arrange your hexagons to visually represent the connections you see between the different criteria. You can place connecting sides together to show direct relationships. Don’t forget to consider indirect relationships and how different criteria may impact one another.
Write About Your Connections: Choose three connections between criteria that you find particularly interesting or surprising. Write a brief explanation about each connection. Make sure to explain what each criterion is, how they are connected, and why you find this connection significant.
Once you have completed your hexagonal connections and written your explanations, submit your work as a single PDF that includes your hexagonal diagram AND your written work.
Tips:
- This assignment isn’t about finding “right” or “wrong” connections. Rather, it’s an exploration of the interrelatedness of the different aspects of the CoreTrustSeal checklist. So, be creative and thoughtful in your approach.
- Your written explanations are a chance to demonstrate your understanding of the CoreTrustSeal and its checklist. Be thorough and detailed in explaining your chosen connections.

Additional information about Hexagonal Thinking exercises can be found here: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/hexagonal-thinking/.

Lab 05: File Information in the Shell

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 17:01:06 -0500

Lab Questions: Using the Shell for File Identification and Characterization

Q1.

Use the file command to inspect files and create a MIME Type registry. For this question, use files in the PKG-text-data directory.

Lab 04 Key

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 14:27:00 -0500

Question Solutiuons and Commentary for Lab 04

Q1.

Pipelines. Create a string of commands that can identify the shortest (by line numbers) TSV file in the PKG-text-data directory. Provide the commands you would use. What is the name of the shortest TSV file and how many lines does it have?

$ pwd
~/si667-2026-main/PKG-text-data/

$ wc -l *.tsv | sort -n | head -n 1

In the commands above, the first prompt (running pwd) demonstrates that the shell is located in the user’s directory corresponding to PKG-text-data. The second “pipes” together a series of commands: first, wc with the flag -l indicating a line count, and using a filter to sort all .tsv files (the asterisk); second, the sort command sorting by number (-n) in descending order; and finally, third, the head command to show the beginning of the response with the line number set to show only one line (-n 1).

Lab 04: Shell Materialities and File Information

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 14:15:15 -0500

This lab will allow you to explore concepts and tools related that help to understand various digital “materialities” and locate or search within files. The files you should use for the assignment are from the course file collection you downloaded previously; if you don’t have the files, download an unzip them again from https://github.com/morskyjezek/si667-2026.

Lab Questions: Using the Shell for Advanced Finding and File Searching

Pipelines. Create a string of commands that can identify the shortest (by line numbers) TSV file in the PKG-text-data directory. Provide the commands you would use. What is the name of the shortest TSV file and how many lines does it have?
Using the find command (for this question you should be located in the main directory of the course files that you downloaded). What is the find command you could use to look (in the current directory and all subdirectories), for all the files?
Choose one of the sample datasets for Assignment 1 (links to Canvas). Use these questions to make a preliminary analysis using the sorts of tools and questions we’ve been asking so far. a. What dataset did you choose? What drew you to this dataset? b. For this dataset, identify at least one file type that appears to hold data. What is the filetype? How can you find out more about the file type? c. Try downloading the file you identified above. d. Is it easy or difficult to identify the file, to download the file? Is there any information that you might use to demonstrate provenance or authenticity about the file in the access interface? (For example, how big is the file, a hash value, creator, filename, creation/modification date, etc?) e. Using command line tools, can you get detailed technical information about the file? Can you identify the file? Can you get basic information like who created the file and when? If you were able to identify any file information in the previous step from the data interface, does the way that you can interact with or “see” the file in the shell agree with the information you found from the broader context?

Bonus Question (find + regex): How would you use find with regular expressions to create a list of all image files at the current location (and subdirectories), that is, with extensions tif, tiff, jpg, jpeg, png, bmp, gif; then, send that output to a file named image_file_list.txt. Put the command and the output list of files in your submission. How would you count how many files you found? How many files did you find?

Lab 03 Key

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 14:08:06 -0500

Glitched Files

The responses and changes that you make to your files when creating “bit rot art” will vary widely. In general, the process involves opening the file in a hex editor, then changing or deleting some of the bytes to see what will happen. You can “see” the results by reopening the file in an image viewer.

Lab Activities/Questions

Record answers for the following questions:

Modify at least one jpg and one tif file. Note the original name of the files that you modified, and the name of the file that you uploaded to the online gallery/folder.
Describe what changed and how this affected the rendering of the files. What was most interesting or challenging about this process?

Results will vary, but generally, there may be some color changes, skewing, shift of the image, or visual artifacts and changes introduced in parts of the image.

Original lab questions: Lab 03: Bit Rot Experimental Art .

Lab 01: Pre-Course Questionnaire

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 22:54:47 -0500

For the first lab, complete a short questionnaire to let the instructors know about your preparation coming into the course. You will find the survey at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeb0Av40eBTCeR8bcC1QmeK0lOgWaybbTugIfF-Yn-nUkV0Yg/viewform?usp=publish-editorLinks.

Note that the form will collect your umich email address in order to track participation.

Key

See the answer key: Lab 01 Key

Lab 02: Navigating in the Shell

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 22:54:47 -0500

For reference, see the shell slide deck and this reference document in the course GitHub repo.

Questions to Answer

Q1. Imagine that you have opened a window that gives access to the command line. What command would you use to determine your current location (current path)?

Q2. What command would you use to move to another directory or folder?

Q3. What command would you use to list the contents of the directory or folder?

Lab 03: Bit Rot Experimental Art

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 22:54:47 -0500

You will find the lab description at the lab assignment on Canvas.

Learning Goals

This lab asks you to go beyond “screen essentialism” and experience different ways of looking at and modifying files. You will work on:

How to view files at the raw bitstream level (focus on the “informational” view of digital information)
Use tools that help to view digital encodings, through examples of text and images How to alter the raw bitstream and an exploratory approach to what those alterations produce

Useful Tools

You should have a hex editor extension for VS Code. You can use the Hex EditorLinks to an external site. or Hex Inspector. (To install an extension, you can search in VS Code, then click the green install button.)
If your VS Code extensions aren’t working well, try an online hex viewer, like https://hexed.it/.
Find the files in the bit-rot-lab folder of the course shared files, linked here.

What to submit

You should submit one file that answers the lab questions below here on Canvas, and also upload a glitched jpg and a glitched tiff file to the shared folder. (Remember that it may take a few tries to get something that renders a visually noticeable or interesting new file.) Other files will be generated during your activities, but only share two of the most interesting glitched files. We will view the files next week and during next class!

Lab 02 Key

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 15:26:08 -0500

For reference, see the shell slide deck and this reference document in the course GitHub repo.

Questions to Answer

Q1. Imagine that you have opened a window that gives access to the command line. What command would you use to determine your current location (current path)?

$ pwd

Q2. What command would you use to move to another directory or folder?

$ cd

Q3. What command would you use to list the contents of the directory or folder?

Lab 01 Key

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 15:10:11 -0500

Responses will vary.

Original lab questions: Lab 01: Pre-Course Questionnaire .