4th July 2007, 12:56 PM
I personally think that ADS is pretty good (especially as it can be accessed from just about anywhere and doesn't require a visit to some planning or record office stuck away in the backstreets of Arsetown, Bumshire that is only open from 1235-1240 on alternate Wednesdays, unless there is a letter 'R' in the month).
But I agree with both David and the Trowel, the public interface is 100% crap. Why not have a straight-forward key word index that uses phrases or words familiar to archaeologists (such as 'site' and 'archive' and 'report').
I used to e-mail ADS asking them to correct mistakes, I had found
(such as the whole of the Warwickshire SMR being transplated to Bedforshire because someone muddled the NGR co-ordinates), but then I started getting e-mails back suggesting that I was at fault for wanting to much information from the system, so I gave up.
I reckon with about 10% tweaking it could become really good...
But I agree with both David and the Trowel, the public interface is 100% crap. Why not have a straight-forward key word index that uses phrases or words familiar to archaeologists (such as 'site' and 'archive' and 'report').
I used to e-mail ADS asking them to correct mistakes, I had found
(such as the whole of the Warwickshire SMR being transplated to Bedforshire because someone muddled the NGR co-ordinates), but then I started getting e-mails back suggesting that I was at fault for wanting to much information from the system, so I gave up.
I reckon with about 10% tweaking it could become really good...