11th February 2011, 04:56 PM
Hi,
I am very very keen on the using of digital data, but one of the major issues which I can see holding back its use in archaeological projects is the lack of digital archives, or rather, appropriately managed digital archives (ie. not just cds shoved in a filing cabinet) once the project is complete - while it is great to use digital, there is a real issue over where the data then gets archived. Unfortunately, my experience is that, while the curators and co are keen on the use of digital data, most archives are not set up to appropriately store digital data. This is often out of the curators control, especially where the archive depositories are separate museums. Where there aren’t any appropriate digital archives it is hard for an DC archaeologist to accept projects being undertaken which generate primarily digital data without a paper copy, as without the paper archive all the data, rather than just the digital data, could be lost in the near future, contradicting the principle of ‘preservation by record’.
One of the things I could see making the biggest changes in archaeological projects would be museums doing more to address the issue of digital, archaeological, archiving – while I appreciate people are working on this in the museums sector, perhaps this is an area we could all be pushing for improvements in?
I am very very keen on the using of digital data, but one of the major issues which I can see holding back its use in archaeological projects is the lack of digital archives, or rather, appropriately managed digital archives (ie. not just cds shoved in a filing cabinet) once the project is complete - while it is great to use digital, there is a real issue over where the data then gets archived. Unfortunately, my experience is that, while the curators and co are keen on the use of digital data, most archives are not set up to appropriately store digital data. This is often out of the curators control, especially where the archive depositories are separate museums. Where there aren’t any appropriate digital archives it is hard for an DC archaeologist to accept projects being undertaken which generate primarily digital data without a paper copy, as without the paper archive all the data, rather than just the digital data, could be lost in the near future, contradicting the principle of ‘preservation by record’.
One of the things I could see making the biggest changes in archaeological projects would be museums doing more to address the issue of digital, archaeological, archiving – while I appreciate people are working on this in the museums sector, perhaps this is an area we could all be pushing for improvements in?