14th January 2015, 02:17 PM
Scaling the archaeological digital data mountain
Emily La Trobe-Bateman and Sian James-
With the majority of archaeological records in the UK being created in digital formats, there is widespread expectation that access to them should be open and user-friendly. For development-related archaeological work this expectation is embedded in the term ‘preservation by record’. Where academic work is supported by research and funding bodies, open source and linked data standards are required, along with the need to include costs for long-term data management. Despite this there is insufficient clarity across the discipline over digital data standards, including metadata standards. The mechanisms for ensuring access to information are poorly developed, and too little consideration is given to the responsibility of meeting the costs of long-term digital storage. Set in a context where there are scarce resources, specialist expertise in Knowledge Organisation is unevenly distributed, and the current reward structure within the discipline is based on individual authorship, how can the importance of archaeological digital data in the public sphere be secured?
This paper will discuss the way these issues have been negotiated as part of a recent collaborative project between the University of Bangor and Gwynedd Archaeological Trust (GAT). The project, Visualising the Archaeology of Gwynedd, sought to develop a way of managing and sustaining archaeological digital data held by partners based in north-west Wales. An online image-library has been created, incorporating large collections of analogue and born-digital photographs and other digital visual data, held by GAT, the University and the Snowdonia National Park Authority. The participation of volunteers in the digitisation process, including the creation of metadata, has been vital to its success, helping to shape the project and create a model for sustainable data management.
[video=youtube;MhAA1MQxTv0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhAA1MQxTv0[/video]
Emily La Trobe-Bateman and Sian James-
With the majority of archaeological records in the UK being created in digital formats, there is widespread expectation that access to them should be open and user-friendly. For development-related archaeological work this expectation is embedded in the term ‘preservation by record’. Where academic work is supported by research and funding bodies, open source and linked data standards are required, along with the need to include costs for long-term data management. Despite this there is insufficient clarity across the discipline over digital data standards, including metadata standards. The mechanisms for ensuring access to information are poorly developed, and too little consideration is given to the responsibility of meeting the costs of long-term digital storage. Set in a context where there are scarce resources, specialist expertise in Knowledge Organisation is unevenly distributed, and the current reward structure within the discipline is based on individual authorship, how can the importance of archaeological digital data in the public sphere be secured?
This paper will discuss the way these issues have been negotiated as part of a recent collaborative project between the University of Bangor and Gwynedd Archaeological Trust (GAT). The project, Visualising the Archaeology of Gwynedd, sought to develop a way of managing and sustaining archaeological digital data held by partners based in north-west Wales. An online image-library has been created, incorporating large collections of analogue and born-digital photographs and other digital visual data, held by GAT, the University and the Snowdonia National Park Authority. The participation of volunteers in the digitisation process, including the creation of metadata, has been vital to its success, helping to shape the project and create a model for sustainable data management.
[video=youtube;MhAA1MQxTv0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhAA1MQxTv0[/video]