Publishing Archaeological Project Data on the Web

Andrea Vianello and Nick Eiteljorg are planning to write about the questions and concerns surrounding publishing archaeological project data on the web. To do so, they have asked for comments and will post them here so that others may join in the discussion at an early stage and thus inform the article that is planned.

This request for comments was included in the last email announcing the CSA Newsletter:

In the course of discussion between Newsletter author, Andrea Vianello, and Newsletter editor, Nick Eiteljorg, Dr. Vianello suggested the need for an investigation of the possibilities for publishing field work results via a website. He believes - and Dr. Eiteljorg agrees - that neither the needs nor the possibilities are well-defined. The two men have determined to explore this in coming issues of the Newsletter, and they ask that you contact them with your ideas about the real demands of a website for presenting the results of a field project. (For the moment, please, only comments about the requirements to be met, not the means.) The operating assumption is that the website is to be THE publishing venue, though paper publications may exist already. Given that assumption, what are the requirements for the project?

Speed of publication (after scholarly preparation)?
Access to raw data?
Downloadable short or long works?

At the early stage of this process, the discussion is to focus on the question of what the requirements should be for a web site that contains project data. Readers are requested to write to Dr. Vianello (a_vianello at (@) domain hotmail.com) or Dr. Eiteljorg (user nicke at (@) domain csanet.org) so that their comments may be added here.

While waiting the comments of others, Andrea Vianello and Nick Eiteljorg have suggested these issues for consideration:

In order to prevent unending waits for materials, should a web site include information not yet in final form, even if that means that the materials will be updated often - requiring a careful system for version control?
Should the web site target both the general audience and specialists (e.g. presenting overview articles linked to specialised contents) or primarily specialists? That is, don't the creators need initially to define their intended audience fully and explicitly?
Must the site as a whole "go up" at once, or may pages/data be added over time, making the site a constant work in progress?
Should the web site serve as a communication venue between the researchers and their public? Should it be interactive or only a one-way street? If interactive, should the interactive portion (potentially password-protected) be open or limited to scholars - or perhaps include both open and more limited sections?
Should any contents be licensed through an appropriate Creative Commons license or similar license?
Should data be in native formats only, or should files be available in widely-used, non-proprietary formats if possible?
Should photographs be available in JPEG format and/or native format, whatever that native format is?
Should the web site provide standard, agreed-upon mechanisms for accessing information in response to web searches from other sites seeking individual data items?
Should field notebooks be included?
If there are written materials that are not "born digital," should they be available in scanned form or transcribed or omitted?
Is access to data files sufficient (e.g., for databases, CAD models, GIS data sets), or must there be ways to access individual data items (e.g., information concerning an individual pot or the data recorded about a specific feature)?
Should the site design (more the materials at the site than the site itself) presume eventually moving all to an archival repository? If so, should a repository be involved from the outset?




	Articles in Vol. XXIII, No. 2 Publishing Data in Open Context: Methods and Perspectives Getting project data onto the web with Penelope. -- Eric C. Kansa and Sarah Whitcher Kansa Digital Antiquity and the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR): Broadening Access and Ensuring Long-Term Preservation for Digital Archaeological Data A new and ambitious digital archaeology archive. -- Francis P. McManamon, Keith W. Kintigh, and Adam Brin § Readers' comments (as of 10/4/2010) Website Review: Kommos Excavation, Crete Combining publication media to achieve better results. -- Andrea Vianello The New Acropolis Museum: A Review Some pluses, some minuses. -- Harrison Eiteljorg, II Aggregation for Access vs. Archiving for Preservation Two treatments for old data. -- Harrison Eiteljorg, II Miscellaneous News Items An irregular feature. To comment on an article, please email the editor using editor as the user- name, csanet.org as the domain-name, and the standard user@domain format. Index of Web site and CD reviews from the Newsletter. Limited subject index for Newsletter articles. Direct links for articles concerning: the ADAP and digital archiving CAD modeling in archaeology and architectural history GIS in archaeology and architectural history the CSA archives electronic publishing use and design of databases the "CSA CAD Layer Naming Convention" Pompeii pottery profiles and capacity calculations The CSA Propylaea Project CSA/ADAP projects electronic media in the humanities Linux on the desktop CSA HOME PAGE Search all newsletter articles.		Publishing Archaeological Project Data on the Web Andrea Vianello and Nick Eiteljorg are planning to write about the questions and concerns surrounding publishing archaeological project data on the web. To do so, they have asked for comments and will post them here so that others may join in the discussion at an early stage and thus inform the article that is planned. This request for comments was included in the last email announcing the CSA Newsletter: In the course of discussion between Newsletter author, Andrea Vianello, and Newsletter editor, Nick Eiteljorg, Dr. Vianello suggested the need for an investigation of the possibilities for publishing field work results via a website. He believes - and Dr. Eiteljorg agrees - that neither the needs nor the possibilities are well-defined. The two men have determined to explore this in coming issues of the Newsletter, and they ask that you contact them with your ideas about the real demands of a website for presenting the results of a field project. (For the moment, please, only comments about the requirements to be met, not the means.) The operating assumption is that the website is to be THE publishing venue, though paper publications may exist already. Given that assumption, what are the requirements for the project? Speed of publication (after scholarly preparation)? Access to raw data? Downloadable short or long works? At the early stage of this process, the discussion is to focus on the question of what the requirements should be for a web site that contains project data. Readers are requested to write to Dr. Vianello (a_vianello at (@) domain hotmail.com) or Dr. Eiteljorg (user nicke at (@) domain csanet.org) so that their comments may be added here. While waiting the comments of others, Andrea Vianello and Nick Eiteljorg have suggested these issues for consideration: In order to prevent unending waits for materials, should a web site include information not yet in final form, even if that means that the materials will be updated often - requiring a careful system for version control? Should the web site target both the general audience and specialists (e.g. presenting overview articles linked to specialised contents) or primarily specialists? That is, don't the creators need initially to define their intended audience fully and explicitly? Must the site as a whole "go up" at once, or may pages/data be added over time, making the site a constant work in progress? Should the web site serve as a communication venue between the researchers and their public? Should it be interactive or only a one-way street? If interactive, should the interactive portion (potentially password-protected) be open or limited to scholars - or perhaps include both open and more limited sections? Should any contents be licensed through an appropriate Creative Commons license or similar license? Should data be in native formats only, or should files be available in widely-used, non-proprietary formats if possible? Should photographs be available in JPEG format and/or native format, whatever that native format is? Should the web site provide standard, agreed-upon mechanisms for accessing information in response to web searches from other sites seeking individual data items? Should field notebooks be included? If there are written materials that are not "born digital," should they be available in scanned form or transcribed or omitted? Is access to data files sufficient (e.g., for databases, CAD models, GIS data sets), or must there be ways to access individual data items (e.g., information concerning an individual pot or the data recorded about a specific feature)? Should the site design (more the materials at the site than the site itself) presume eventually moving all to an archival repository? If so, should a repository be involved from the outset?

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