CSA Home Page

The Center for the Study of Architecture, CSA, is devoted to advancing the use of digital information technologies in the service of architectural history, archaeology, and related disciplines.

Welcome to the CSA Web site. CSA's aim is to encourage appropriate uses of computers and information technology by those involved in research in archaeology and architectural history - and those who will need the fruits of that research. The key word is appropriate. In these still relatively early stages of the digital era it is not easy to know how best to use the new computing power that has become available to us. Nor is it obvious which technologies will turn out to be the best and most appropriate for a given use. Perhaps most important, it is very difficult to find sources of information about these technologies, especially the ways they can be applied to scholarly work. It is CSA's mission to help guide users and potential users of information technologies so that, at the least, they can make well-considered choices of computers and software and find resources to guide them in the effective use of the technology.

If you encounter any problems with our site, please let us know through the email address listed for the director on our email contacts page.

Recent Additions and Updates as of 28 April 2014

CSA Newsletter Vol. XXVII, 1 (April, 2014); posted on 28 April 2014:

Reading on the Web
New systems bring simpler approaches.
-- Andrea Vianello
Digital Data — Ur of the Chaldees: Making a Virtual Vision Possible
Making old information fit the modern world.
-- William B. Hafford
Website Review: National Register of Cultural Monuments (of Estonia)
An exemplar for a national cultural database.
-- Andrea Vianello
Preserving Photographs
The ADS is already doing this.
-- Harrison Eiteljorg, II
The Time Has Come: CSA Newsletter Ceases Publication
All good things must come to an end.
-- Harrison Eiteljorg, II
The CSA Newsletter Over the Years
Topics, authors, and approaches have varied.
-- Harrison Eiteljorg, II
The Future of Digital Technology in Archaeology
What is in store for us in the future?
-- Harrison Eiteljorg, II

The second edition of Archaeological Computing by Harrison Eiteljorg, II, with GIS chapter by W. Fredrick Limp, is now available for download as a PDF file.

An update/revision of the CSA Layer Naming Convention-- to the introductory text but not the convention itself -- was posted in September of 2009.

Comments concerning any CSA resources are encouraged and appreciated. Suggestions for improvement, criticisms, and disagreements should, to the extent possible, be made known to anyone who may wish to use those resources. Therefore, we will follow the following formal procedure to encourage additions, corrections, and enhancements to CSA resources:

Any reader may comment on any item by sending the comments to CSA Director, Harrison (Nick) Eiteljorg, II, at the email address on our email contacts page. The commenting reader must identify himself or herself by full name (and position if desired) and provide an email address for contact. The comment will be put into HTML form in consultation with its author and posted. A link to the comment will be placed on the resource. (Links will always be placed in the title areas in the form of an icon with the phrase "CSA Reader Commentary" or "CSA Newsletter Commentary," as appropriate) The name of the reader (and position when supplied) and the date of the comment will be included on the secondary page, as will subsequent comments about the same resource (making only one linked page per resource as the maximum, no matter how many comments). Illustrations are welcome. The email address of the reader(s) will be available either on the web page or from CSA, at the reader's discretion.

The linked page with comments will present the comments in standard chronological order, not in the reverse order made popular by blogs. The author of the resource will be asked to respond to the reader's comments, but the reader's comments will be posted when received and will not have to await the author's response unless the author and reader wish to work together on the comment.

Mr. Eiteljorg reserves the right to reject profane, commercial, or unrelated comments.

An example of this new procedure may be found for the article "High Dynamic Range Photography," by Harrison Eiteljorg, II; XIX, 2; Fall, 2006. (http://www.csanet.org/newsletter/fall06/nlf0603.html)

General Information about CSA:

CSA was founded in 1986, incorporated as a Pennsylvania not-for-profit corporation in 1987. It is a public charity, 501 (c) (3) organization, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service. The mailing address is CSA, P.O. Box 60, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, USA. Telephone: (484) 612-5862. Email for the director: see our email contacts page.

Comments, suggestions and reports of problems with any material posted to the Web by CSA will be greatly appreciated. Please use the above mailing address or see our email contacts page for email addresses.

Harrison Eiteljorg, II, is the founder and director of CSA. To send comments or questions to Mr. Eiteljorg, please see our email contacts page.

Susan C. Jones was the administrative assistant from the spring of 1995 until the end of August, 2009.

Phoebe A. Sheftel serves as the Director of the CSA Gordion Project.

Members of the Board of Directors are Samuel H. Francis, Ph. D.; Charles A. Fritz, III; Richard Hamilton, Ph. D.; John A. C. McMurtrie, III; and Harrison Eiteljorg, II, Ph. D.

In addition to the directors, CSA has an Advisory Board, consisting of George F. Bass, Ph. D., and G. Kenneth Sams, Ph. D.

J. Penny Small, Ph. D., and Donald Sanders, M. A., are Adjunct Professors.




	Information Dissemination: • The CSA Newsletter Having begun its twenty-seventh year and with all issues available on the Web, The CSA Newsletter includes articles about projects, specific technologies, and technology trends of interest. (A limited subject index is available.) The first issue of Volume 27 (April, 2014) and the eighty-eighth issue in total is the last issue of the CSA Newsletter. • Technology Information The CSA Technology Information web page is a gateway to materials designed to aid archaeologists and architectural historians when considering computer technologies, especially CAD and database management systems. • CSA Archival Work Many documents were created for CSA's digital archiving efforts. Those archival efforts have all been discontinued, but the documents concerning archival needs and procedures remain valuable. They may be found via the archives page. Projects: • The CSA Propylaea Project. This was a cooperative project to create a single digital resource of information about the Propylaea. The project has been terminated, as has the website at propylaea.org. All materials produced may now be accessed through the Archaeology Data Service in York, England. • The Older Propylon Project. This is a concluded research project of CSA Director Harrison Eiteljorg, II. The results of this project have been published in The Entrance to the Athenian Acropolis Before Mnesicles, Harrison Eiteljorg, II, Archaeological Institute of America, 1994. Archival materials, including CAD models, may be accessed through the Archaeology Data Service in York, England. • Lantern Slides of Classical Antiquity This project was a joint CSA/Bryn Mawr College project. Lantern slides from the College collection were digitized and made available on the Web, and high-resolution images were archived for future use. This project is now maintained by Bryn Mawr College. • Pompeii Forum Project CSA participates in this on-going project, Directed by Prof. John J. Dobbins (University of Virginia), to study the Forum of ancient Pompeii. A computer-aided design model is being constructed of the forum. • Bryn Mawr Electronic Resources Review (BMERR). BMERR was an online journal for reviews of electronic resources concerning the ancient world. Bryn Mawr Classical Review (BMCR) is now publishing reviews of electronic resources, and BMERR has discontinued its separate existence. Reviews published 1998-2000 are now available through the BMCR web site (http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/) and they are available via the BMERR page there. • The CSA Guide to Archaeological Projects was a database of current archaeological projects maintained by CSA. Interest in participation was inadequate to justify continuing this project, and the information slowly grew out of date as well. As a result, the Web pages have been removed. Search this site. About this document.		The Center for the Study of Architecture, CSA, is devoted to advancing the use of digital information technologies in the service of architectural history, archaeology, and related disciplines. Welcome to the CSA Web site. CSA's aim is to encourage appropriate uses of computers and information technology by those involved in research in archaeology and architectural history - and those who will need the fruits of that research. The key word is appropriate. In these still relatively early stages of the digital era it is not easy to know how best to use the new computing power that has become available to us. Nor is it obvious which technologies will turn out to be the best and most appropriate for a given use. Perhaps most important, it is very difficult to find sources of information about these technologies, especially the ways they can be applied to scholarly work. It is CSA's mission to help guide users and potential users of information technologies so that, at the least, they can make well-considered choices of computers and software and find resources to guide them in the effective use of the technology. If you encounter any problems with our site, please let us know through the email address listed for the director on our email contacts page. Recent Additions and Updates as of 28 April 2014 CSA Newsletter Vol. XXVII, 1 (April, 2014); posted on 28 April 2014: Reading on the Web New systems bring simpler approaches. -- Andrea Vianello Digital Data — Ur of the Chaldees: Making a Virtual Vision Possible Making old information fit the modern world. -- William B. Hafford Website Review: National Register of Cultural Monuments (of Estonia) An exemplar for a national cultural database. -- Andrea Vianello Preserving Photographs The ADS is already doing this. -- Harrison Eiteljorg, II The Time Has Come: CSA Newsletter Ceases Publication All good things must come to an end. -- Harrison Eiteljorg, II The CSA Newsletter Over the Years Topics, authors, and approaches have varied. -- Harrison Eiteljorg, II The Future of Digital Technology in Archaeology What is in store for us in the future? -- Harrison Eiteljorg, II The second edition of Archaeological Computing by Harrison Eiteljorg, II, with GIS chapter by W. Fredrick Limp, is now available for download as a PDF file. An update/revision of the CSA Layer Naming Convention-- to the introductory text but not the convention itself -- was posted in September of 2009. Comments concerning any CSA resources are encouraged and appreciated. Suggestions for improvement, criticisms, and disagreements should, to the extent possible, be made known to anyone who may wish to use those resources. Therefore, we will follow the following formal procedure to encourage additions, corrections, and enhancements to CSA resources: Any reader may comment on any item by sending the comments to CSA Director, Harrison (Nick) Eiteljorg, II, at the email address on our email contacts page. The commenting reader must identify himself or herself by full name (and position if desired) and provide an email address for contact. The comment will be put into HTML form in consultation with its author and posted. A link to the comment will be placed on the resource. (Links will always be placed in the title areas in the form of an icon with the phrase "CSA Reader Commentary" or "CSA Newsletter Commentary," as appropriate) The name of the reader (and position when supplied) and the date of the comment will be included on the secondary page, as will subsequent comments about the same resource (making only one linked page per resource as the maximum, no matter how many comments). Illustrations are welcome. The email address of the reader(s) will be available either on the web page or from CSA, at the reader's discretion. The linked page with comments will present the comments in standard chronological order, not in the reverse order made popular by blogs. The author of the resource will be asked to respond to the reader's comments, but the reader's comments will be posted when received and will not have to await the author's response unless the author and reader wish to work together on the comment. Mr. Eiteljorg reserves the right to reject profane, commercial, or unrelated comments. An example of this new procedure may be found for the article "High Dynamic Range Photography," by Harrison Eiteljorg, II; XIX, 2; Fall, 2006. (http://www.csanet.org/newsletter/fall06/nlf0603.html) General Information about CSA: CSA was founded in 1986, incorporated as a Pennsylvania not-for-profit corporation in 1987. It is a public charity, 501 (c) (3) organization, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service. The mailing address is CSA, P.O. Box 60, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, USA. Telephone: (484) 612-5862. Email for the director: see our email contacts page. Comments, suggestions and reports of problems with any material posted to the Web by CSA will be greatly appreciated. Please use the above mailing address or see our email contacts page for email addresses. Harrison Eiteljorg, II, is the founder and director of CSA. To send comments or questions to Mr. Eiteljorg, please see our email contacts page. Susan C. Jones was the administrative assistant from the spring of 1995 until the end of August, 2009. Phoebe A. Sheftel serves as the Director of the CSA Gordion Project. Members of the Board of Directors are Samuel H. Francis, Ph. D.; Charles A. Fritz, III; Richard Hamilton, Ph. D.; John A. C. McMurtrie, III; and Harrison Eiteljorg, II, Ph. D. In addition to the directors, CSA has an Advisory Board, consisting of George F. Bass, Ph. D., and G. Kenneth Sams, Ph. D. J. Penny Small, Ph. D., and Donald Sanders, M. A., are Adjunct Professors.

			About this document: Title: CSA Home Page Author: Harrison Eiteljorg, II and the staff of CSA, Box 60, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 (email: user-name nicke at (@) domain-name csanet.org; tel.: 484-612-5862) File name: index.html Revision history: This document has been updated, and further changes may occur; there will be no archiving of past versions. Posted, October, 2000. Last update: 25 January 2017. Internet access: This document is maintained at csanet.org by the Center for the Study of Architecture and Harrison Eiteljorg, II. Note that there may be changes in computer addresses that are beyond the control of CSA. Long-term availability: This document or its successors will be maintained for electronic access indefinitely. Prior versions will not be archived. Citation permissions and copyright information: This document is copyrighted by CSA. Citations should include the date the document was accessed.