AGAIN: sharing the data

[Chris Puttick]

I would add some possibel controversy to that - the main repository for grant-funded work is at ADS (which is a chargeable service)- contracting units hold far more data, hence our intention to make our own holdings open and others in the UK market seem to be heading in a similar direction.

I tend to assume however this "opening" is done not in a file or files mentality but as a service, with federated search feeds for global searches and local site free text search. This allows the map context to remain available through WMS/WFS layers - some sort of SDI underpinning it. Open formats are important for the services and any accompanying files. For all the geospatial stuff there is the OGC standards, files are now best in ISO 26300 (Open Document Format) and where a standard doesn't exist, make sure the software used to provide and read it is open source.

Metadata is in reality an open question. Dublin core plus some real basics (site location (name/lat,long), relevant historical periods, ?). After that, well, that's a long, heated discussion. I think it's important to remember that we preserve for social reasons, not for the specialists now. Bu then I'm not a specialist.

And no, my limited understanding has it the UK has *not* solved these problems. In archaeology or elsewhere. Theres a starting point for discussion though ;-).

Chris


-----Original Message-----
From: archaeology-bounces+chris.puttick=oxfordarch.co.uk@lists.linux.it on behalf of Dorothy Graves
Sent: Fri 22/09/2006 16:50
To: archaeology@lists.linux.it
Subject: Re: AGAIN: sharing the data
 
Giancarlo said:  "We would be
very grateful if maybe you can provide and post some links of
repositories where you guys in U.K. have already solved the
problem of archaeological data sharing: metadata, open formats,
readability of the data 100 years from now etc?"


I can chime in a tiny bit from the UK/Scotland side of things.  All of my preliminary archaeological data came from the RCAHMS, and one of the requirements they made was that I would give them a copy of my thesis/digital data when I completed.  My research would be available to anyone in the public from that moment forward, because it'd be part of the RCAHMS library.  On the other hand, the geographical data I used (i.e. the 1:10k DTMs and vector-based data) is the sole property of the Ordnance Survey, and expensive to get ahold of unless you're part of a university or other scheme allowing access.  That stuff is of course available at Digimap (http://edina.ac.uk/digimap/)  

As to my data, I'm unclear as to what a member of public could do with my data without access to the Ordnance Survey data.  I guess they could visualise my database in the RCAHMS library and may be allowed to take a copy of it with them, but they wouldn't be allowed to take any of the Ordinance Survey data home with them.  However, the main thing is that my archaeological data would be available to anyone - archaeologists included.  There is a massive drive for digitised archaeological data for the UK; the main repository is of course at http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/

Hope that answers a few questions, or at least gives you interesting links to look at.

Dot
Giancarlo Macchi <macchi@unisi.it> wrote: Sebastian,
Of course it is worrying! Otherwise why are we posting
here. Please, take into account that things in the U.K. and in
Italy are different. Here most of the archaeological records are
kept hidden to the rest of the scientific community. So basically
there is no need to think to "procedures for long-term exchange
and archiving". We are trying to change things and perhaps
you can help us.
With the words "to be formal" I meant to put things in a
comprehensible and exhaustive way for the public. We would be
very grateful if maybe you can provide and post some links of
repositories where you guys in U.K. have already solved the
problem of archaeological data sharing: metadata, open formats,
readability of the data 100 years from now etc?
Thank you in advance,

  giancarlo

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---------------------------
Dorothy Graves
Postgraduate Researcher
Department of Archaeology
School of Arts, Culture and Environment
Old High School, Infirmary Street
Edinburgh EH1 1LT, Scotland, UK
 		
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