Hi
I did a similar exercise a couple of years ago, for a local group who are trying to further develop the Swaledale Ancient Land Boundaries project.  It was an interesting exercise which started along similar lines to the basic structure that Sylivina outlined.  I have used the access database (with a couple of tweaks) since for another local prehistorian who ended up adding a two or three hundred new monuments to the HER - the database didn't take long to develop and second time round I added some fields that can feed into the monitoring section in hbsmr.  I didn't go anywhere with linked sources or events though, and I think this would be a bit too ambitious for my meagre database skills..
 
I definitely wouldn't recommend using an excel spreadsheet for a dataset of anything more than a few records - as it can be all too easy for it to be inadvertently trashed.  Also it's well worth really checking the compatibility of individual fields against the main database, just to make sure that the imports go smoothly...  something annoying like a grid ref field that allows for too much variation in initial inputting will undoubtedly lead to ages of extra faff when it comes to getting the info into the main HER database....
 
all the best
miles
 
 
 

Miles Johnson

Countryside Archaeological Adviser

Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority

Tel: 01969 652361

[log in to unmask]

 


From: Issues related to Historic Environment Records [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nick Boldrini
Sent: 20 October 2009 13:33
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Data Exchange

Hi Sylvina
 
thats the sort of thing i had come up with as a shopping list.
 
Your right that things like Sources we can auto create (to a certain extent - ie for the project itself) at import, though personally I would also give them a field to add some sources in (eg Bibliographic refs).
 
still, nice to see we're on similar lines.
 
best wishes

Nick Boldrini
Historic Environment Record Officer
Direct Dial (01609) 532331
 
 


>>> Sylvina Tilbury <[log in to unmask]> 20/10/2009 11:10 >>>

Hi Nick (again)

 

Data exchange is a big issue up here as well. It is something we are thinking seriously about in Highland in respect of monument records and I’m also interested in others’ views. ASPIRE is still in discussion/development but my feeling is there is still a need for a very simple, standardised set of fields which can easily be compiled by the whole range of contributors in various formats.

 

I don’t think any of us would expect to get finished records from this kind of process. It’s more a case of getting a basic initial record into the HER that will flag up the presence of more information. At the most basic level, we are looking at using the following field structure:

 

UID

Name

Record type (terms supplied by HER)

Site type (free text, but preferably using the EH/RCAHMS thesauri)

Period (terms supplied by HER)

Description (free text)

Site condition/survival, as appropriate (terms supplied by HER)

Grid reference

 

These basic fields can easily be entered in a flat file database or spreadsheet. With links to source and event records created during the import process this gives a very basic record with enough information to work with until the record can be enhanced.

 

I recently had a student working with me over the summer who had no archaeological background, and she was able to quickly grasp how to create basic monument records which approximated to the above content. My point being that if a completely untrained individual can understand these information units, then local community groups and contractors should also find them easy to work with.

 

Cheers

 

Sylvina

Sylvina Tilbury | HER Officer | Planning & Development | Highland Council

Glenurquhart Road, Inverness, IV3 5NX | T: 01463 702503 | F: 01463 702298

http://her.highland.gov.uk

-----Original Message-----
From: Issues related to Historic Environment Records [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nick Boldrini
Sent: 20 October 2009 09:22
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Data Exchange

 

Hi HERO's

 

one of many things I am pondering is data exchange.

 

By this I mean exchanging digital data of event, monument finds etc data with different groups.

 

I have had some experience of this, we have received some data from Contractors, quite a bit from some Community Archaeology Projects, and shared data with Neighbouring LA's.

 

The data has varied from GIS layers which we don't need to incorporate into the HER fully (eg neighbouring LA data) to GIS and databases we would want to bring in fully.

 

There are lots of issue relating to bringing the data into the HER (Copyright, actually importing the data and related data standard issues, etc).

 

However, when talking to people about this I am regularly asked if there are any set standards to use when they create the data.

 

Obviously I mention MIDAS and INSCRIPTION and their eyes glaze over...

 

I am also aware that there are various initiatives looking at these issues eg I think it was suggested OASIS to look at getting GIS coverage of events from contractors at HER Forum in Sheffield (or was it HBSMR UG?), and also ASPIRE is available (though this seems to have stalled).

 

The point of all this is one of the things I am trying to come up with is a quick, short and Plain English introduction to what information an HER would require from people as a minimum, to make the records useful, and easy to integrate.

 

Has anyone looked at this or produced anything like it for their HER?

 

I would also be interested to hear any experience of data swapping and things to avoid/worked well when getting data from contractors local societies etc.

 

thanks

 

 

 

best wishes

Nick Boldrini
Historic Environment Record Officer
Direct Dial (01609) 532331

 

 


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