Hi Peter,

Which pages was it you were trying to access? I've just checked the INSCRIPTION web-pages and they seem to be OK. Try going via the link from the main page www.fish-forum.info.

I'd be happy to advise on ways to sensibly abbreviate the required list if you could provide further details.

Best wishes

Ed

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MURPHY, Peter
> Sent: 24 February 2005 09:50
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [FISH] IFA conference session
> 
> Hi Edmund,
> 
> Perhaps you could help me with a problem re INSCRIPTION word lists.  This
> is not particularly my field.  However, I am the PO for an EH Commission
> from Wessex archaeology.  We required them to produce a review and report
> on Data Standards for the EH Rapid Coastal Zone Surveys. One point that
> emerged is that surveyors have found the existing INSCRIPTION word lists
> too long for field use, and recommended production of an abbreviated
> version for RCZAS.  I have tried unsuccessfully to access these word lists
> on the FISH website, but the relevant pages will not open.
> 
> Help!
> 
> Peter Murphy
> Regional Science Advisor, cambridge
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: The Forum for Information Standards in Heritage (FISH)
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of LEE, Edmund
> Sent: 23 February 2005 11:04
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [FISH] IFA conference session
> 
> Hello folks,
> 
> Just a reminder of this forthcoming workshop at the IFA conference next
> month. It would be good to see you.
> 'Early bird' booking has been extended to 1st March, so you can still
> attend this session (plus your choice of session in the morning) for £50
> (for IFA members) or £90 for non-members. Details from the IFA at
> www.archaeologists.net
> 
> Please note that we now plan to finish at 17.00 rather than 17.30 as
> previously announced.
> 
> Edmund Lee
> English Heritage
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> FISH Workshop at IFA 2005: "Together in electric dreams" Amended
> programme.
> 
> 
> Session title "Together in Electric Dreams"
> 
> Organiser: Edmund Lee, English Heritage Data Standards Unit,
> [log in to unmask]
> 
> Thursday 24 March from 14.00 - 17.00 (Note earlier finish). As part of the
> IFA conference at Winchester, U.K.
> 
> Abstract: The workshop from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage
> (FISH) www.fish-forum.info <http://www.fish-forum.info/> will be both
> practical and visionary. The workshop will address some of the
> practicalities of the application of data standards to historic
> environment information. Short papers will present case studies of what
> goes wrong when standards are not applied, and what can be achieved if
> shared standards are adopted by the community. Information about the past
> is, or should be, a shared inspirational resource, and the workshop also
> welcomes presentation on visions that are achievable if open, shared and
> widely supported standards for information interchange are in place.
> 
> The workshop will include the public launch of the FISH Interoperability
> Toolkit - a suite of protocols and software tools aimed at improving
> communication of heritage sector data. See
> www.heritage-standards.org <http://www.heritage-standards.org/> for
> further information.
> 
> Attendees will need to register for the IFA Conference. See the IFA
> website  www.archaeologists.net for further details of the conference,
> including other sessions and registration.
> 
> Programme:-
> 
> 14.00 - 14.25 Edmund Lee, English Heritage
> Setting the scene - the information standards agenda in 2005
> 
> A brief introduction to the session that will set out the key challenges
> facing the archaeology community in management of digital information.
> These can be summarised as: the scoping of additional standards,
> concordance between datasets, interoperability issues, sustainability of
> solutions, and the mapping of standards together.
> 
> 14.25 - 14.50 Matthew Stiff, English Heritage
> "I still haven't found what I'm looking for...."
> 
> Blending information on current resource-discovery initiatives with bad
> puns on 1980's song lyrics, this paper will examine the challenges
> surrounding cross-domain interoperability for the historic-environment
> community. Referring to upcoming projects and developments, it will
> outline current EH strategies and initiatives working in partnership with
> our friends eclectic.
> 
> 14.50 - 15.15 Russell Gant, Wessex Archaeology
> Real world use of XML, XSLT and Web Services in Archaeology
> 
> Archaeology produces an increasing amount of data but is it retrievable
> and how easily is it shared? This paper will highlight the work being
> carried out at Wessex Archaeology to utilise technologies such as XML and
> XSLT to aid the flow of data throughout the organisation and make it
> available to a wider public.
> 
> 15.15 - 15.45. The official launch of the FISH Interoperability Toolkit
> will take place at tea-interval. Drinks and cake provided!
> 
> 15.45 - 16.10 Catherine Hardman and Jen Mitcham, Archaeology Data Service
> FISH food: using OASIS data to feed the FISH interoperability toolkit
> 
> Historic environment records (HER) tend to be detailed, and include
> extensive references to archive or published sources. It is characteristic
> of the sector that many different software platforms and database designs
> are in use to support this recording. The FISH Interoperability Toolkit
> has been developed by the Forum for Information Standards in Heritage
> (FISH) to assist with the process of moving information between the wide
> range of information systems used to record the historic environment.
> OASIS data has been used to test the FISH Toolkit in transferring data
> from the OASIS system http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/project/oasis/  Into a HER
> database. This paper will describe our experiences and demonstrate the
> results of this exercise.
> 
> 16.10 - 16.35 Andrew Larcombe: Oxford ArchDigital Ltd.
> MIDAS XML: When machines take over
> 
> MIDAS XML is more than the most recent incarnation of the mature MIDAS
> standard.  The formal encoding of historic environment data allows not
> only the preservation and once-off exchange of information between data
> repositories (in same the manner we have been doing for years) but
> introduces great potential for automated communication between datasets.
> This possibility takes us beyond the simple import-and-export routines of
> today's XML connectivity and introduces us to the idea of HERs querying
> each other for semantically and geographically related data, and
> automating the process of data update and exchange.
> 
> This paper provides an overview of where the 'next generation' use of
> MIDAS XML -- including the Historic Environment Exchange Protocol (HEEP) -
> - can take the HER community.  It will be geared towards those familiar
> with SMR/HER data exchange, and contain limited technical jargon.  A
> knowledge of XML will benefit the interested delegate, but is certainly
> not required.
> 
> 16.35 - 17.00 Keith May, English Heritage
> Ontological Manoeuvres in the Dark? Experiences from conceptual modelling
> of the archaeological process
> 
> The Ontological Modelling Project is part of a broader English Heritage
> programme called Revelation looking at the requirements for designing and
> building a new information system for EH archaeological and related
> Historic Environment data. Such a system would need to handle the
> recording and dissemination of information both in the field and in the
> laboratory and therefore has had to encompass concepts covering the
> broader domain of the archaeological process. The project used the CIDOC
> Conceptual Reference Model (CRM) - a draft ISO standard - to create a
> model that bridged the perceived gap between current data models for
> existing EH systems and the potential models needed for design of a new
> integrated and interoperable system. The project has also had to deal with
> a range of issues in engaging participation by archaeological end users
> (domain experts). The presentation will explore some of the approaches
> used and 'lessons learned' in getting archaeologists to work with the CRM.
> Edmund Lee
> Data Standards Supervisor
> Data Standards Unit
> English Heritage
> National Monuments Record Centre
> Kemble Drive
> Swindon
> SN2 2GZ
> United Kingdom
> 
> t: +44 (0) 1793 414791
> e: [log in to unmask]
> f: +44 (0) 1793 414770