Dear all,
Concerning data-sharing, the model developing in the Netherlands might be of relevance for the UK as well.
Our equivalent of ABCD (archaeobotanical computer database) developed by Philippa Tomlinson and maintained (still??) by Allan Hall is RADAR. The maintenance is in my hands, but in the near future we will develop an online version within the archaeological database Archis, and then each archaeobotanist can enter his/her data him/herself. Already now, the entering of data by myself (in an Access database) is much facilitated by an Excel file with five tab's for data of each of the five tables in RADAR (reports/sites/features/samples/plants). The "generators" of data put their data in this Excel file and I copy it into RADAR (c.q. convert the regular plants spreadsheet to the required database format with the help of several scripts/macros and then copy it into RADAR).
RADAR is now reaching completeness up to 2010 and next year I hope to reach the lag of two years which are the result of rules concerning secret keeping in the Netherlands. End 2014 or 2015 should all Dutch archaeobotanists be able to enter data themselves.
More details on the RADAR structure can be found in the attached article (though at that time the software used was Paradox 3.5 for DOS (some of you might still recognise this operating system, which preceded windows), now this is Access, but the main structure is identical).
With best wishes,
oTTo
________________________________________
Van: The archaeobotany mailing list [[log in to unmask]] namens Pelling, Ruth [[log in to unmask]]
Verzonden: dinsdag 3 december 2013 12:07
Aan: [log in to unmask]
Onderwerp: Re: Mind the gap: commercial versus research environmental archaeology - how do we reduce it?
Thanks Nicki
I think the Cultivating Societies Project is a great model - although an equivalent for all periods for the UK would be a mamouth task.
Ultimately I think we archaeobotanists need to take the lead in sharing our own data somehow - but it has to be simple and quick to fit in with limited funding in the commercial world. Not to mention increasingly complex legal issues surrounding commercial archaeology. I am hoping that we will discuss the issue of datasharing in the UK at an archaeobotany workgroup next year sometime.
Best wishes
Ruth
-----Original Message-----
From: The archaeobotany mailing list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nicola Whitehouse
Sent: 03 December 2013 10:44
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Mind the gap: commercial versus research environmental archaeology - how do we reduce it?
Dear Liz, Don, Angela,
As part of the Cultivating Societies Project, Meriel McClatchie collated much of the unpublished 'grey' literature for Ireland on the archaeobotany side of things. It was an enormously fruitful exercise that led to several publications (see attached), with more coming out. We found the experience very positive and worthwhile from a research perspective and received much co-operation from workers in the commercial sector. Meriel may of course have additional comments to make. We did also make available a simplified database for everyone to use after the project had ended:
http://www.chrono.qub.ac.uk/instar/archaeobotanicalDatabase.php
Its only for Ireland and specially the Neolithic; we hope to expand the work subject to another funding application in 2014. I confess the web site now needs an update but the database is still fully available and will hopefully be updated when further funds are forthcoming.
Best wishes
Nicki
On 3 Dec 2013, at 10:23, "Monckton, Angela" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Dear Don,
Perhaps you would consider how the archaeobotanical data has been collected and used in the Roman Rural project, the database for plant remains is much less detailed than that for other finds and bones, but of course it is a very good thing that the plants are included. Many sites from the grey literature have been collated and mapped for some regions of UK and the results look interesting though the interpretation is awaited. It will certainly raise a lot of research questions and list sources of data.
Apparently there is a Roman Urban project as well but I do not know what that involves.
Angela
________________________________________
From: The archaeobotany mailing list [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] On Behalf Of Don O'Meara [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>]
Sent: 03 December 2013 10:02
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Mind the gap: commercial versus research environmental archaeology - how do we reduce it?
Liz,
I'll be speaking on this topic at the IfA Conference next April; namely on how a two-way mentoring process should be encouraged between the commercial and 'research' fields via the mining of the environmental archaeology grey literature. I would be very interested to hear the views of others on this issue, though I warn people in advance that I'll probably be sending out a pestering questionaire at some point in January.
All the best,
Don.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr Nicki J. Whitehouse, FRES, FSA
Associate Professor (Reader) in Physical Geography, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA England, UK
President, INQUA Commission on Humans and Biosphere http://chrono.qub.ac.uk/habcom/
Cultivating Societies: assessing the evidence for agriculture in Neolithic Ireland (Heritage Council INSTAR project) http://www.chrono.qub.ac.uk/instar/
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