The Archaeology Data Service publication 'Strategies for Digital Data -
findings and recommendations from Digital Data in Archaeology: A Survey of
User Needs' hit my desk this morning.
I see that the 100+ page report is also available at
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/project/strategies/ .
There's obviously a lot to digest here and what follows is simply the
result of a half hour persusal. Perhaps our ADS and AHDS list colleagues
would like to point out highlights that FISHEN should be paying particular
attention to. Clearly there is a lot in this report for this list to
discuss.
Just to get things started though, a couple of highlights from the Summary
'The majority of archaeologists have internet access' (11.2). I think this
validates our strategy of making standards available via the web and this
list.
'It is unclear whether common, agreed, standards are beiung implemented,
despite obvious support for this.' (11.5) This is something FISHEN must
address. One way would be to produce a kite mark system so that data sets
that adhered to the MIDAS and/or INSCRIPTION standards could be clearly
identified. What do you think?
'Generally, copyright does not limit access to information, though it does
result in charging for access' (11.6). I disagree with this, though I accept
it may simply reflect the results of the opinions expressed in the survey
returns. Copyright and charging for access are two entirely seperate
considerations. You can charge for something that you don't hold the
copyright on, and you can make freely available something that you do.
Amongst the 19 recommendations...
'There is a need for a document that details the appropriate standards and
facilities for digital archives. Included in this document should also be a
list of digital archives that conform to these standards. An accreditation
scheme for digital archive should be devised' - yes! (honest I hadn't read
that bit when I made my comment above!).
One gripe with the report is that no mention is made of FISHEN, MIDAS or
INSCRIPTION - not even in the Glossary. Surely this would have been another
opportunity for the ADS to plug a project which it is now involved in? I
know Damian at the ADS is on leave at present - perhaps Alicia or Neil might
like to contribute on this apparent ommission.
Edmund Lee
FISHEN secretary
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