Web 2.0 and Beyond: New Tools for Archaeological Collaboration and Communication

The presentations from Web 2.0 and Beyond: New Tools for Archaeological Collaboration and Communication (Vancouver, March 26-30, 2008) are now online.

• Open Access for Archaeological Literature: A Manager's Perspective (Jingfeng Xia, Rutgers University)
  (download audio file of the 15 minute presentation) Abstract: Open Access as new scholarly communication has provided free, unrestricted access to digital material. With content of peer-reviewed articles, open digital repositories will facilitate online dissemination of research data and discoveries. In archaeology, several online databases have been available for journal articles, such as AnthroSource. However, these databases are accessible through subscription and are limited to certain journals. Scholars need a repository containing archaeological literature and free of charge. Modern technologies and changed copyright rules by publishers have made the implementation of the repository possible. This presentation discusses how a repository can be effectively managed to support archaeological research.

• Creating a Virtual Research Environment for Archaeology (Michael Rains, York Archaeological Trust)
  (download audio file of the 15 minute presentation) Abstract: The Integrated Archaeological Database (IADB) began as an excavation recording and post-excavation analysis tool but during more than ten years of development its scope has widened to include archiving and publication. In recent years, work has focused on the development of more sophisticated interfaces and tools within the IADB to create a collaborative research environment and publication framework for all aspects of fieldwork based archaeological research. This presentation will focus on how technologies usually associated with the term Web 2.0 have enabled and to some extent driven this development.
  

• Think Globally, Act Locally: Scholarly Collaboration through the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (www.daacs.org)
  (Jillian Galle, Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery Monticello)
  (download audio file of the 15 minute presentation) Abstract: Since 2004, The Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS) has provided archaeologists with detailed archaeological data from slave quarter sites throughout the Atlantic World. Forged through collaborative partnerships in the US, Caribbean, and UK, DAACS’s success lies in its regional focus, freely accessible data, and direct communication with scholars. DAACS also recognizes that archaeologists have difficulty keeping up with their own research and are frequently unable to contribute to collaborative digital projects without direct help. This paper discusses the philosophy behind DAACS and focuses on the methods used to facilitate data sharing and collaboration among scholars.

• Web 2.0, Archaeotools and the Archaeology Data Service (Julian Richards, ADS; Stuart Jeffrey, ADS; Stewart Waller, ADS; Sam Chapman, University of Sheffield; Ziqi Zhang (University of Sheffield); and Fabio Ciravegna, University of Sheffield)
  (download audio file of the 15 minute presentation) Abstract: The ADS has been preserving and disseminating digital research data in the UK for ten years. This presentation will outline how we are embracing technologies broadly termed Web 2.0. It will discuss Archaeotools, a two-year project funded by AHRC-EPSRC-JISC under their eScience programme. This is a collaborative project with the Natural Language Processing Group at the University of Sheffield UK in which we are conducting data mining and content tagging of archaeological grey literature and journal literature, and permitting user searching via a facetted classification interface, allowing users to ‘click and browse’ rather than ‘type and hope’.

• iAKS: A Web 2.0 Archaeological Knowledge Management System (Ethan Watrall, Michigan State University)
  (download audio file of the 15 minute presentation) Abstract: Currently in development, iAKS (Interactive Archaeological Knowledge Management System) is designed to address data collection, archiving, and analysis problems encountered by many archaeological projects. Based on Web 2.0 technologies, iAKS features a flexible setup and install model that allows archaeologists to customize the types of data they want to collect and archive. Further, iAKS features a variety of connectivity models, making it an appropriate tool for projects that have regular network connectivity and those that do not. In addition, iAKS features robust data visualization, allowing archaeologists to browse and creatively visualize data. Finally, iAKS is designed with a keen sense of usability, thereby making it appropriate for a broad user base.
  

• UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology Data Access Level (Willeke Wendrich, UCLA)
  (download audio file of the 15 minute presentation). Abstract: Since two years UCLA is developing an online encyclopedia of Egyptology (UEE) which sets out to be a comprehensive scholarly web resource. Apart from article texts, images, interactive maps, VR models and enhanced search functionality, the UEE also allows archaeologists to archive and publish data, which in future will be connected to online publications. The UEE-DAL is envisioned as an open source service which will encompass both ongoing field work, excavations and 'heritage' data (unpublished data from past excavations). Project information can be found at www.uee.ucla.edu.
  

• A marriage of convenience: the possibilities of Service Oriented Architecture and Web 2.0 for digital archaeology (Stuart Dunn, Arts and Humanities e-Science Support Centre)
  (download audio file of the 15 minute presentation)
  (view slideshow) Abstract: Service-oriented architectures (SOAs) integrate and repackage heterogeneous computer services and data, so they do not have to be redesigned for new purposes. Web 2.0 technologies allow users to integrate and repackage services and data themselves. The relationship between Web 2.0 and SOA is therefore important. Here we review ways of combining them to deliver online archaeological services and complex data to user communities. We will draw on the UK’s Web 2.0-type portal (www.arts-humanities.net), various theoretical SOA approaches, and existing archaeological and related collections, services and data; and present a research agenda for linking Web 2.0 and SOA for archaeology.
  

• Beyond Open Access: Open Data, Web services, and Semantics (Eric Kansa, UC Berkeley) and Sarah Whitcher Kansa, The Alexandria Archive Institute)
  (download audio file of the 15 minute presentation)
  (view slideshow) Abstract: Simple web services delivering machine-readable data can help make archaeological information truly open and reusable for research, instruction, and creativity. Open Context (www.opencontex.org), is an open source publishing system that facilitates sharing, collaboration, and integration of field research and museum collections. It includes Web 2.0 features: folksonomies, dynamic weblog linking, maps, and browsable navigation through multiple collections. RESTful web services will soon enable new interface and presentation options. However, “user-generated content” (a web 2.0 hallmark) requires difficult schema-mapping steps to make data interoperability possible in Open Context. Can community-based solutions meet the complex semantic challenges of archaeological data?
  

• Web 2 and the Sociology of Archaeological Knowledge (Robin Boast, University of Cambridge and Peter Biehl, SUNY Buffalo)
  (download audio file of the 15 minute presentation) Abstract: Our traditional understanding of knowledge, of a discipline or in a discipline, on-line or off-line, assumes either a direct correspondence with the world or a systematic semantic correspondence with concepts. Even Web 2 largely ignores the past 70 years of sociological and philosophical arguments for an understanding of knowledge as situated skillful practice. This paper explores, through several on-going projects, how both Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 fail to recognize this vital aspect of disciplinary knowledge and public understanding of knowledge, and how many of the tools of Web 2 could be used to enable a diversity of perspectives.

Discussion: On the Web, Nobody Knows you’re an Archaeologist (Fred Limp, University of Arkansas)
(download a pdf of the discussion points)

Willeke Wendrich, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology Data Access Level

Eric Kansa and Sarah Whitcher Kansa, Beyond Open Access: Open Data, Web services, and Semantics (slides)