Digital Antiquity-tDAR Grants Program Results

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Leigh Anne Ellison

Digital Antiquity is pleased to announce the following grants for the 2011 Digital Antiquity-tDAR Grants Program. A few additional proposals still are under consideration. Congratulations are in order to:

Lori Reed of the National Park Service for her proposal, “Aztec Ruins National Monument Digital Archives Project;”
Gregory Brown for his proposal, “Ingestion of Data from Comparative Archaeological Study of Colonial Chesapeake Culture Project;”
Stephen Mrozowski and Christa Beranek of the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research (University of Massachusetts, Boston) for their proposal, “Fiske Center for Archaeological Research; Application to Digital Antiquity”;
Jennifer Haas of the Great Lakes Archaeological Research Center for her proposal, “Great Lakes Archaeological Center Proposal for tDAR Archiving” (adding four large-scale projects from the northern Midwest to tDAR);
David R. Abbott and M. Scott Thompson of Arizona State University and Cory Breternitz of Paleowest, Inc. for their proposal, “A Digital Antiquity Proposal: Ingesting Digital Data Sets and Project Reports from Soil System, Inc’s Data Recovery at Pueblo Grande, Phoenix, AZ;”
Eric Ingbar of Gnomon, Inc., and Robert G. Elston for their proposal, “Publication of Digital Data from Tosawihi Quarries, Nevada;”
Pearce Paul Creasman and Jeffrey S. Dean of the Laboratory of Tree Ring Research (University of Arizona) for their proposal, “Incorporating Archaeological Tree-Ring Dates and Metadata from the US Southwest into the Digital Archaeological Record;”
Matthew T. Boulanger and Michael D. Glascock of the Archaeometry Laboratory at the University of Missouri Research Reactor for their proposal, “Digitization and Dissemination of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Archaeometric and Archaeological Database;”
Stephen Reichardt and Thomas H. Guderjan of the Blue Creek Archaeological Project, University of Texas at Tyler for their proposal, “A Digital Data Archiving Approach to Managing Data from the Ancient Maya Civilization” (data from Blue Creek site, Belize);
Alycia Hayes and Derek Toms of the National Park Service for their proposal, “Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Grant Proposal Award Request;”
Michael Nassaney of Western Michigan University for his proposal, “Digital Storage of Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Data;” and
James Roscoe of the Humboldt State University Cultural Resources Facility for his proposal, “Humboldt State University Cultural Resources Facility; Digital Antiquities Grant Proposal” (records pertaining to archaeology and history of Humboldt County, California).

We thank all who submitted proposals to the Digital Antiquity-tDAR Grants Program, and we are excited to partner with the funded investigators as they work to ingest new data into tDAR!

Digital Antiquity and tDAR at the SAA

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Leigh Anne Ellison

Digital Antiquity staff and collaborators were on hand in Sacramento at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA). At the Digital Antiquity booth in the Convention Exhibit Hall, staff demonstrated tDAR to visitors, answered their questions, and provided additional information. We thank all of you who stopped by to learn about tDAR, to sign up for Digital Antiquity eNews, or just to say hello. To those of you who couldn’t make it to Sacramento this year: you can still learn about tDAR by browsing existing content, registering in order to upload your own data, and joining the Digital Antiquity mailing list to receive the eNews.

Digital Antiquity staff also participated in three program sessions held at the SAA meeting. One of these, a SAA Forum, “Using the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) for Management and Research,” presented examples of using tDAR in specific archaeological projects. Another SAA Forum, “Planning for Archaeological Digital Data Management,” discussed how tDAR can be used to satisfy the the recently highlighted requirement for data management plans as part of NSF research proposals. A third session, a SAA Electronic Symposium, “Mortuary Practices in the American Southwest: Meta-Data Issues in the Development of a Regional Database,” demonstrated the basic work involved in creating a regional database (and its uses), as well as the value of a tool like tDAR for such a group of researchers.

We hope to see you next year in Memphis!

tDAR Software Update (Debitage)

Posted on March 28, 2011February 22, 2018 by Adam Brin

Digital Antiquity maintains its commitment to digital archaeological data preservation in part through continuous attention to the tDAR software. The Debitage release of tDAR (Spring 2011) focuses on advanced search and browsing capabilities, as well as significant changes to storage infrastructure. The update includes the following primary components:

The finalized version of the Transatlantic Archaeological Gateway to enable searching of Projects across ADS (UK) and tDAR content
A completely redesigned infrastructure for processing and storing datasets including improved support for MS Access databases
Significantly improved advanced search tools
RSS/ATOM feeds for tDAR search results
An improved uploading interface
Numerous bug fixes

Status of tDAR Grants Program

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Leigh Anne Ellison

The Digital Antiquity tDAR Grants Program has received a wide range of grant proposals for digital archaeological data preservation and curation projects. Proposals have been submitted by CRM firms, public agencies, and academic and research organizations.

The evaluation of received proposals is underway and awards will be announced as proposals are approved.

Proposals are still being accepted and will be reviewed in the order in which they are received. To enter a proposal, please review the guidelines for preparation and submission on the Digital Antiquity web page.

Guides to Good Practice

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Leigh Anne Ellison

Archaeology Data Service (ADS) in the UK and Digital Antiquity in the US are collaborating to revise and improve the current Guides to Good Practice, which contain recommended measures for the preservation and curation of digital data. Although only certain sections of the six Guides are currently publicly available, ADS and Digital Antiquity invite revision and comments by archaeologists and other data professionals.

The new Guides are expected to be released later in 2011.

Archaeological Information Management Workshop Held in DC

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Francis McManamon

On February 22-23, 2011, Digital Antiquity and the SRI Foundation sponsored a workshop on archaeological information management. Participants included representatives of many U. S. agencies and departments, including the Department of Defense, the Bureau of Land Management, the Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Interior, the U. S. Air Force, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Highway Administration, and the U. S. Army. Also participating were current and past officials of the State Historic Preservation Offices of Georgia, Maryland, and Texas and two representatives of national CRM firms.

Participants reviewed the current status of archaeological information management, in particular how digital data and documents can be accessed and how they are preserved for future use. Attendees agreed on the importance of preservation and curation facilities for digital archaeological data and the challenges of access, preservation, and management. Participants considered how Digital Antiquity and tDAR could be useful to help their organizations meet data access and preservation needs. Participants also drafted an action plan to improve the current state of digital archaeological data preservation and management. Digital Antiquity will work directly with various organizations on implementation of the work plan.

2010 Digital Data Interest Group Annual Report to SAA

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Leigh Anne Ellison

On March 2, the Digital Data Interest Group (DDIG) released its annual report to the Society for American Archaeology (SAA). The report summarizes advances in digital data curation, including the new NSF requirement for data management plans and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy call for comment on a possible requirement that publicly funded research results be publicly accessible.

The report also highlights tDAR and Open Context as digital data resources, the former as a repository and the latter as a publication venue. To view the full context of the report, check it out on Digging Digitally, the official DDIG blog.

Digital Antiquity and tDAR at SAA

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Leigh Anne Ellison

Come see us at the Society for American Archaeology’s 76th Annual Meeting in Sacramento, California from March 30 – April 3, 2011. Digital Antiquity will be at Booth 126 in the Exhibition hall. Additionally, members of the Digital Antiquity staff will be participating or chairing several fora:

Planning for Archaeological Digital Data Management: Digital Antiquity and Open Context have organized a forum for archaeologists to discuss planning for access to and preservation of digital archaeological data and documents. Last year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) mandated that proposals include a “data management plan” in order to be considered for funding. The objective of this requirement is to ensure that NSF-generated data be more accessible and preserved for future uses. The ultimate goal is to broaden research opportunities by making access to NSF-generated data easier. The requirement represents a challenge to grant seekers not familiar with the conceptual and technical issues of data sharing and long-term preservation. To help SAA members better understand NSF’s requirement and how to address it, this forum will introduce guides to best practice in digital data management and two archaeological digital data management systems, the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR), maintained by Digital Antiquity and Open Context, maintained by the Alexandria Archive.
Using the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) for Management and Research: Increasingly archaeological information about archaeological resources exists in digital formats. Digital data present both opportunities and challenges. If effectively archived, digital data are more easily accessed, searched, and shared than paper records. Yet digital data are more fragile and frequently treated as paper documents, making them completely inaccessible and easily destroyed or forgotten. There are efforts underway to improve such situations. Presenters will provide summaries of archival projects, examples of comparative studies using digital data integration tools, the state of digital data access and preservation, copyright and intellectual property issues, and general guidelines about digital data access and preservation.
Mortuary Practices in the American Southwest: The study of prehistoric mortuary practices in the American Southwest is undergoing tremendous change in the new millennium. The challenges (and opportunities) of NAGPRA implementation, declines in the number of large samples being excavated, and loss of data from previously excavated samples have altered mortuary archaeology in the region. Given this state of affairs, the development of an integrated regional database of prehistoric mortuary practices is imperative. This session at the 76th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Sacramento, CA is devoted to the first stages of creating such a data set. Participants in the session will develop the frameworks and structures for building a regional mortuary database. The database that is developed will expand the potential for research with existing and future burial samples.

To learn more about the Digital Antiquity forums and other events at the 76th Annual SAA Meeting, read the collection of abstracts. A list of other sessions related to digital archaeology and data is available on the Digging Digitally blog.

We hope to see you there! Visit the Digital Antiquity exhibit and say “hello.”

AAC and NAS Members Urge Support for Digital Antiquity, tDAR

Posted on February 19, 2011 by Leigh Anne Ellison

In December, the Arizona Archaeological Council (AAC) Board of Directors and two archaeologists who are members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) praised Digital Antiquity and its central project, the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR), noting their importance to the future of archaeology.

After a December meeting, during which Digital Antiquity representatives Keith Kintigh and Francis P. McManamon highlighted tDAR’s user-friendly interface and some of its features, the AAC Board of Directors recommended that “members become familiar with tDAR and Digital Antiquity and make use of the repository to share and preserve the digital results of their archaeological projects.” This recommendation, coupled with a planned workshop on tDAR for the AAC’s broader membership, expresses an important endorsement of the efficient management of digital archaeological data.

Responding to the first issue of the Digital Antiquity eNews, Linda Cordell, distinguished Southwest archaeologist and member of the National Academy of Sciences, called tDAR “…the most important contribution made to archaeology since radiocarbon dating.” Patty Jo Watson, 2010 recipient of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Lifetime Achievement Award and member of the National Academy of Sciences, shared her thoughts, noting that “the potential of tDAR is truly dazzling!”

These endorsements, by a professional organization and giants in the field of archaeology, speak to the importance of providing better access to digital data and ensuring its long-term preservation.

Progress in building tDAR Content

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Adam Brin

During the summer of 2010, staff at Digital Antiquity added over two hundred new digital documents to the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) repository. These documents, plus others contributed by registered users, has increased the number of documents available in tDAR to over 630.

Included in the repository are archaeological overviews, survey reports, detailed excavation and artifact analysis reports, as well as historical documents and studies related to archaeological resources. The documents cover research on both ancient and historic period archaeological resources and are international in geographic scope. Readers are encouraged to explore the tDAR repository using the Search function to see the variety of documents and data sets available to tDAR users.

Among the new entries is a report series of over 100 documents, Publications in Anthropology, published by the National Park Service’s Western Archeological and Conservation Center between 1975 and 2008. These reports range from 3 to 852 pages, with most reports ranging between 200 and 400 pages. The repository now contains many interesting and informative studies in this series, among them are:

Pat Parker’s 1977 ground-breaking anthropological study of the material culture and spatial organization of the 19^th century Key’s Ranch in Joshua Tree National Park
The 1986 report, The Archeology of Gila Cliff Dwellings, by Keith M. Anderson, Gloria J. Fenner, Don P. Morris, George A. Teague, Charmion McKusick, Karen R. Adams, and Lisa W. Huckell. Their detailed report is the first systematic description of these sites which were proclaimed as a National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907, making them among the oldest legally protected archaeological resources in the United States.
The innovative 2001 historical archaeological investigation and documentation of portions of the Manzanar Japanese-American Internment Camp by Jeff F. Burton, Jeremy D. Haines, Mary M. Farrell, and Kari Coughlin, I Rei To: Archeological Investigations at the Manzanar Relocation Center Cemetery, Manzanar National Historic Site, California.

These reports are only a few among the hundreds of documents about American archaeology that users can find in the tDAR repository.