The Day of Archaeology: Archaeologists as audience? The grassroots creation of an online archaeological resource

A paper given as part of the 'Archaeology at large: embracing massive audiences for online applications' session at the 2014 Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology Conference, Paris.

Transcript

1. The Day of Archaeology Archaeologists as audience? The grassroots creation of an online archaeological resource Jessica Ogden L - P : Archaeology, University of Southampton The Day of Archaeology Collective
2. The Day of Archaeology is the result of a collective effort on the part of each year’s organisers and participants. This presentation reports on the research and contributions of many colleagues, including Lorna Richardson, Shawn Graham, Ben Marwick and many more from the DoA collective. Acknowledgements
3. Step 3 Step 2 Step 4 Step 1 • Introducing Day of Archaeology (DoA) • Origin story • The Collective • The project format
4. Step 3 Step 2 Step 4 Step 1 • Participant and user statistics • Explore the potential for use and reuse
5. Step 3 Step 2 Step 4 Step 1 • Strengths and limitations of the approach • DoA organisation going forward
6. Step 3 Step 2 Step 4 Step 1 • Brief thoughts on some potential“keys to success” • End with a word from our sponsors and a shameless plug
7. DoA Origin Story
9. Day of DH is an open community publication project that brings together scholars interested in the digital humanities from around the world to document what they do on one day, answering the question, “Just what do digital humanists really do?” Day of DH 2013 http://dayofdh2013.matrix.msu.edu/
10. THE BIG IDEA Following participation in DoDH 2011, a Twitter conversation ensued, and the idea for the Day of Archaeology emerged. Perhaps we should have a day of archaeology along the same lines? 18 Mar 2011 via Web @m_law Matt Law absolutely brilliant idea!! Let’s do it… 18 Mar 2011 via Web @lornarichardson Lorna Richardson in reply to @m_law
11. WHAT IS DoA? The Day of Archaeology is an annual blogging event which offers a window into the working day of archaeologists worldwide, with the aim of addressing the question: Image: Meagan Brooks (DoA 2012) http://bit.ly/QB5EIc “what do archaeologists do?”
12. DoA Format
13. THE FORMAT The DoA participation comes in several formats but is centred around the Wordpress blog where participants post text, images, soundbites and videos describing their day of archaeology. + +
14. MOST VIEWED 2012 POST “…Amongst the treasure trove of material that emerged from its muddy depths [was] a medieval leather shoe and an exquisite medieval bone die.”
 Post/Image: Damien Shiels (DoA 2012) http://bit.ly/1nDyUsX Rubicon’s Best Ever Find? Discovering A Uniquely Preserved Medieval Object by Damien Shiels on June 29, 2012 commercial archaeology, finds,conservation, medieval
15. POSTS AND MEDIA The number of DoA posts have fallen since 2011, but interaction with the site on the day is continuing to rise. 2011 2012 2013 0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1,148 1,206 942 329 343 429 Posts Images
16. OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA Participation also comes in the form of post comments, trackbacks, tweets and Facebook/Wordpress shares. trackbacks 261 comments 322 tweets 6,000 2013
17. Participant and User Statistics
18. PARTICIPANT FOCUS The participants of DoA have engaged through both individual and organisation support, from universities, commercial archaeology companies, educational charities, museums and archives. Wessex Archaeology: http://bit.ly/1rx7VzL Wessex Archaeology: http://bit.ly/1rx7VzL British Museum: http://bit.ly/QQe0fF
19. PARTICIPANT DISTRIBUTION Though these represent the initial signup countries, the majority of participants are from the UK and USA, with little change between 2011-2013. OTHER 15% CANADA AUSTRALIA IRELAND ITALY USA 22% UK 54% 2011 OTHER 14% CANADA AUSTRALIA IRELAND ITALY USA 21% UK 55% 2013
20. ACCESS STATISTICS Following Although the total number of posts have fallen each year, the access statistics to the DoA site (on the day) has steadily risen, including between the Days. Session counts on dayofarchaeology.com 0 6000 12000 2011 2012 2013 11,040 8,974 7,561
21. 67% SESSIONS VIA SOCIAL MEDIA REFERRAL Out of all of the total number of social media referrals to the DoA website, the majority have come from Facebook (c. 28,000 sessions). 23% 3%
22. 32% 4% 50% 1% 3% USER DISTRIBUTION & LANGUAGE Over the course of the project, access statistics suggest a predominantly European and North American audience.* 6% 3% *Note: Figures are approximates, with 1% of geo-locations unset. other 18% english 82%
23. Remix & Reuse
24. • University of Washington programme for archaeological representation in the media • Indiana University South Bend Anthropology & Informatics programme • Schools Prehistory, an education organisation in the UK focused on the presence of prehistory in the National Curriculum • Brown University’s “Dirty Little Secrets MOOC” Educational Resource
25. TOPIC MODELING Following the 2011 DoA, Shawn Graham performed topic modelling on the 2011 posts. Graham plotted the topics and represented it as a network in Gephi, giving a mechanism for visualising communities of thought in the DoA posts. Credits: Shawn Graham http://electricarchaeology.ca/2012/07/09/mining-a-day-of-archaeology/
26. “DISTANT READING” Using the posts from the DOA 2012/2013 Ben Marwick performed distant reading (F. Moretti), in the form of topic modelling in R. Aspects of analysis include things archaeologists study, gender in posts and more. Things archaeologists study Term Frequency 0 60 120 pottery bones metal wood stones treasure bricks pollen Credits: Ben Marwick https://github.com/benmarwick/dayofarchaeology
27. “DISTANT READING” Using the posts from the DOA 2012/2013 Ben Marwick performed distant reading (F. Moretti), in the form of topic modelling in R. Aspects of analysis include things archaeologists study, gender in posts and more. Dangers faced by archaeologists Term Frequency 0 15 30 cold heat aliens snakes bears tunnels cliffs insects nazis Credits: Ben Marwick https://github.com/benmarwick/dayofarchaeology
31. Strengths, Limitations & the Future
32. • Extending the impact of the profession? • Diversifying participation • Fostering archaeological community Strengths
33. • Extending the impact of the profession? • Diversifying participation • Fostering archaeological community Strengths “It’s good to know that there are indeed a lot of archaeologists out there. By having the day of archaeology, it sort of helps bonding us up together as a profession.” “It was easy to contribute and you felt like you were part of a larger community and helping to spread knowledge of archaeology (both to the public, but also to other archaeologists)” DoA Survey 2012
34. • Extending the impact of the profession? • Diversifying participation • Fostering archaeological community • Tool for monitoring the profession Strengths
35. • Representative participation - how diverse is diverse? • geographic • language • beyond the professionals? Limitations
36. • Representative participation - how diverse is diverse? • geographic • language • beyond the professionals? Limitations “...I'ʹm not sure if it spread further than other archaeologists” “I believe this project is one of the most interesting outreach initiatives done. What is left is to give it a wider range of participants and more publicity in the public sphere.” DoA Survey 2012
37. • Representative participation - how diverse is diverse? • geographic • language • beyond the professionals? • Exclusion and technical barriers (access, medium and format) • CAUTION: Measuring impact. Limitations
38. • Retaining participants over the years (guaranteed numbers or increased diversity) • Increase use and engagement between the Days • Increased organisational support for participation (a la British Museum, LAARC) • Institutional backing and financial support? Going forward
39. • Liberal licensing, actively encouraging reuse • Extensive technical support for participants • Leveraging social networks (capital) for encouraging participation • A culture of sharing Keys to success?
40. Sponsors
41. dayofarch@gmail.com facebook.com/thedayofarchaeology twitter.com/dayofarch www.dayofarchaeology.com 11 JUL Sign up for the Day of Archaeology 2014! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-day-of- archaeology-2014-registration-11278886453