Make it Useful, Make it Usable: Heritage, Archaeological, and Museum Data in the 21st Century

(Talk given at UCL Digital Heritage 'Big' Data Hacking and Visualisation conference http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/calendar/articles/2016-17-events/digital-heritage-workshop)

Over the past 40 years, scholars, projects, and institutions have become stewards of vast amounts of digital archaeological and heritage data that provides critical insight into the human past. Up until fairly recently, much of the discussion surrounding these data has focused on issues of storage, preservation, and limited scholarly access. While these questions are still pressing, the narrative of digital data in archaeology and heritage has expanded.

The challenge with which we are now being faced doesn’t have to do so much with data itself, but how data should be provided, presented, and consumed by a wide variety of stakeholders and constituents. How do we make data available to those who wish to use it? Who should be able to use data? Under what terms should data be made available for use? What are the ethical considerations surrounding digital data in heritage and archaeology? What technical approaches can be used to make data available? How can scholars and institutions encourage the public to engage with heritage and archaeological research and questions through data. Is the public merely a consumer in the lifecycle of heritage and archaeological data? All (and many more) are pressing questions that need to be thoughtfully and practically addressed.

This talk will attempt to parse these challenges and explore the ways in which scholars and institutions can make heritage and archaeological data both useful and usable to a broad array of communities and stakeholders.

Transcript

1. MAKE IT USEFUL, MAKE IT USABLE HERITAGE, ARCHAEOLOGICAL, & MUSEUM DATA IN THE 21ST CENTURY ethan watrall | michigan state university | dept. of anthropology 
 matrix: the center for digital humanities & social sciences | @captain_primate
2. anthropology.msu.edu | @MSUAnthropology @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
3. msu.edu @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
4. chi.anthropology.msu.edu | @chi_initiative CULTURAL HERITAGE INFORMATICS initiative @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
5. matrix.msu.edu | @matrix_msu @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
6. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY Department of Anthropology digital archaeology.msu.edu | @digitalarchaeo @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
7. @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
8. MY EXPERIENCES... FROM THE TRENCHES @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
9. (A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY) @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
10. JIM DEETZ @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
11. anthropology.umn.edu/labs/wlnaa/pottery @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
12. IBM 704 @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
13. @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata www.worldcat.org/oclc/419800
14. DATA ANALYSIS DATA STORAGE @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
15. DATA ANALYSIS DATA STORAGE @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
16. ARKANSAS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata archeology.uark.edu/
17. Used the General Retrieval and Information Processor for Humanities Oriented Studies (GRIPHOS) system to provide information storage, search, and retrieval infrastructure for AAS site files, the Harrington Caddoan collection (housed in the National Museum of the American Indian), AAS faunal collection, and AAS human skeletal collection AAS @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
18. ➊ HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE HAD ONLY JUST REACHED THE POINT WHERE THEY WERE BARELY ADEQUATE FOR DEALING WITH ARCHAEOLOGICAL INFORMATION ➋ FACILITIES TO SUPPORT THESE SORTS OF UNDERTAKINGS WERE EXCEEDINGLY RARE ➌ THERE WASN’T A CONSENSUS AMONG ARCHAEOLOGISTS AS TO WHAT TYPES OF DATA SHOULD BE STORED AND HOW THAT DATA SHOULD BE COLLECTED @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
19. ➊ HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE HAD ONLY JUST REACHED THE POINT WHERE THEY WERE BARELY ADEQUATE FOR DEALING WITH ARCHAEOLOGICAL INFORMATION ➋ FACILITIES TO SUPPORT THESE SORTS OF UNDERTAKINGS WERE EXCEEDINGLY RARE ➌ THERE WASN’T A CONSENSUS AMONG ARCHAEOLOGISTS AS TO WHAT TYPES OF DATA SHOULD BE STORED AND HOW THAT DATA SHOULD BE COLLECTED @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
20. @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
21. @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata www.europeana.eu | www.canadiana.ca | dp.la
22. ux.opencontext.org/archaeology-site-data | opencontext.org | archaeologydataservice.ac.uk @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
23. openarchaeologydata.metajnl.com @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
24. DIS CONNECT / @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
25. @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx
26. DIS CONNECT / WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT HERE? @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
27. METADAT DIRECTED GRAPH NOTATION3 APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFAC RESOURCE DEFINITION FRA RIPT OBJECT NOTATIONEXTENSIBLE MA SPARQL ENDPOINT NTOLOGY LANGUAGE RDF QUERY LANGUAGE CIDOC-CRM OAI-PMH RESTFUL API CA RDF TRIPLES TERSE RDF TRIP XML SCHEMA SEMANTIC WEB STANDRD @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
28. SO, WHAT EXACTLY IS THE POINT OF THIS TALK? @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
29. MAKE IT USEFUL, MAKE IT USABLE HERITAGE, ARCHAEOLOGICAL, & MUSEUM DATA IN THE 21ST CENTURY ethan watrall | michigan state university | dept. of anthropology 
 matrix: the center for digital humanities & social sciences | @captain_primate
30. MAKE IT USEFUL, MAKE IT USABLE HERITAGE, ARCHAEOLOGICAL, & MUSEUM DATA IN THE 21ST CENTURY ethan watrall | michigan state university | dept. of anthropology 
 matrix: the center for digital humanities & social sciences | @captain_primate
31. fair warning… I’m going to wander a little... @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
32. TECHNICAL DIMENSION HUMAN DIMENSION @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
33. TECHNICAL DIMENSION HUMAN DIMENSION @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
34. BUILD FOR (AND ON) THE OPEN WEB @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
35. THE OPEN WEB? @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
36. THE OPEN WEB No permissions required to stand up a site or a web application. No proprietary software required to view. Open protocols, open standards, no gatekeepers. Decentralization @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
37. @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
38. www.openstreetmap.org @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
39. = BAD @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
40. @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
41. @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
42. @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
43. www.github.com @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
44. https://sketchfab.com/hugoandersonwhymark @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
45. SO WHAT? @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
46. ux.opencontext.org/archaeology-site-data | opencontext.org | archaeologydataservice.ac.uk @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
47. METADAT DIRECTED GRAPH NOTATION3 APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFAC RESOURCE DEFINITION FRA RIPT OBJECT NOTATIONEXTENSIBLE MA SPARQL ENDPOINT NTOLOGY LANGUAGE RDF QUERY LANGUAGE CIDOC-CRM OAI-PMH RESTFUL API CA RDF TRIPLES TERSE RDF TRIP XML SCHEMA SEMANTIC WEB STANDRD @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
48. LOWERING THE BARRIER (PROMOTING FRICTIONLESS ACCESS TO DATA) @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
49. dp.la/info/developers/download/ @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
50. www.penn.museum/collections/data.php @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
51. screenshot from mini project anthropology.msu.edu/2013chifieldschool/ @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
52. @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
53. TECHNICAL DIMENSION HUMAN DIMENSION @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
54. OPENNESS @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
55. OPENNESS? @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
56. The principle that knowledge should be spread freely. Its growth should come from developing, altering, or enriching already existing works on the basis of sharing and collaboration without restriction OPENNESS @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
57. vs FREE AS IN SPEECH FREE AS IN BEER @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
58. FREE AS IN BEER (GRATIS) @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
59. FREE AS IN SPEECH (LIBRE) @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
60. LICENSING OWNERSHIP VS @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
61. LICENSING OWNERSHIP VS @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
62. wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/Data @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
63. LICENSING FOR REALISTIC USE @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
64. ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF ARCHAEOLOGY & HERITAGE DATA @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
65. @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
66. @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata opencontext.org
67. PATRIMONY CULTURAL NATIONAL FAMILIAL PATRIMONY PATRIMONY @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
68. LICENSING OWNERSHIP VS @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
69. dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0940739105050204 @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
70. www.mukurtu.org @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
71. MALIAN amp.matrix.msu.edu ARCHIVE OF PHOTOGRAPHY @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
72. amp.matrix.msu.edu @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
73. amp.matrix.msu.edu @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
74. amp.matrix.msu.edu @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
75. amp.matrix.msu.edu @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
76. amp.matrix.msu.edu @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
77. amp.matrix.msu.edu @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
78. amp.matrix.msu.edu @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
79. amp.matrix.msu.edu @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
80. LICENSING OWNERSHIP VS @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
81. (AKA. THE PUNCHLINE) FINAL THOUGHTS @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
82. WE NEED TO BUILD TOOLS THAT FACILITATE BROAD ENGAGEMENT WITH DATA ➊ @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
83. HERITAGE INSTITUTIONS NEED TO BE PLATFORM FOR DATA LITERACY ➋ @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
84. ENCOURAGING PLAY & EXPERIMENTATION ➌ @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
85. SILOS = BAD (a grain solo, just in case you didn’t know) @captain_primate | #GEFbigdata
86. FIN Dr. Ethan Watrall Department of Anthropology MATRIX: The Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences Michigan State University @captain_primate (THE END)