Cite this as: Zoldoske, T. 2024 Metadata for Discovery. Planning for an Information Network, Internet Archaeology 65. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.65.6
In advance of building a new high speed rail line aimed at connecting the North and South of England, the UK is undertaking the largest archaeological intervention in its history. While the High Speed 2 (HS2) project has created a wealth of new information, before any of that information can be disseminated to the general public, it must first be properly collected, documented, and linked. To this end, data collection is integral to facilitate effective data dissemination and FAIR - Findable, Accessable, Interoperable and Reusable - data to achieve the greatest public value for an archive. The most exciting search results and maps come from what is often seen as scary technical jargon.
This article discusses some of the limitations the Archaeology Data Service (ADS) experiences as a digital repository, what is currently being done to maximise the reach of the ADS collections, and what tools have been created to aid both depositors and digital archives alike. Starting at the beginning of the data life cycle, this article shows how large infrastructure projects like HS2 allow the ADS to work with depositors to raise issues about data collection, generation, and description during project development and how collaborative efforts can improve the creation and import of data and metadata into the archive. The ADS has made steps towards keeping our data FAIR but simple, both by streamlining what metadata is essential to foster better discovery and reuse within an archive, and from there, how metadata can be passed to external data catalogues such as ARIADNEplus and The National Archives in the UK.
Corresponding author: Teagan Zoldoske
teagan.zoldoske@york.ac.uk
Archaeology Data Service, University of York
Figure 1: An image of a Trench from a Trial Trenching at Newyears Green, Hillingdon, 2019 (HS2 Phase One) [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1106774
Figure 2: Vocabulary mapping to AAT by ARIADNEplus
Figure 3: Figure 3: Use of image refinement for the sorting of images within the dissemination page. Example from High Speed Two Ltd., Archaeological Research Services Ltd (n.d.) from Archaeological Recording at Deserted Medieval Village of Lower Radbourne, Warwickshire, 2021-2022 (HS2 Phase One)
Figure 4: A file available for download and an additional info button from: Data from an Archaeological Monitoring at Three Bears Cottage, South Heath Cutting, Buckinghamshire, 2021 (HS2 Phase One)
Figure 5: The file's info page showing some of the associated metadata held in the ADS's database. Example from an Archaeological Monitoring at Three Bears Cottage, South Heath Cutting, Buckinghamshire, 2021 (HS2 Phase One)
Figure 6: The ADS's metadata mapping tool with data showing how the metadata from Figure 5 was imported into the OMS. Figure from an Archaeological Monitoring at Three Bears Cottage, South Heath Cutting, Buckinghamshire, 2021 (HS2 Phase One)
Figure 7: A mock-up of what would be flagged using the metadata comparison tool with data. Figure used data from High Speed Two Ltd., MOLA Headland Infrastructure, Headland Archaeology Ltd (n.d.) Data from a Trial Trenching at Park Street Burial Ground, now Park Street Gardens, Birmingham, West Midlands, 2017-2018 (HS2 Phase One)
Figure 8: Mock up of what would be flagged using the deposit appraisal tool. Figure from an Archaeological Recording at St Mary's Church, Stoke Mandeville, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, 2020-2022 (HS2 Phase One)
Figure 9: Mock-up of an output file using the deposit appraisal. Only one example file for each issue is shown. Figure from an Archaeological Recording at St Mary's Church, Stoke Mandeville, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, 2020-2022 (HS2 Phase One)
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