From Library to Laboratory: Developing Tools to Enhance the Use of Digital Archaeological and Other Humanities Collections

From Library to Laboratory: Developing Tools to Enhance the Use of Digital Archaeological and Other Humanities Collections FROM LIBRARY TO LABORATORY: DEVELOPING TOOLS TO ENHANCE THE USE OF DIGITAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND OTHER HUMANITIES COLLECTIONS DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE Archaeologists and other humanities scholars are increasingly devoting resources towards creating digital collections that are ultimately stored in digital repositories. Now, with a few clicks or keystrokes, it is possible to access an incredible array of information including photographs of objects and related data such as date, material, and provenience. We propose moving this marvelous capability to the next level, which will make it possible to do on-line analysis and research with the newfound wealth of information. We are requesting funds to create a series of digital tools to take this important step. Using funding assured from other means, we will also create K-12 and higher education programs that utilize these tools. Data repositories currently serve primarily as digital libraries, in that users can browse to see what files are available and download them. However, the repositories currently have few tools that help users study and analyze the contents of a dataset. We propose to create tools for searching within on-line datasets, thus creating digital laboratories that will enhance the use of digital archaeological and other cultural heritage resources. Our work will be done in the context of a large established digital repository known as the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR), developed and maintained by the Center for Digital Antiquity at Arizona State University. tDAR currently houses hundreds of thousands of archaeological documents, images, datasets, and other kinds of files from across the globe, and it is rapidly growing as archaeologists increasingly deposit their research data and finished work in digital repositories. Worldwide, tDAR is an essential repository for and source of archaeological data. Access to tDAR is free and (with the exception of some sensitive information) open to the public. As a testbed, we will utilize the Mimbres Pottery Images Digital Database (MimPIDD), a large (>10,500) collection of archaeological pottery images from the Mimbres region of the US Southwest. Currently, while it is possible to download MimPIDD data, it is not possible to analyze the data and images together, thus making it an ideal context for the proposed tool development. Specifically, we will develop a series of web pages that allow users to search based on a variety of search criteria, and to see the results of their searches as both lists of data and galleries of images. These tools will greatly facilitate research by archaeologists and advanced students, and they will open doors to a wider range of users including educators, younger students, and the general public. We will ensure this broad usage is possible by linking the development of these technical tools to the development of curricula for K-12 schools and college and university students. Our results will be immediately applicable to other datasets in tDAR and will establish procedures useful for other digital repositories. Thus, our work will be broadly extensible because of the far reach of tDAR and the general need for such tools and concepts in similar repositories worldwide.