Moving Forward While Looking Backward

Many know the curation challenges associated with space and data preservation when it comes to archaeological collections. As we keep digging for answers an intense need has developed for appropriate storage of not only the physical findings, but the intellectual materials as well. Most curation repositories require original paper copies of field notes, maps, and analytical data; however, with today’s advancing technologies paperwork is being phased out in preference of digital media such as databases, statistical systems, and GIS mapping. Some government projects now require proposals to include plans for managing and storing this digital data. PaleoResearch Institute is transitioning to meet the demands of this fast-paced world of digital data maintenance through the use of databases, tDAR (the Digital Archaeological Record), and Google Maps. Using these systems we manage the large amounts of analytical and spatial data produced through our studies and make information available, selectively, to our clients, the archaeological community, and the public. tDAR fulfills our need to preserve and share grey literature that is generally hard to access.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.