Applying Linked Open Data: Refining a Model of Data Sharing as Publication

FAIN: HK-50037-12

Alexandria Archive Institute, Inc. (San Francisco, CA 94127-2036)
Eric C. Kansa (Project Director: January 2012 to May 2016)

The further development of a platform and refinement of workflows to store, describe, and publish archeological datasets, using an initial collection of data related to trade and exchange patterns in the ancient Near East and East Mediterranean.

Twenty-first century humanistic research has unprecedented opportunities to advance new models of scholarly communication together with new data-driven avenues of investigation. This project will help establish "data sharing as publication" as a scalable and professionally-valued model for the dissemination of humanistic research data. The project will develop case studies involving cross-collections research on trade and exchange in the Ancient Near East and East Mediterranean. In developing publishing workflows toward Linked Open Data, the project will help align the needs of the research profession with rapidly expanding capabilities of the Web of Data.

Media Coverage

#CAAPerth Day Two – opening and first keynote (Review)
Author(s): Graeme Earl
Publication: Archaeological Computing Research Group
Date: 3/26/2013
Abstract: Live blogging at the 2013 Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology conference (Perth, Australia).
URL: http://acrg.soton.ac.uk/blog/3031/

Associated Products

From Data to Knowledge: Organization, Publication, and Research Outcomes (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: From Data to Knowledge: Organization, Publication, and Research Outcomes
Author: Sarah Whitcher Kansa
Abstract: Archaeology, a discipline that often relies upon destructive methodologies, urgently needs to make data sharing and preservation an accepted norm. However, the realities of professional incentives and the lack of clear research outcomes based on shared data inhibit many from participating in data sharing. This presentation will present a model of “data sharing as publication” to explore how editorial workflows can make research data valuable for both data contributors and users. We will present examples from Open Context (http://opencontext.org), an open access, web-based platform for publishing archaeological data. We will discuss the challenges and benefits of publishing data on the web, including professional incentives, ethical issues, copyright concerns, and approaches to working with “messy” data. Finally, we will raise questions regarding how technology can shape understandings of the past. Does good data management require monolithic standardization and centralization? How will broad access to digital data impact the way we do research (methods, interpretations, and collaborations)?
Date: 11/17/12
Conference Name: The American Schools of Oriental Research Annual Meeting 2012

Using the Web to Situate Archaeology in Place, Time, and Community (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Using the Web to Situate Archaeology in Place, Time, and Community
Author: Eric Kansa
Abstract: Keynote address for "Our Community, Our Maps - Purdue GIS DAY 2012"
Date: 11/14/12
Primary URL: https://stemedhub.org/groups/2012gisday/gis_day_college_program
Primary URL Description: Purdue GIS Day program
Conference Name: Purdue GIS Day

Decoding Data- A View from the Trenches (Blog Post)
Title: Decoding Data- A View from the Trenches
Author: Sarah Whitcher Kansa
Abstract: Reflections on some of the key issues encountered when decoding data.
Date: 02/26/13
Primary URL: http://ux.opencontext.org/blog/2013/02/26/decoding-data-a-view-from-the-trenches/
Primary URL Description: Heritage Bytes, the Open Context blog
Blog Title: Decoding Data- A View from the Trenches
Website: Heritage Bytes (ux.opencontext.org/blog/)

Openness and archaeology's information ecosystem (Article)
Title: Openness and archaeology's information ecosystem
Author: Eric C. Kansa
Abstract: The rise of the World Wide Web represents one of the most significant transitions in communications since the printing press or even since the origins of writing. To Open Access and Open Data advocates, the Web offers great opportunity for expanding the accessibility, scale, diversity, and quality of archaeological communications. Nevertheless, Open Access and Open Data face steep adoption barriers. Critics wrongfully see Open Access as a threat to peer review. Others see data transparency as naively technocratic, and lacking in an appreciation of archaeology’s social and professional incentive structure. However, as argued in this paper, the Open Access and Open Data movements do not gloss over sustainability, quality and professional incentive concerns. Rather, these reform movements offer much needed and trenchant critiques of the Academy’s many dysfunctions. These dysfunctions, ranging from the expectations of tenure and review committees to the structure of the academic publishing industry, go largely unknown and unremarked by most archaeologists. At a time of cutting fiscal austerity, Open Access and Open Data offer desperately needed ways to expand research opportunities, reduce costs and expand the equity and effectiveness of archaeological communication.
Year: 2012
Primary URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00438243.2012.737575
Primary URL Description: World Archaeology
Secondary URL: http://alexandriaarchive.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/Kansa-Open-Archaeology-Self-Archive-Draft.pdf
Secondary URL Description: Self-archived pre-print
Access Model: pay-wall
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: World Archaeology
Publisher: Taylor & Francis

We All Know That a 14 is a Sheep: Data Publication and Professionalism in Archaeological Communication (Article)
Title: We All Know That a 14 is a Sheep: Data Publication and Professionalism in Archaeological Communication
Author: Sarah Whitcher Kansa
Author: Eric C. Kansa
Abstract: Archaeologists create vast amounts of data, but very little sees formal dissemination. This failure points to several dysfunctions in the current structures of archaeological communication. The discipline urgently requires better data professionalism. Current technologies can help ameliorate this, but scholars generally lack the time and technological know-how to disseminate data. We put forth a model of “data sharing as publishing” as a means to address the concerns around data dissemination.
Year: 2013
Primary URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/journal_of_eastern_mediterranean_archaeology_and_heritage_studies/v001/1.1.kansa01.html
Primary URL Description: Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies
Access Model: pay-wall
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/journal_of_eastern_mediterranean_archaeology_and_heritage_studies/v001/1.1.kansa01.html
Publisher: Penn State University Press

Asian Stoneware Jars (Database/Archive/Digital Edition)
Title: Asian Stoneware Jars
Author: Peter Grave
Abstract: The Asian Stoneware Jars project, authored by Peter Grave of the University of New England (Australia), is a data publication in Open Context that provides data on the likely provenance and production dynamics of large stone jars, many found in dozens of shipwrecks in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Using a variety of analytical techniques to detect trace elements, Graves and his team identified that the stoneware vessels originated in at least seventeen discrete production zones ranging from southern China to Burma, providing insights on the transport of goods around the globe during the 14th- 17th centuries.
Year: 2013
Primary URL: http://opencontext.org/projects/4B16F48E-6F5D-41E0-F568-FCE64BE6D3FA
Primary URL Description: Asian Stoneware Jars: Element composition of Asian Stoneware Jars from the 9th - 19th centuries CE
Access Model: open access

Reimagining Archaeological Publication for the 21st Century (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Reimagining Archaeological Publication for the 21st Century
Author: Eric C. Kansa
Abstract: See abstract here: http://www.caa2013.org/drupal/speakers
Date: 03/26/13
Primary URL: http://www.caa2013.org/drupal/Home
Primary URL Description: Conference website
Secondary URL: http://www.caa2013.org/drupal/speakers
Secondary URL Description: Keynote speakers
Conference Name: Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA) Annual Conference (Perth, Australia)

Applying Linked Open Data: Refining a Model of ‘Data Sharing as Publication’ (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Applying Linked Open Data: Refining a Model of ‘Data Sharing as Publication’
Author: Sarah Whitcher Kansa
Author: Eric C. Kansa
Abstract: Online digital humanities collections have grown rapidly in scope and significance over the past decade. Museums, archives, and libraries increasingly make their collections available on the Web. In spite of these successes, datasets created by individual researchers still see little dissemination or preservation. Researchers must see clear evidence that data sharing is worth their time and effort. They need to be convinced that data dissemination will further their career goals and contribute substantively toward knowledge creation (Harley et al., 2010). These challenges are deeply interrelated. Efficient aggregation and modeling of disparate collections can open new research opportunities that cross disciplinary boundaries (Onsrud and Campbell 2007). To reach the point where researcher data can be used by a wider community, datasets must have sufficient quality and documentation. To give context, data also need to be related and linked with shared concepts and with other datasets available on the Web. Doing all this requires effort. New skills, professional roles, and scholarly communication channels need to be created to meet the specific requirements of meaningful data sharing. This paper presents a model of “data sharing as publication,” where adapting existing workflows and norms of scholarly communication to the dissemination of structured data can increase professional acceptance of data sharing. Appropriate workflows that enhance datasets with Linked Open Data dissemination methods can align the needs of researchers with the rapidly-expanding capabilities of the Web of Data. Such efforts will demonstrate to the professional community how data publishing can recognize individual scholarly contributions and create information resources with greater capacity to enhance understanding than possible if datasets remained in isolation.
Date: 12/09/12
Primary URL: http://www.pnclink.org/pnc2012/english/index.html
Primary URL Description: 2012 PNC Conference website
Conference Name: 2012 PNC Conference, New Horizons: Information Technology Connecting Culture, Community, Time, and Place

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