We’re all prosumers now? Sociality and open access archaeology

Dr Sarah Colley

Honorary Research Fellow

University of Leicester, UK

European Association of Archaeologists 20th Annual Meeting 10-14 September 2014, ITU - Istanbul

T02S002 ‘Barriers and Opportunities: Open Access and Open Data in Archaeology’

Paper outline

the idea of ‘openness’

Australian archaeology interview survey

Experiences developing & co-creating digital data resources

Producer-consumers ‘prosumers’ (Toffler 1980)

Web 2.0 (and beyond)

Changing roles of producer, developer, editor, content and service provider, archivist, user

Co-creation, crowdsourcing, ‘Citizen’ science

History and politics of ‘Openness’

1940s - Karl Popper The Open Society and Its Enemies, Friedrich Hayek

1980s – Free Software Foundation (Richard Stallman)

1990s – Open Source Initiative (e.g. Eric Raymond)

2000s – Re-emergence of ‘open’ projects, movements and advocacy

Open Access, Open Data, Open Knowledge, Open Government

e.g. Open Days on archaeological sites for public ‘engagement’

*Tkacz, N. 2012. From open source to open government: a critique of open politics. Ephemera. Theory and Politics in Organization 12(4):386-405.

open technology & technology design non-proprietary, not for profit

‘openness’ as political & institutional philosophy e.g. transparency, participatory democracy, Freedom of Information

rhetoric & realities e.g. privacy, security, economic exploitation, ‘dark’ web, trolling, defamation

Attenbrow 2002

Parramatta Excavations (Courtesy Jillian Comber)

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information at risk limited sustainable repository services e.g. FAIMS Project – archaeological repository in development 2014 Research Data Australia – Federal government some libraries & museum services

Interview survey 30 Australian-based archaeologists Mediated Messages: Archaeology, Communication and Digital Technology (Colley, in preparation)

Which groups do you communicate with?

Why do you or your organisation communicate archaeology?

What kinds of content or information are involved?

(#01 Director, Small Heritage Consultancy Company) “We communicate to our clients, interest groups and agencies - what we will do, why it’s important, what steps are involved in the process, what are the outcomes and the issues. We communicate more broadly to advertise our business so people who might be looking for archaeological services know what we do. And then there’s our professional involvement in groups like the National Trust and AACAI [etc.] where we are promoting the general message of heritage conservation.” (#02 Museum Researcher) “I’m interested in communicating archaeology to encourage public interest and help support the discipline. I think it’s really important to give the public a real sense of the intellectual programme of work […] To communicate the thrill of the subject and the importance of archaeological sites as important and irreplaceable archives […] At [my institution] public communication brings [many] opportunities from private donors wanting to support your research and 4-wheel drive clubs offering test vehicles for fieldwork and so forth.”

Benefits & Challenges to Archaeologists of Open Technology Design & Philosophy

Who are ‘open’ data for?

Benefits & challenges depend on

contexts, perspectives, motivations

technologies (design, affordance etc)

New South Wales Archaeology Online Stage 1 – 2009-11 1800 ‘grey-literature’ reports about historical archaeology (University of Sydney Library)

Gibbs, M. & S. Colley 2012. Digital preservation, online access and historical archaeology ‘grey-literature’ from New South Wales, Australia. Australian Archaeology 75: 95-103.

NSW Archaeology Online Stage 2 (2011-15)

• External funding awarded (2011-13). University of Sydney Library had to withdraw

• Grant used to scan image collections and generate metadata

• Repository service provided ‘in-kind’ by FAIMS Project (2012-14) as ‘pilot study’

• Uncertainty about future commitment and other collections/content (project now running into 2015 – without clear funding)

• Further problems at University of Sydney Library (Aug 2014 – 60% of library staff offered redundancy in restructure)

Federated Archaeological Information Management System (FAIMS) – Research Data initiative government funded ‘One size fits all’ interface not ideal Only accepts some types of media Uncertainty about future commitment and other collections/content

NSW AOL Stage 2 3000 images of historical archaeology and heritage Ian Jack Collection Judy Birmingham Collection Currently in development mode

Other collaborations & projects with major digital components

Sydney Fish Project 2009-13. (Colley)

ACT Grey-Literature Pilot Study 2011-2. (Brockwell)

Kentwell Cottage Video Project 2010-11 (Gojak & Colley)

Shapeshifters Pilot Project 2012-14 (Colley & Brockwell)

Kinchega Archaeological Research Project 1996-2015 (Allison)

Archaeology of Sydney Projects 2012-15 (Gibbs & Colley)

Colley, S. and R. Brownlee 2010. Archaeological Fish Bones Online: a digital archive of Sydney fishes. Internet Archaeology 29. http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue29/colley_index.html. Colley, S. & V. Attenbrow 2012. Does technology make a difference? Aboriginal and colonial fishing in Port Jackson, New South Wales. In A. Clarke, S. Colley and M. Gibbs (eds) Landscapes and Materiality: historical and contemporary archaeology in the Sydney Basin. Archaeology in Oceania 47: 69-77. Colley, S. 2013. Fish and fishing in colonial New South Wales: new evidence from the Quadrant site in Sydney. Post-Medieval Archaeology 47: 120-136.

Sydney Fish Project 2009-2013. Research and digital infrastructure/data project.

Sydney Fish Project (S. Colley 2009-13) Some open access data available via University of Sydney eScholarship Repository Small project, simple data set, matched USyD Library standard requirements Currently being used to demonstrate good standards of practice to other USyD researchers

Kentwell Cottage Video Project – no repository available for technical reasons. Some on YouTube. Rest on DVD and not currently accessible - funding and other issues.

Kinchega Archaeological Research Project (KARP) 1996-2015 (Historical archaeology rural NSW) Penelope Allison (University of Leicester). Digital Data Resource – in progress as part of research monograph. Funded by e.g. University of Leicester, National Library of Australia and other grants. Repository to be decided.

3500 items (3000 images)

‘Pilot project’ funding for “innovation” doesn’t solve long term needs Mismatched expectations - digital literacy (experiential learning can be costly!) Workload & tasks misunderstood by politicians, senior university managers and

researchers and users Content across the web: authorship & branding, discovery, editorial control Managing change & the future – people, projects, interfaces and functionality What are we trying to achieve and why? Who and what is driving this?

Thank you

• Martin Gibbs, Penny Crook, Penelope Allison, Sally Brockwell, Rowan Brownlee & Sten Christensen

• University of Leicester School of Archaeology & Ancient History & University Library

• University of Sydney School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, Archaeology Department & University Library