Exploring sustainable publication and the web: a case -study from the Villa Magna Project
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 09/06/2015

Abstract: Within the past decade, new platforms for creating and managing archaeological data during fieldwork have seen both widespread adoption and increasing intricacy. Although effective data management is now a necessary component of most field projects, the lives of these complex systems after the project has ended are less certain. Institutional concerns including basic software requirements, system upgrades, and web security can derail digital publication and result in largely static, albeit sustainable, archives – downloadable CSV files, simple HTML pages, and, occasionally, PDFs. These formats are only one piece of the puzzle, a necessary aspect of sustainability that, when used alone, can limit the functionality of these data for future researchers. How can we ensure the open, online publication of archaeological data while also maintaining the complexity of original field systems? What steps can we take to address institutional concerns while publishing information in interactive formats that facilitate later use and reuse? This paper considers some of these questions through the lens of a single case-study at the site of Villa Magna, Italy. A programme of fieldwork was completed at this Roman imperial villa and later medieval monastery from 2006-2010, and included geophysical survey, pedestrian survey, and open-area excavation. Complex data were managed on-site using the Archaeological Recording Kit (ARK), accessible to the project team during the off-season through the ARK system’s online interface. The project is on schedule to publish these results in 2015 in a hybrid print/digital publication – a printed monograph containing site background and narrative interpretation, and an interactive online companion for stratigraphic reports and object catalogues. By looking at some of the difficulties the project has faced in finding a longterm home for its online component, and the steps toward automatic system updates and data security the project team has taken to ensure greater longevity, this discussion will explore some future options for the sustainability of digital data publications.

Authors: Andrew Dufton, Michael Johnson, Elizabeth Fentress