Diverse perceptions of smart spaces

This is the era of smart technology and of ‘smart’ as a meme, so we have run three workshops to examine the ‘smart’ meme and the exploitation of smart environments. The literature relating to smart spaces focuses primarily on technologies and their capabilities. Our three workshops demonstrated that we require a stronger user focus if we are advantageously to exploit spaces ascribed as smart: we examined the concept of smartness from a variety of perspectives, in collaboration with a broad range of contributors. We have prepared this monograph mainly to report on the third workshop, held at Bournemouth University in April 2012, but do also consider the lessons learned from all three. We conclude with a roadmap for a fourth (and final) workshop, which is intended to emphasise the overarching importance of the humans using the spac

Investigating how South African humanities researchers engage with digital archives

OBJECTIVE: Despite technological developments in the Digital Humanities space, it is unclear that the facilities offered by digital archives support the needs of Humanities researchers in developing countries. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how South African Humanities scholars use digital archives in their research as well as in teaching and other academic activities. METHODS: This thesis utilizes non-random convenience sampling. A feature determination study provided the sampling frame, defined the scope for the survey tool, and was used to uncover trends in digital archives development in South Africa. A self-administered online survey was conducted with Humanities researchers in South Africa to answer the research question. The thesis utilises basic descriptive statistics in its attempt to study and interpret the responses of participating researchers. RESULTS: 102 participants responded to the online survey. Despite many South African digital archives having the functionality to discover, browse and search collections, they are missing the features for collaboration, accessing and managing resources. Only 20% of the survey respondents are satisfied with South African digital archives' process of making content easy to find and accessible, whereas 48% of the respondents consider themselves users of complex digital resources, 44% have the knowledge and experience for using Digital Humanities tools and services, and more than 70% find technology to be useful for learning and teaching. CONCLUSIONS: The usage of archives and their functionalities vary widely. Users have stronger preferences for tools that support basic discovery and personal and collaborative research, but many consider existing support for basic features to be inadequate. In terms of advanced functionalities for managing digital resources, users are interested in these to varying levels, but the inadequate support means that these are still somewhat speculative

Documenting, Interpreting, Publishing, and Reusing : Linking archaeological reports and excavation archives in the virtual space

This PhD thesis examines how application of 3D visualization and related digital analytical tools is having a transformative impact on archaeological practice via improvement of visual-spatial thinking and the strengthening of conceptual understanding. However, the deployment of these new digital methods is essentially still at an experimental stage. Therefore, the thesis undertakes a critical evaluation of current progress, identifying both shortcomings and opportunities. It argues that more work is needed to systematically identify and resolve current operational challenges in order to create improved digital frameworks that can strengthen future performance across the wider discipline.The PhD research is based on four “parallel experiments” designed to facilitate mutual enrichment and on-going refinement. Each individual experiment generated research articles, which investigate how particular 3D and digital methods can be adapted to diverse kinds of archaeological sites and features,each with unique characteristics. The articles demonstrate how particular methods can be deployed to constantly refine and improve documentation procedures, and to review and adjust interpretation during the excavation process. In total, the thesis produced five research articles and three new web-based publishing systems.Overall, the thesis demonstrates that application, proactive evaluation and constant improvement of new 3D visualization and digital analytical tools will play an increasingly significant role in strengthening and better integrating future archaeological methods and practice. The research also generates original insights and new digital platforms that together underline the importance of applying these new digital tools across the wider archaeological discipline. Finally, the thesis cautions that digital innovation needs to be anchored in an "open science" culture, including strong ethical frameworks and commitment to FAIR principles (i.e. Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) of data archiving as a key component of research design and wider societal engagement

The apparatus of digital archaeology

Digital Archaeology is predicated upon an ever-changing set of apparatuses – technological, methodological, software, hardware, material, immaterial – which in their own ways and to varying degrees shape the nature of Digital Archaeology. Our attention, however, is perhaps inevitably more closely focussed on research questions, choice of data, and the kinds of analyses and outputs. In the process we tend to overlook the effects the tools themselves have on the archaeology we do beyond the immediate consequences of the digital. This paper introduces cognitive artefacts as a means of addressing the apparatus more directly within the context of the developing archaeological digital ecosystem. It argues that a critical appreciation of our computational cognitive artefacts is key to understanding their effects on both our own cognition and on the creation of archaeological knowledge. In the process, it defines a form of cognitive digital archaeology in terms of four distinct methods for extracting cognition from the digital apparatus layer by layer

Public Archaeology in a Digital Age

This thesis examines the impact of the democratic promises of Internet communication technologies, social, and participatory media on the practice of public archaeology. It is focused on work within archaeological organisations in the UK in commercial archaeology, higher education, local authority planning departments and community settings, as well the voluntary planning departments and community settings, as well the voluntary archaeology sector archaeology sector . This work has taken an innovative approach to the subject matter through its use of a Grounded Theory method for data collection and analysis, and the use of a combination of online surveys, case studies and email questionnaires in order to address the following issues: the provision of authoritative archaeological information online; barriers to participation; policy and organisational approaches to evaluating success and archiving; community formation and activism, and the impact of digital inequalities and literacies. This thesis is the first overarching study into the use of participatory media in archaeology. It is an important exploration of where and how the profession is creating and managing digital platforms, and the expanding opportunities for networking and sharing information within the discipline, against a backdrop of rapid advancement in the use of Internet technologies within society. This work has made significant contributions to debates on the practice and impact of public archaeology. It has shown that archaeologists do not yet fully understand the complexities of Internet use and issues of digital literacy, the impact of audience demographics or disposition towards participation in online projects. It has shown that whilst recognition of democratic participation is not, on the whole, undertaken through a process of actively acknowledging responses to archaeological information, there remains potential for participatory media to support and accommodate these ideals. This work documents a period of great change within the practice of archaeology in the UK, and concludes with the observation that it is vital that the discipline undertake research into online audiences for archaeological information if we are to create sustainable digital public archaeologies

Usability evaluation for online professional search in the Dutch archaeology domain

Digital Archaeolog

Heritage Conservation and Social Engagement

Heritage Conservation and Social Engagement explores different kinds of engagement, participation, access, and creative use of resources motivated by the practice of conservation, and offers ethical and practical perspectives from which to approach cultural heritage projects. The chapters are structured around the themes of engagement and participation, with an emphasis on the value of cross-disciplinary collaborations and the adoption of more encompassing approaches to conservation decision-making. The authors explore the complexities of these collaborations, which are often influenced by the colonial baggage of museums and whose effectiveness vary according to context, objectives, methods and resources available. Given the variable nature of the factors involved, providing evidence for the beneficial impacts of engagement is not always a straightforward task. For a strong body of evidence to be formed, it is essential that conservators continue to create spaces to debate methods that may open new frontiers. Efforts to promote inclusion and engagement through museum collections and the broader heritage sector are becoming even more socially relevant, as in recent years we have observed a rise in intolerance towards minority groups in traditionally democratic societies. The heritage sector is responding strongly, however, as it has the tools to help fight prejudices that are invariably based on misinformation or manipulation of facts. This book joins these efforts, in the knowledge that nothing can be done without dialogue and engagement