Enhancing Humanities Research Productivity in a Collaborative Data Sharing Environment

This project represents a multi-organizational, interdisciplinary effort to enhance collaborative research in cultural heritage fields by exploring user experience with Web-based technologies. The objective of this project is to document user needs around online systems for sharing primary data and documentation of cultural heritage collections. To this end, we will draw upon the experience and insights of representatives from different stakeholder groups in three broad arenas: academic researchers, heritage managers, and specialist communities. Investigations undertaken in this study will result in best-practice guidelines to guide humanities computing efforts on how to best meet the diverse user needs in future online data sharing systems. Using an iterative cycle of development, deployment, and evaluation, this project will enhance Open Context, a collaborative, open-access data sharing system already in use for archaeology and related disciplines

Classifying Latin Inscriptions of the Roman Empire: A Machine-Learning Approach

Large-scale synthetic research in ancient history is often hindered by the incompatibility of tax- onomies used by different digital datasets. Using the example of enriching the Latin Inscriptions from the Roman Empire dataset (LIRE), we demonstrate that machine-learning classification mod- els can bridge the gap between two distinct classification systems and make comparative study possible. We report on training, testing and application of a machine learning classification model using inscription categories from the Epigraphic Database Heidelberg (EDH) to label inscriptions from the Epigraphic Database Claus-Slaby (EDCS). The model is trained on a labeled set of records included in both sources (N=46,171). Several different classification algorithms and parametriza- tions are explored. The final model is based on Extremely Randomized Trees algorithm (ET) and employs 10,055 features, based on several attributes. The final model classifies two thirds of a test dataset with 98% accuracy and 85% of it with 95% accuracy. After model selection and evaluation, we apply the model on inscriptions covered exclusively by EDCS (N=83,482) in an attempt to adopt one consistent system of classification for all records within the LIRE dataset

Openness and archaeology's information ecosystem

The rise of the World Wide Web represents one of the most significant transitions in communicationssince 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 ofarchaeological 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 naivelytechnocratic, 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 oversustainability, quality and professional incentive concerns. Rather, these reform movements offer muchneeded and trenchant critiques of the Academy’s many dysfunctions. These dysfunctions, ranging fromthe expectations of tenure and review committees to the structure of the academic publishing industry, golargely unknown and unremarked by most archaeologists. At a time of cutting fiscal austerity, OpenAccess and Open Data offer desperately needed ways to expand research opportunities, reduce costs andexpand the equity and effectiveness of archaeological communication

Web Syndication Approaches for Sharing Primary Data in "Small Science" Domains

In some areas of science, sophisticated web services and semantics underlie "cyberinfrastructure". However, in "small science" domains, especially in field sciences such as archaeology, conservation, and public health, datasets often resist standardization. Publishing data in the small sciences should embrace this diversity rather than attempt to corral research into "universal" (domain) standards. A growing ecosystem of increasingly powerful Web syndication based approaches for sharing data on the public Web can offer a viable approach. Atom Feed based services can be used with scientific collections to identify and create linkages across different datasets, even across disciplinary boundaries without shared domain standards

Arquitetura de um ambiente colaborativo de business intelligence baseado em um repositório de ontologias e serviços de dados

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Tecnologia, Departamento de Engenharia Elétrica, 2012.O conceito de Business Intelligence (BI) refere-se a um conjunto de metodologias, métodos, ferramentas e software que são usados a fim de fornecer soluções sistêmicas no apoio à análise de informações cujas especificações e desenvolvimentos são limitados a domínios específicos de informações. Em soluções de BI convencionais, é necessário promover cargas massivas de dados fornecidos por outras organizações em repositórios locais, o que pode tornar a informação não disponível ou causar erros devido à má interpretação dos dados recebidos. Propõe-se neste trabalho, uma arquitetura sistêmica de BI que busca soluções para essas limitações. Esta arquitetura é baseada em um repositório ontológico centralizado e utiliza serviços de dados descentralizados para fornecer dados para consultas analíticas genéricas. A proposta foi validada pelo desenvolvimento de uma prova de conceito que permite mostrar a arquitetura em ambiente funcional e ilustrar seu interesse em diversas aplicações de BI. ______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTBusiness Intelligence (BI) refers to a set of methodologies, methods, tools and software that are used in order to provide system solutions to support information analysis. The specification and development of these system solutions are still limited to specific information domains. Furthermore, in conventional BI solutions, it is necessary to promote massive data loads provided by other organizations in local repositories. Such massive loads can make the information not available on-time or cause errors due to misinterpretation of received data. In this dissertation, a systemic architecture that seeks to address these limitations is proposed. The architecture is based on a centralized ontology repository and uses distributed data services to provide data to generic analytical queries. The proposal was validated by developing a proof of concept software that allows the architecture to implemented in an operational environment so as to ilustrate its interest for several BI applications

Mobilizing the Past for a Digital Future : The Potential of Digital Archaeology

Mobilizing the Past is a collection of 20 articles that explore the use and impact of mobile digital technology in archaeological field practice. The detailed case studies present in this volume range from drones in the Andes to iPads at Pompeii, digital workflows in the American Southwest, and examples of how bespoke, DIY, and commercial software provide solutions and craft novel challenges for field archaeologists. The range of projects and contexts ensures that Mobilizing the Past for a Digital Future is far more than a state-of-the-field manual or technical handbook. Instead, the contributors embrace the growing spirit of critique present in digital archaeology. This critical edge, backed by real projects, systems, and experiences, gives the book lasting value as both a glimpse into present practices as well as the anxieties and enthusiasm associated with the most recent generation of mobile digital tools. This book emerged from a workshop funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities held in 2015 at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. The workshop brought together over 20 leading practitioners of digital archaeology in the U.S. for a weekend of conversation. The papers in this volume reflect the discussions at this workshop with significant additional content. Starting with an expansive introduction and concluding with a series of reflective papers, this volume illustrates how tablets, connectivity, sophisticated software, and powerful computers have transformed field practices and offer potential for a radically transformed discipline.https://dc.uwm.edu/arthist_mobilizingthepast/1000/thumbnail.jp

Across Space and Time. Papers from the 41st Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Perth, 25-28 March 2013

This volume presents a selection of the best papers presented at the forty-first annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. The theme for the conference was "Across Space and Time", and the papers explore a multitude of topics related to that concept, including databases, the semantic Web, geographical information systems, data collection and management, and more