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Archaeological Analysis in the Information Age: Guidelines for Maximizing the Reach, Comprehensiveness, and Longevity of Data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2019

Sarah W. Kansa Open the ORCID record for Sarah W. Kansa [Opens in a new window] ,
Levent Atici ,
Eric C. Kansa  and
Richard H. Meadow
Sarah W. Kansa*
Affiliation:
Open Context, 125 El Verano Way, San Francisco, CA94127, USA
Levent Atici
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy., Las Vegas, NV89154, USA
Eric C. Kansa
Affiliation:
Open Context, 125 El Verano Way, San Francisco, CA94127, USA
Richard H. Meadow
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA02138, USA
*
([email protected], corresponding author)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

With the advent of the Web, increased emphasis on “research data management,” and innovations in reproducible research practices, scholars have more incentives and opportunities to document and disseminate their primary data. This article seeks to guide archaeologists in data sharing by highlighting recurring challenges in reusing archived data gleaned from observations on workflows and reanalysis efforts involving datasets published over the past 15 years by Open Context. Based on our findings, we propose specific guidelines to improve data management, documentation, and publishing practices so that primary data can be more efficiently discovered, understood, aggregated, and synthesized by wider research communities.

Con el advenimiento de la Web, el mayor énfasis en el “manejo de datos de investigación” y las innovaciones en las prácticas de investigación reproducibles, los investigadores tienen más incentivos y oportunidades para documentar y divulgar sus datos primarios. Este trabajo busca ofrecer a los arqueólogos una guía sobre cómo compartir información, señalando los desafíos más recurrentes en la reutilización de datos archivados que recopilamos a partir de observaciones sobre flujos de trabajo y del reanálisis de bases de datos publicadas a lo largo de los últimos 15 años en Open Context. Sobre la base de nuestros resultados, proponemos algunos lineamientos específicos para mejorar el manejo de datos, la documentación y las prácticas de publicación, de modo que los datos primarios puedan ser descubiertos, comprendidos, agrupados y sintetizados de manera más eficiente y por comunidades de investigadores más amplias.

Keywords

zooarchaeologydata managementreproducible researchdata documentationguidelinesdata reusearqueozoologíainvestigación reproduciblesmanejo de datosdocumentación de datoslineamientosreutilización de datos
Type
Articles
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , February 2020 , pp. 40 - 52
Copyright
Copyright 2019 © Society for American Archaeology

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References

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