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The Digital Index of North American Archaeology: networking government data to navigate an uncertain future for the past

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2018

Eric C. Kansa ,
Sarah W. Kansa ,
Josh J. Wells ,
Stephen J. Yerka ,
Kelsey N. Myers ,
Robert C. DeMuth ,
Thaddeus G. Bissett  and
David G. Anderson
Eric C. Kansa*
Affiliation:
Open Context, The Alexandria Archive Institute, 125 El Verano Way, San Francisco, CA 94127, USA
Sarah W. Kansa
Affiliation:
Open Context, The Alexandria Archive Institute, 125 El Verano Way, San Francisco, CA 94127, USA
Josh J. Wells
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Indiana University South Bend, 1700 Mishawaka Avenue, South Bend, IN 46634-7111, USA
Stephen J. Yerka
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, 250 South Stadium Hall, Knoxville, TN 37996-0720, USA
Kelsey N. Myers
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Indiana University South Bend, 1700 Mishawaka Avenue, South Bend, IN 46634-7111, USA
Robert C. DeMuth
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Indiana University Bloomington, 701 E. Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405-7100, USA
Thaddeus G. Bissett
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northern Kentucky University, 217 Landrum Academic Center, Highland Heights, KY 41099, USA
David G. Anderson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, 250 South Stadium Hall, Knoxville, TN 37996-0720, USA
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

The ‘Digital Index of North American Archaeology’ (DINAA) project demonstrates how the aggregation and publication of government-held archaeological data can help to document human activity over millennia and at a continental scale. These data can provide a valuable link between specific categories of information available from publications, museum collections and online databases. Integration improves the discovery and retrieval of records of archaeological research currently held by multiple institutions within different information systems. It also aids in the preservation of those data and makes efforts to archive these research results more resilient to political turmoil. While DINAA focuses on North America, its methods have global applicability.

Keywords

North AmericaDINAAdata managementlinked open datagazetteer
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 92 , Issue 362 , April 2018 , pp. 490 - 506
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2018 

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