The ArchaeoTech Podcast · The Archaeology Podcast Network

Data Curation…Crisis? - Ep 213

·43 min·2 clips

Paul says archaeology still lacks “a standardized data format” and mentions Open Context, DINA, and TDAR.

1. The ArchaeoTech Podcast episode 213 focuses on data curation in the February 2024 thematic issue of Advances in Archaeological Practice. 2. Chris Webster hosts with co-host Paul Zimmerman, who brings experience from the Lagash project, NSF grant planning, and field data management. 3. The episode asks what archaeology should do with digital records so they can be found, reused, and shared across projects. 4. Paul describes preparing a digital management plan for the Lagash project while organizing cloud storage, field uploads, and repository plans. 5. He says the team met in Philadelphia with the field director and ceramicist to hash out data workflows before the next season. 6. Chris and Paul discuss a vendor conversation in which someone asked, “what happens to your data?” and the answer was not clear. 7. Paul says one colleague’s view is that if data are not in the report, they are lost. 8. Chris points to Wildnote adding GIS, mapping, shape files, and Esri integration as an example of more born-digital archaeology data. 9. The conversation also covers old BLM expectations for CDs and the problem that such media are not searchable. 10. Paul names the article “Systems Thinking Model of Data Management and Use in U.S. Archaeology” by Elizabeth Ballwork, Nia Gupta, and Jolene Smith as the clearest overview in the issue. 11. He says “systems thinking” fits his background as a systems manager who learned how one change can break another part of a database. 12. Paul introduces “paradata” as documentation of why a photograph or data-collection decision was made, not just the metadata on the file. 13. He mentions protocols.io as a place where GIS workflows and laboratory-style protocols can be published. 14. The episode uses “inherited digital messes” to describe old data that now have to be rescued, interpreted, or restructured. 15. Paul recounts a school information system where administrators added asterisks to names instead of using the hire-date field, which made later filtering harder. 16. Chris and Paul describe trying to build a universal site form from 18 or 19 states’ CRM forms and finding that many fields were more similar than expected. 17. The tone is practical, conversational, and reflective, with long back-and-forth segments and several side examples from CRM, museum storage, and software work. 18. The format stays interview-like but informal, with Chris prompting Paul into extended explanations and occasional detours into real project experience. 19. Archaeologists, CRM staff, and anyone managing field data would get the most from this discussion. 20. Listeners looking for entertainment rather than workflow and data-management detail may skip it.

As heard by us

A practical discussion of how archaeological data curation depends on documenting the workflow, not just the final record.

Archaeotech returns with episode 213 and stays focused on data curation as a practical part of archaeological work. The hosts keep the discussion grounded in workflow, moving through metadata, paradata, and the basic idea that data never arrive neutral; a lot of the shape is set…

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Why you'd press play

If your data keeps turning messy, this is a practical reset.

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