Digital Archaeology (or why preserve?) Alastair Dunning, Arts and Humanities Data Service

What is Digital Archaeology? Process of recovering ‘lost’ data and reconvening it as useful information Data sources that have undergone digital archaeology –Domesday Book –East German Govt. staff records –Newham Archive –1970s Schools Census –Your own digital photo collection

Types of excavation Types of problems facing digital archaeologists –Corrupt files and media –Obsolescent hardware –Evolutions in software –Proprietary software –Inadequate documentation Poor metadata Lack of coding tables many other examples

Partial recovery Rarely a question of complete loss or recovery e.g. Schools Census was recovered even with problems such as –Unexplained abbreviations, truncated fields, missing code tables –Much, but not all, data could be re- understood Nevertheless: “A painstaking, time- consuming - and expensive – exercise”. Something to avoid if possible

How to keep the digital archaeologists at bay Making sure your data functions and continues to be understood  Implement a preservation strategy to cope with short-, medium- and long- term plans Preservation also helps with –Securing future funding –Maintaining a professional reputation –Stopping mad panics in office  Today’s workshop: Practical and Strategic help with preservation

Preservation Workshop - Overview Planning your horizons Issues in preserving websites and functionality Documenting resources Coping with new standards and technology Strategic thinking Senior manager’s brief Case study