Open Context

= Open Access resource for the electronic publication of primary field research from archaeology and related disciplines

URL = http://www.opencontext.org/

Definition

"a free, Open Access resource for the electronic publication of primary field research from archaeology and related disciplines. Open Context provides an integrated framework for users to search, explore, analyze, compare and tag items from diverse field projects and collections."

Description

Open Context enables researchers to publish their primary field data, notes, and media (images, maps, drawings, videos) on the World Wide Web. It provides an easy to use, yet powerful, online database for exploring, searching, and analyzing multiple excavation results, survey datasets, and museum collections. These diverse datasets can be explored by browsing through a map or through different search options. Open Context is built with standard but powerful Web technologies (MySQL and PHP), making it easy to integrate with a host of other Web services, including weblogs, e-journals, and commercial search engines. Search engine discovery is becoming an increasingly significant factor in determining the impact and uptake of research (Jensen 2005; Vaughan and Shaw 2005).

Open Context is best suited for publishing large bodies of complex archaeological documentation. All content is linked together in an integrated and cohesive resource. The types of content in Open Context include:

• Narratives: These include more loosely structured, textual types of content, including excavation notes, observations, and diaries. These narratives are integrated and linked to other types of information, including database records and other media (images, videos, and maps).

• Analytic (Tabular) Data: Open Context enables publication of database types of content. These include context databases, finds registries, museum registries and catalogs, and specialist analyses. All of these different types of data are automatically integrated together in one cohesive database.

• Media: Open Context can link digital images, maps, drawings, GIS files, videos, and other types of media with other forms of content. For example, a user will immediately know if an item in a finds registry was photographed or drawn because a thumbnail image will appear with the record of that item.

Open Context makes it easy to browse, search, and analyze data from different projects and collections. It can serve as a reference resource to help researchers find relevant comparative materials. It can also support reanalysis and reinterpretation of excavation results. Finally, undergraduate students can use Open Context as a primary source, so they can develop important analytical skills by exploring and synthesizing primary excavation results. Users have a variety of options to find materials in Open Context, including simple, “Google-like” text searches (Figures 5 and 6), and more sophisticated, advanced searches that use Boolean logic." (http://www.sha.org/publications/technical_briefs/volume02/article01.htm)