SHARE - I.T. - Domain Analysis

The first module aimed to clarify the current situation and state of the digital archaeological landscape record that exists within the many commercial, government and research institutes within the island of Ireland. Themes explored and answered included: What is the current level of digital data creation in Irish archaeology and what, if any, are the current data standards and practices of digital archiving within Irish archaeology? Components of this work package included the construction of an online questionnaire to be completed by the archaeological community. The results highlighted included:

Requirement to develop an archaeological portal or national archive that can be used to deliver archaeological content in a uniform and open manor.
Increasingly archaeological data is born digital, however little or no standards are being implemented in its creation, storage and long term use, e.g. the use of metadata.

In addition to the online survey, several interviews were conducted with key players within the archaeological sector, e.g. DoEHLG, NRA, IAI. Several fundamental positions were identified including the positive notion that commercial companies are willing to make archaeological data available for research. However, the role of managing and establishing the systems and standards needed to develop such access was complicated with the archaeological community looking to the DoEHLG for guidance and potentially a suitable trusted digital repository but the DoEHLG outlining that the archiving of all digital data was unrealistic.