The Acid Test: Exploring The Utility of The Digital Index of North American Archaeology (DINAA) For Use in Applies Research

The Digital Index of North American Archaeology (DINAA) develops interoperability models for large, administrative archaeological resource inventory databases. As of September 2014, DINAA has integrated fifteen US State Historic Preservation Program databases that contain information on a half-million archaeological resources. Sensitive attributes, or information that could potentially threaten a cultural resource, are systematically scrubbed and never shared. DINAA provides a web-based tile-map interface that can filter site attributes and cultural time periods across incompatible database systems. Data are rendered within a spatially decimated (ca. 20-km2) tile grid, and query results can be exported in several formats or linked through stable web identifiers (e.g. JSON, GeoJSON, CSV, Microsoft Excel). This poster symposium explores analyses of settlement patterning, spatial distribution, resource management issues, and record comparability using data provided through DINAA. Other presentations emphasize interoperability and the power of linked data applications by making primary datasets available and connecting to DINAA through Universal Resource Identifiers (URIs). The application interface is hosted and developed through the Alexandria Archive Institute (Open Context). The research team includes members from 15 preservation offices, the University of Tennessee, Indiana University, Open Context, Michigan State University, and Grand Valley State. The National Science Foundation provided initial funding.