Openness & Sensitivity: Practical Concerns in Taking Archaeological Data Online

Part of: SAA Electronic Symposia Papers, 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Openness & Sensitivity: Practical Concerns in Taking Archaeological Data Online," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The volume of digital archaeological data available online has increased dramatically in recent decades. Maturing technical infrastructure allows for increased discoverability, usability, and higher resolution of data reporting. In this rapidly changing information landscape, considerations for archaeological data sensitivity are more critical than ever. While it is understood that disclosing archaeological site locations could lead to looting and site destruction, it’s imperative to consider information beyond geospatial data, and to acknowledge the consequences of releasing, transmitting, and storing data online. How can we effectively assess risk to balance protecting information with open science ideals? When we choose to release or withhold archaeological data, how can we avoid reproducing exploitative, colonialist structures that have the power to harm descendent communities? What practical steps can we take, and how have we adjusted our procedural guidelines to keep pace with the rapidly-changing world of digital data online?

https://saaddig.github.io/SAA2019-openness-sensitivity/

Other Keywords
digital archaeology • Cultural Resource Management • Indigenous • open data • Historic • Ancestral Pueblo • Open access • Public and Community Archaeology

Geographic Keywords
North America (Continent) • United States of America (Country) • Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre (Country) • Canada (Country) • North America • United Mexican States (Country) • Department of Martinique (Country) • Republic of El Salvador (Country) • Department of Guadeloupe (Country) • Cayman Islands (Country)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-6 of 6)

  • Documents (6)
Documents
  • Chacoan Complexities (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Worthy Martin. Carolyn Heitman.

    This is an abstract from the "Openness & Sensitivity: Practical Concerns in Taking Archaeological Data Online" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Chaco Research Archive (CRA, chacoarchive.org) has been available since 2004 and the Salmon Pueblo Archaeological Research Collection (SPARC, salmonpueblo.org) launched in May of 2018. These web-based portals, as their names indicate, were both designed primarily with the academic researcher in mind....

  • How do we keep "bro-ing" away from open access archaeology?: Open Access, Cultural Appropriation, and Archaeology (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only William White.

    This is an abstract from the "Openness & Sensitivity: Practical Concerns in Taking Archaeological Data Online" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. "Bro-ing" is a market research practice pioneered by Nike and reported by Naomi Klein (2000:75) where designers bring prototypes to inner-city neighborhoods to gauge reactions to new styles and products. This practice also creates buzz that can be used to sell those products to the same communities. Open...

  • Negotiating Complexity in the Management of Sensitive Digital Data (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only David Gadsby.

    This is an abstract from the "Openness & Sensitivity: Practical Concerns in Taking Archaeological Data Online" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Appropriate stewardship of sensitive archeological data necessarily involves overlapping and intertwined authorities, systems, and institutions. The authorities, in turn have different limits and requirements, while various entities have divergent purposes, needs, and protocols. Archeologists, librarians,...

  • Open Data, Indigenous Knowledge, and Archaeology: The need for community-driven open data projects (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kisha Supernant.

    This is an abstract from the "Openness & Sensitivity: Practical Concerns in Taking Archaeological Data Online" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Over the past 20 years, much archaeological data has been digitized and made available online. With an increasing call for open data and open science models, driven largely by a desire to make research more accessible and reproduceable, archaeologists are exploring new ways to make these data available...

  • Respecting the Past and Protecting the Future: Strategies for Implementing Digital Best Practices in Historical Archaeology Research on Military Installations (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kelsey Noack Myers.

    This is an abstract from the "Openness & Sensitivity: Practical Concerns in Taking Archaeological Data Online" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In Cultural Resources Management, many archaeological survey projects are undertaken through contract services provided to regional federal clients with large-scale resource evaluation needs. In the case of military properties, each installation maintains SOPs and curatorial operations to serve the needs of...

  • Why We Should Reassess How We Define Sensitive Archaeological Data and How We Share It (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Anne Vawser.

    This is an abstract from the "Openness & Sensitivity: Practical Concerns in Taking Archaeological Data Online" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. We all want to be published and want our archeological research to be relevant, useful, and available to other archeologists, but in this digital age, it may be too easy to share, and too easy for sensitive site location information to end up in places that could cause irreparable harm to the archeology that...