Building Scholars and Communities of Practice in Digital Heritage and Archaeology

Abstract

As the role of digital methods in heritage and archaeology has increased in prominence, so has the question of capacity and community building. Who should receive training in digital methods? How should training take place? What concepts, platforms, technologies should be taught? These are relevant questions requiring careful planning and thoughtful implementation; yet beyond these questions, there is an issue of even greater importance: the planned development of communities of practice. The teaching of digital methods has a greater chance of success if it takes place in an ecosystem of scholars who are connected to one another through shared perspectives on those methods. This article presents and discusses the details of a model developed at Michigan State University that speaks to teaching digital archaeology and heritage methods, and to the development of communities of practice in which those methods are shared and relevant. The model is driven and informed by the activities of three projects: the National Endowment for the Humanities-funded Institute on Digital Archaeology Method & Practice, the Cultural Heritage Informatics Graduate Fellowship Program, and the Department of Anthropology Digital Cultural Heritage Fieldschool.

Embedding Librarians in Archaeological Field Schools

“…Archaeologists are increasingly aware of the need for more training in data production and management, and our project builds on this extensive and growing literature (see, e.g., Bevan 2015; Gartski 2022; Kansa 2012; Kansa and Kansa 2018, 2021; Richardson 2013; Watrall 2019). We believe that our pilot program of embedding librarians in archaeological field schools will improve both the educational and research missions of the NAS.…”

Educommunication and Archaeological Heritage in Italy and Spain: An Analysis of Institutions’ Use of Twitter, Sustainability, and Citizen Participation

“…Since the Faro Convention [77], the concept of heritage communities has been defined as "people who value specific aspects of cultural heritage which they wish, within the framework of public action, to sustain and transmit to future generations" (p. 2). We believe that introducing or transferring this concept to the web 2.0 enables us to talk about heritage cyber communities [4,6,11] where we not only consider safeguarding or promoting heritage but also a transcendental experience of lifelong learning through the exchange of information and opinions in an online context [7], characterized by the interconnectivity and the preeminence of the ephemeral. While this seems to be contrary to "lifelong learning", it should be seen as an opportunity for a museum to diversify its offer, not only in terms of promotion (exhibitions, news, etc.)…”

“…This environment allows us to open up new avenues for teaching and bringing society closer [2], in addition to providing a channel for accessible mass communication [3]. This promotes interaction between users and the creation of cyber communities, in the strictest sense of roots and virtual communities [4,5] or digital communities of practice [6]. This has even been described as a space for synergy with a collaborative approach [7] and for co-creation as a key element in sustainability [8].…”

Teaching for Data Reuse and Working toward Digital Literacy in Archaeology

“…The perceived or real lack of technological knowledge is likely the main barrier to these tools or data management approaches becoming integrated into broader undergraduate and graduate curricula. One way to mitigate this problem is the expansion of models like the one developed at Michigan State University, which gathered archaeologists and students to build communities of practice for digital methods, creating workshops and working groups to learn skills and share knowledge (Watrall 2019). Expanding these types of communities could provide the necessary support to expose instructors to new digital techniques in the field and create foundations for improved teaching opportunities.…”