Destruction/reconstruction: preservation of archaeological and zoological research data

Abstract

Archaeology and zoology are fields in which data collection and analysis involve destruction. In this study we examine the results of 49 interviews with archaeologists and zoologists, focusing on researchers' discussions of internal or disciplinary norms and external factors affecting their attitudes and actions concerning preservation. We identified two categories of disciplinary practices: data collection and data management/recordkeeping as key to shaping attitudes and activities about preservation. Likewise, we found three external factors: funding, legal requirements, and the status of museums and repositories, influencing attitudes toward preservation. We found while archaeologists and zoologists are uniquely positioned to appreciate the value of data preservation, because data collection in both disciplines involves destruction, they are skeptical about whether preservation is possible, and that these attitudes are influenced by both internal and external factors.

A Content Analysis of Indian Research Data Repositories Prospects and Possibilities

“…however, data in the social sciences and humanities are not collected digitally all the time. In archeology, the results of observational data can be more closely linked to the object, photographs, or videos 30 .…”

Digital data archives as knowledge infrastructures: Mediating data sharing and reuse

“…Despite the growth in research about data practices, sharing, and reuse, and advances in standards and practices through organizations such as the Research Data Alliance and Force11, few have studied the role of data archives in knowledge infrastructures. All too often, the data archive is a "black box" to which data are contributed and from which data are retrieved Borgman, Darch, Sands, Wallis, & Traweek, 2014;Force11, 2018;Mayernik, Wallis, & Borgman, 2013;Mayernik, Wallis, Pepe, & Borgman, 2008;Pasquetto, Randles, & Borgman, 2017;Research Data Alliance, 2018a;Wallis et al, 2013).…”

Making Archaeological Collections Available for Research: Recommendations for Repositories

“…In reality, even incoming collections can arrive with poor provenience documentation. Rebecca Frank and her colleagues (2015:151–152) found that archaeologists, who appreciate the destructive nature of archaeological excavation, still resist responsibility for the long-term preservation of archaeological data. One archaeologist in their study lamented that a lot of contextual information “only seems to exist in the heads of people,” whereas others worried about the long-term preservation of digitally collected provenience information.…”