Tomorrow’s Standards Together

Tomorrow’s Standards Together

Kirsty Lingstadt and Peter McKeagueKirsty.Lingstadt@rcahms.gov.uk Peter.mckeague@rcahms.gov.uk

Towards a Collaborative Strategy for sector information management (TACOS) University of York 14 May 2014

Scotland’s historic environment plays an important part in all our lives. It provides a link to the past and helps shape our cultural identity. Therefore, it is crucial that we ensure that it is managed, promoted and preserved for the generations to come.

Stewart Maxwell, MSP Convener, Education and Culture Committee, Scottish Parliament(http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/newsandmediacentre/74122.aspx)

The Strategy does not belong to government or any particular sector – it is for everyone and we can all play a part in helping to ensure it delivers positive outcomes for our historic environment.

Delivering the Strategy, however, will require the commitment and enthusiasm of everyone – from academics and professionals with specialist knowledge and skills, through all aspects of local and national government, to individuals and communities taking an interest in their local historic environment.

Fiona Hyslop MSPCabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs(http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/03/8522)

The Historic Environment Strategy for Scotland

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/03/8522

• Developed collaboratively through a wide range of stakeholders

• Shared vision

• No single ownership – it is not the government’s strategy or that of any particular sector

• Everybody has a part to play

The Historic Environment Strategy for Scotland

The Historic Environment Strategy for Scotland

• Cross-cutting Understanding – By investigating and

recording our historic environment to continually develop our knowledge, understanding and interpretation of our past and how best to conserve, sustain and present it.

Protecting – By caring for and protecting the historic environment, ensuring that we can both enjoy and benefit from it and conserve and enhance it for the enjoyment and benefit of future generations.

Valuing – By sharing and celebrating the richness and significance of our historic environment, enabling us to enjoy the fascinating and inspirational diversity of our heritage.

Delivered through collaborative approaches

The Historic Environment Strategy for Scotland

To ensure that the cultural, social, environmental and economic value of our heritage continues to make a major contribution to the nation’s wellbeing.

Decision making in relation to the care and management of the historic environment should be informed by the best available evidence, supportedby robust data.

Enhance participation through encouraginggreater access to and interpretation andunderstanding of the significance of the historic environment.

The Historic Environment Strategy for Scotland

Scottish Historic Environment Data (SHED) Strategy

Scotland’s Historic Environment Data is the collaborative national public information resource for the historic environment. This joint venture between local and national bodies comprises shared and linked digital records. It will be professionally managed, continually updated, and accessible to all, ensuring the greatest economic, social and cultural benefits for the people of Scotland and beyond.

Vision Statement SMR Forum, August 2012

WORKING TOGETHER TO DELIVER BETTER HERITAGE INFORMATION

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/newsandmediacentre/74122.aspx

PastMap

Scottish Historic Environment Data (SHED) Strategy

PastMap

Scottish Historic Environment Data (SHED) Strategy

PastMap

Scottish Historic Environment Data (SHED) Strategy

INSPIREDirective

One Scotland, One Geography

INSPIRE (Scotland) Statutory Instrument

Cookbook 1 How to serve a Scottish SDI and INSPIRE compliant WMS

Annex I & IIMetadata

Annex III Metadata, View & Download

Newly collected Annex I data conforms to IR

Newly collected Annex II & IIIdata conforms to IR

All existing Annex II & III data conforms to IR

All existing Annex I data conforms to IR

INSPIRE: Spatial Data Standards

Operational GuideUK Location Download Service

IR: Implementation roadmap

2004

2007

2009 2010 2013

20122010 2011

Annex I & II View

2015 2017 2020

INSPIRE roadmap

Historic Scotland & RCAHMS Metadata and View services

Understanding spatial extents

Organisation Historic Scotland

SMRs/HERs RCAHMS Fieldwork

What are we Mapping?

Designation The Potential The Known Activities

(Constraint Mapping)

(Trigger Mapping)

(Inventory Mapping)

(Events and interpretation)

Further reading: Mike Middleton (2010) Polygonisation The Shape of things to come What are the needs for Scottish polygonised Historic Environment Data?

Geophysical SurveyExtents

Marine remotesensing

Field Survey mapping 3D laser scanninglandscape

Geophysical Surveyplots

Lidar Excavation extents and details

3D laser scanningStanding structures

But what about all the other information we create?

OASIS: 10 years of online collaboration

Fieldwork

Planning Application

Archaeological condition

Number of records Number signed off Grey literature reports

England (2004) 37,874 22,106 16,126

Scotland (2007) 3,343 2,098 1,749

Total 41,217 24,204 (58.7%) 17,875

OASIS ArchSearch ADS Grey literature library

Publication

OASIS: but it enables so much more!

Onlinearchiving

Geophysical Survey

Database

Web services Web services

OAI-PMH

OASIS: but it enables so much more!

Onlinearchiving

Geophysical Survey

Database

Web services Web services

OAI-PMHAggregated datasets

Spatial datasets

The Voluntary Sector or Citizen Science

MyCanmoreSince 2008 Canmore users may upload comments and images to Canmore records.

Scotland’s Rural Past (2006-11) Five year partnership between RCAHMS and community groups to record Scotland’s historic rural settlements. • Over 60 community led projects• Guidance on field methodology

and standards: A Practical Guide to Recording Archaeological Sites

Britain From Above Collaborative Project between English Heritage, RCAHMS and RCAHMW to put online the Aerofilms collection of aerial photographs from 1919-1953.

Uses Citizen Science to help identify unlocated images and share memories36,595 images and

2,161 comments added

The G8 Charter for Open Data

1. Public data policy and practice will be clearly driven by the public and businesses that want and use the data, including what data is released when

and in what form.

2. Public data will be published in reusable, machine-readable form.

3. Public data will be released under the same open licence which enables free reuse, including commercial reuse.

4. Public data will be available and easy to find through a single, easy-to use, online access point (data.gov.uk).

5. Public data will be published using open standards, and following relevant recommendations of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

6. Public data from different departments about the same subject will be published in the same, standard formats and with the same

definitions.

7. Public data underlying the Government’s own websites will be published in reusable form.

8. Public data will be timely and fine-grained.

9. Release data quickly, and then work to make sure that it is available in open standard formats, including linked data forms.

10. Public data will be freely available to use in any lawful way.

11. Public data will be available without application or registration, and without requiring details of the user.

12. Public bodies should actively encourage the reuse of their public data.

13. Public bodies should maintain and publish inventories of their data holdings.

Public bodies should publish relevant metadata about their datasets and this should be available through a single online access point; and they should publish supporting descriptions of the format provenance and meaning of the data

Discoverable Useable Understandable

UK Government Public Data Principles (2012)

G8 Open Data Charter and Technical Annex

G8 Open Data Charter UK Action Plan 2013

Scotland’s Digital Future A Strategy for Scotland

Examples

Licensed data http://hla.rcahms.gov.uk/ End-user licence to download (OS IPR)Images (through online sales system)Data (through online sales system)

On the Internet but with opaque licencing

http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk http://Pastmap.org.ukArchives: Digital files, Screen resolution images

on the internet with an Open Licence

machine readable but proprietary format

non-proprietary format Limited data available as csv download from PastMap under an Open Government Licence acknowledging OS IPR

Open standards based (URIs)

linked open standards data

Three key vocabularies (Monument type, Objects and Maritime craft) published on http://heritagedata.org

Five Star data - how do we measure up?

We need to do more!

Big Data

Some excuses for ‘Data Hugging’ • The data is wrong - and people will tell us the data is wrong - Citizen Science will help refine our data• People will misunderstand the data and draw wrong conclusions without understanding the context of

the data - Historic Environment data can be difficult but it is our responsibility to publish usable data and inform people about its use and limitations

• You are giving away my research - research is built upon data (often gathered at public expense) access to data helps inform research and challenge conclusions

• There is a cost involved in making data available - we place a low value on heritage when the real priority should be promoting the historic environment and cultural heritage

There is an exponential growth and availability of data - in both structured and unstructured formats.

- but we still keep data in silos

Benefits of a Linked Open Data approachThe Lewis Chessmen Collection split between the National Museum Scotland and the British Museum

Biab and Historic Environment Records

british and irish archaeological bibliographyprovides bibliographic references - many with abstracts - covering all aspects of archaeology and the historic environment, and every chronological period, with a geographical focus on Britain and Ireland.

There are almost 200,000 references from over three centuries of scholarship - with over 1,500 new records added each year. It complements and enhances the information in record systems – but we don’t talk to each other!

A query came up as to whether HERs regularly trawl through national journals (e.g. Journal of Roman Studies, Vernacular Architecture, Industrial Archaeology Review etc) for sites and research relevant to their geographical area. I was wondering whether list members had a view on the usefulness and priority level this type of type of research. Martin Newman, HERforum, 26 September 2008

Few HERs have the resources to have the complete gamut of national journals and about as many of those you run HERs would have the time to examine them all…Chris Wardle, HERforum, 26 September 2008

We don't routinely do this, but have been considering it as a part of the HER backlog….Nick Boldrini, HERforum, 29 September 2008

Conclusions

High level strategy - Our Place in Time recognises the need to collaborate

Success stories• OASIS• PastMap

Innovative projects • Engaging Community Groups• Harnessing the potential of Citizen Science

External drivers towards further collaboration and standards • INSPIRE Directive - Spatial data standards • Open Data

To deliver Accessible Historic Environment Data

Tomorrow’s Standards Together

Tomorrow’s Standards Together

Kirsty Lingstadt and Peter McKeagueKirsty.Lingstadt@rcahms.gov.uk Peter.mckeague@rcahms.gov.uk

Towards a Collaborative Strategy for sector information management (TACOS) University of York 14 May 2014