Erin O'Meara
Master of Archival Studies Candidate
University of British Columbia, InterPARES
Archaeological Recordkeeping and GIS

Presentation Abstract

The Coalescent Communities Database is a comprehensive database of archaeological sites within the Southwestern United States dating between A.D. 1200 and 1700. It is the core data set for a Geographic Information System which is providing answers to large-scale regional questions. Archaeology has become almost exclusively a collaborative scientific endeavor, which has created problems regarding appropriate methods for long-term preservation. Within this presentation, I will be discussing this InterPARES 2 case study, which is investigating archaeologists' attitudes towards recordkeeping, especially in terms of what they would consider authentic and reliable records and the value of these attributes within archaeology. This research is conducted with the objective of developing an appropriate framework in which archaeologists can approach the preservation of data sets such as GIS. The long-term preservation of such data sets has become a critical issue with regard to enabling the kind of multidisciplinary research crucial to modern scientific knowledge.