This Tutorial Series Digital Data Story is now published!
This exercise is best suited to those with an interest in creating structured digital data from forms, the Roman Republic, or the archaeology of the Italian Peninsula. Users should have a basic understanding of archaeological data types, but little previous experience is required.
This page provides access to the resource in two ways. The first is through a series of digital documents that represent the complete Digital Data Story (DDS). These include:
A single PDF for the combined tutorials is available here. Secondary access to the above listed materials is available through the Data Literacy Program code repository on Codeberg. These markdown files represent the source material for the text and primary images within the digital documents, minus additional formatting, and with only a general placement of select decorative images. This code represents our commitment to open science and transparency in our process.
These materials, either through the digital documents or the code, are designed to be used in order, beginning with the Notes to Data tutorial and ending with the Data to Narrative tutorial. However, any piece of this Digital Data Story may be used separately or re-ordered according to the requirements of the individual or specific educational goals. Furthermore, the markdown files may be altered and forked from the Codeberg repository for custom use with different data sets. The Data Story Shorts Going from Notes to Data and Turning Data into Narrative are abridged versions of Gabbing about Gabii and may be useful alternatives for some learners. As of August 2026, the text from these resources is available free to use under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, with all versions of the “Blue Harpy” available free to use under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA 2.0) license. Digital documents produced before 2026 may not reflect this licensing update. See the image credits below for more information or reach out with other licensing questions.
Thank you so much for using our educational resources! If you or your participants have the time, please consider contributing an open peer review to our ongoing process. Such updates will be noted here and be available first through the code repository and any dynamic documents prior to updates to the single PDF publication of record.
To attribute this Digital Data Story, or any of its parts, please use our suggested citation:
Paulina F. Przystupa and L. Meghan Dennis, 2022, “Gabbing About Gabii: Going From Notes to Data to Narrative”, Data Stories Program, Alexandria Archive Institute / Open Context, Published Online, DOI: https://doi.org/10.6078/M7DV1H1R
Page first published: 10 June 2022
Updated: 10 June 2022 – URLs replaced with DOIs; 2026 August – This page was updated to add the suggested citation, image credits for the main image, and updated text on this page to reflect newer versions of the stable pages, such as removing a repeated preamble and adding links to other resources related to this Digital Data Story. The license for this Digital Data Story, as per Creative Commons guidelines, was updated to a more open license with the consent of all authors on the work with specific images that require more restrictive licensing listed as licensed separately from the greater resource. This page now also includes an updated version of the header for this Digital Data Story, which includes the same image but tinted differently.
Image Credit: “Gabbing About Gabii Header 2026” includes an adaptation of “Terracotta acroterial statue of a Harpy/Siren, from Gabii, end of 6th century BC – beginning 5th century BC, Monsters. Fantastic Creatures of Fear and Myth Exhibition, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome” by Carole Raddato from flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/carolemage/12817668965/in/photolist-eqUyAH-eqWWkT-99bvQV-kwDUqv-erT8dJ-erQJh3-erQGGs-eqUsWr-eqWQir-erQKPs-erQDUW-eqUxHi-erT9rj-eqWVbn-eqWTFv) via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0.
