The National Endowment for the Humanities has approved an award of $240,312 in support of The Alexandria Archive Institute/Open Context’s (AAI/OC) Institute for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities, entitled Networking Archaeological Data and Communities.
This project builds on our long-term efforts to make data publishing more inclusive and more consistent with professional standards of good conduct, and on our achievements in data literacy instruction (see ongoing discussions about our professional development program and our educational resources). This institute will provide professional development opportunities for archaeologists, especially early career researchers, faculty, librarians, support staff, and public archaeologists from underrepresented communities. By focusing our efforts on these types of individuals, who often do not have access to these critical resources through their own institutions, we hope to foster a more accessible network of colleagues and develop a more equitable cache of resources around archaeological data literacy.
For data to be meaningfully preserved and used in intellectually rigorous ways, they must be integrated into all aspects of archaeological practice, including ethics, publishing, outreach, and teaching. In virtual meetings and in-person workshops over a two-year period, participants will work with our expert team of faculty to bridge theoretical and practical aspects of data. They will develop ethically appropriate data management plans, prepare data for publication, begin designing public-facing digital projects or pedagogical resources, and contribute to an open access Data Literacy for Archaeologists Practice Guide. Thus, this institute will catalyze collaborative outcomes and those driven by the needs of individual participants.
The AAI/OC Team is thrilled to have the opportunity to develop this ambitious and timely project. Over the next few months, we’ll be launching our institute website and opening up applications for participants. In the meantime, requests for more information and questions may be directed to the Project Director, Leigh Anne Lieberman (leigh@opencontext.org).
The award was announced on Tuesday as one of 216 humanities projects nationwide that the National Endowment for the Humanities is supporting with over $31.5 million.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this post do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
