April’s Networking Archaeological Data and Communities (NADAC) workshop, the fourth such session of spring 2023, brought to a close the NADAC Institute’s Data Management Lifecycle series. The Data Management Lifecycle is the first of four main segments of the NADAC Institute, which runs through Fall 2024. It has been an exciting start to the program’s goals of building data literacy and networking archaeological data, communities, and researchers.
This month, Institute Faculty Ixchel Faniel and Eric Kansa guided the intrepid Scholars through the murky unknowns of Data Management Plans (DMPs). Drawing on deep experience and a range of tools and models, Ixchel and Eric provided a framework for crafting data archiving and management strategies. It may come as no surprise that drafting DMPs is hard work; these are not intuitive documents. Through guided discussion of DMP standards and components, they aimed to ensure that each project is well-positioned to come out the other end with integrity. Their data sets will not only be intact and accessible, where appropriate, but also securely stored for long-term sharing and interoperability–like so many gold coins liberated from resting in perpetuity from under the watchful eye of a gatekeeper (whether a ferocious mountain–dwelling, fire-breathing dragon hoarding its wealth or a researcher guarding their data) to circulating in the data ecosystem–a veritable windfall of valuable information.
After a break for second breakfast (or elevensies, depending on one’s time zone) and a few hobbit jokes, the conversation shifted from guidance and examples to drafting DMPs and the many technological, ethical, and data quality issues that can make or break these documents. As Eric pointed out in his discussion of intellectual property and copyright issues, data can get stuck in a web of legal entanglements that would put even Shelob (the giant spider) to shame. In other words, DMPs may not be the most appealing component of a project’s life cycle. They may need some polishing but often contain hidden gems that can immensely aid data management strategies from beginning to end. Another set of considerations, for example, is equity and benefits sharing with descendent communities. Publishing and storing data in a given repository without consent of all interested communities or without due diligence of how they might be accessed and re-used in the future could have serious, harmful consequences.
The point is that technology matters when considering how to deposit data. Data quality matters, too: one does not simply archive unusable data (h/t Eric). Deciding in advance–ideally at the beginning of a project, or even earlier, at the grant proposal stage–what formats, media, and in what venues or repositories to house project information influences all stages of the data management lifecycle. For instance, data can potentially be mined by future researchers and students as well as chatbots and search engines for AI training and other commercial purposes. As the residents of both Moria (the ancient dwarven city of Khazad-dûm) and the Lonely Mountain (home of the equally impressive underground realm of Erebor) discovered, sometimes delving too deeply comes at a cost. The various pathways for short- and long-term access and storage of data is best done with intention, visibility (don’t wear the ring!) and open eyes. There is not one DMP to rule them all (h/t Leigh) but many different paths to reaching the end goal.
The One Ring, after all, was rediscovered in the Third Age as a surface find! What might Smèagol have done had he only known the provenance of his discovery. From an archiving perspective, good record keeping turned out to be the real hero of the tale. Those downtrodden stewards in Gondor tending to their libraries, and providing access to an interested stakeholder, saved the day. Yet even with high quality data management strategies and metadata in place, it still took wizard-level research and translation skills–both of which were covered in the NADAC Institute earlier in this semester–for Gandalf to decipher the object biography of the mysterious ring in Frodo’s possession back in the Shire.
Like Bilbo returning to Bag End after an arduous–but profitable!–adventure to (eventually) write down his tales, the fellowship of NADAC Scholars have gotten to work brainstorming and documenting their project’s own precious data access and storage goals. Between now and July, they will continue to develop their DMPs in preparation for the next leg of the journey: the NADAC summer Institute workshop to be held in person in Berkeley, CA. Stay tuned for updates over the summer as we follow the NADAC Institute’s trek toward strategic data management.
