Recently, the National Science Foundation (NSF) together with the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a Request for Information to inform the development of federal government infrastructure to support research with AI (see here). What does this request have to do with archaeology in general, and AAI/Open Context programs in particular? For the […]
Perspectives
The importance of identifiers in tracking object life histories (and futures!)
Archaeology produces a wide variety of data that are documented at different scales and in diverse formats. The data collected during excavation ranges from written descriptions in notebooks to 3D models of trenches to counts of lithic and ceramic types. Subsequent analyses range from thousands of detailed observations on faunal remains, microscopic plant remains, stable […]
Defining Data Literacy
If you’ve been following the Alexandria Archive Institute (AAI) you may have noticed we use some academic jargon. We try not to, but it’s unavoidable considering what we do.
My Year of Virtual Conferences
The lockdown that began in March 2020 was followed by a lull in professional interactions as we all waited to find out what was next. As it became clear we were not going to travel or meet in person anytime soon, professional societies regrouped, Zoom ramped up, and the Year of Virtual Conferences began. I […]
Conquering Data Panic (One Sticky Note at a Time)
Spreadsheets, tables, and reams of information fill your monitor. There’s so much raw potential. The data sits before you, waiting for exploration. Then it sets in…data panic. Data panic undermines your confidence. It’s the voice in your head reminding you that you never took a statistics class, the cold sweat that comes when no one […]
Act 1: The establishment of data stories
It’s hard to believe it’s April. Even harder to believe that we’re three months (and more for some folks!) into the Data Stories project here at the Alexandria Archive Institute.
