Dig Digital: data management for archaeological archives (Online Course)

The aim of this stage is to achieve a good understanding of what is required and why; what an ethical approach to archives really mean, how you can use FAIR principles to frame your archive needs; review what tools are available; and undertake a Dig Digital Health Check to create an actionable framework which can be applied within an organisation or project.

• Implementation Task 1a / Complete the CIfA CPD eLearning module
• Implementation Task 1b / Do the Dig Digital Health Check

For Group and Cohort Learners:

• Discussion topic #1: What’s your role in the process? Discuss different roles people have and how they impact your data management.

In this stage, you’ll learn what the point of a Data Management Plan is, and understand how, when and where to use one. We’ll review each section of the DMP, looking closely at project roles, how and when to use the DMP. Using the editable version from the Dig Digital Toolkit, participants can create a tailored DMP for a specific project or for use as an organisational template.

• Implementation Task 2a / Set up a Data Management Plan document for a specific project, reviewing what information you can include from the planning stages of a project.
• Implementation Task 2b / Adapt the Dig Digital Data Management Plan for use across your organisation, completing the basic info which will be standard across the majority of projects.
• Implementation Task 2c / Review a recent Project Brief and the corresponding WSI or Project Design in light of relevant CIfA Standards and Guidance.

For Group Learners:

• Seminar A (Week 1): Data Management Plans – Who is the DMP for and how do we make them useful?
• Discussion topic #2: What are the benefits of DMPs for your project team? How can you facilitate their use across the project?

Once you have your Data Management Plan in place, you’ll have a good idea of what the digital data within your project will look like. The next stage is to embed your data management strategy across the project. To do that, you’ll need to plan how the team will record and register information as it is gathered, creating metadata and documentation which supports the archive. We’ll complete this stage by creating a metadata template which can be used in your project or organisation.

• Implementation Task 3a / Reference metadata: create or update a spreadsheet which includes field descriptions for the fieldnames commonly used across an organisation.
• Implementation Task 3b / File level metadata: Complete a metadata table for an element of a project archive.
• Implementation Task 3c / Documentation: Review a recent Project Report and highlight where documentation should be used.

For Group Learners:

• Discussion forum #3: What controlled terms or standardised vocab do you use? Is it documented?

The delivery stages of the project will create new data, change raw data through processing and gather heaps of research data from contributing experts. This stage delves into the working project archive, following data from collection and use within the project, and highlighting moments to update DMPs and record processes to ensure the long-term preservation of the archive is considered throughout delivery. This stage challenge is to create a file management policy which can used within the organisation, creating a consistent approach to file naming and storage, or a process led documentation template.

• Implementation Task 4a / Create a data processing record for a group of digital data within a project, or a processing record template for use in an organisation
• Implementation Task 4b / Develop a file naming, versioning and file structure approach for your project, or organisation
• Implementation Task 4c / Write the contents list for a Data Management Policy for use within an organisation – what should be included to show how data is managed to good practice standards?

For Group Learners:

• Seminar B (Week 2): When should we start thinking about creating the long term archive in project delivery – and who can help?
• Discussion forum #4: What data is included in the digital archive – how should we treat drawn plans and analogue information?
• Discussion forum #5: How do we keep our data secure throughout the project and create security copies for digital data?

The final stage in the dig digital journey is archive deposition – selecting data from the archive, then preparing your data assets and associated information to deposit with the Trusted Digital Repository. As part of that final stage, thorough consideration of the potential users for your archive will mean you can organise and signpost your data to maximise reuse.

• Implementation Task 5a / Review an archive and select your data, using the digital archive from a live or completed project
• Implementation Task 5b / Update the Data Management Plan by adding details about how data has been selected
• Implementation Task 5c / Write a Data Paper or Data Reuse Summary for a data archive or data set you know well

For Group Learners:

• Seminar C (Week 3): How can we support reuse of our data and why is that important for archaeology?
• Discussion forum #6: Is selection straightforward? How do we know what to include and can preparing collections for deposition be part of everyday archaeology tasks?

There are five stages to complete and all course content will be available for you from registration. You can work at your own pace with materials available for two months, giving time for participants to revisit sections and review content multiple times.

Each section closes with a quiz, and successful completion will open the next stage.

Self-directed learners have access to all course materials and resources, but are not able to engage with structured Discussions or live Mentoring sessions. Each step includes a section chat forum for Q&As and any queries.

If you are interested in a more interactive learning experience, you can ask about joining a group learning cohort by emailing us at hello@digventures.com.

There are five stages to complete and all course content will be available for your cohort from registration. Each section closes with a quiz, and successful completion will open the next stage. Teams can work at your own pace through materials and will be supported by structured discussions and three live mentoring chats.

Materials available for two months, giving time for participants to revisit sections and review content multiple times.

Organisational cohort groups are particularly useful for those wishing to embed new workflows across the business. Ideally, cohorts will include a minimum of five team members and maximum of 20. Teams can work with each other to deliver implementation challenges and action change within projects and across organisations.

If you are interested in setting up access as an Organisation Cohort, email hello@digventures.com to discuss registration options.