CAA/SSLA session at CAA 2022, Oxford (S15)
Organised by Martin Hinz, Florian Thiery and Sophie C. Schmidt
When: 2022-08-11, 15:30-17:00 BST
Where: Online and Room 11 Examination Schools, 75-81 The High Street, Oxford, OX1 4BG
Abstract
For a long time now, archaeological research has not been conducted by individual researchers who come up with brilliant theories in their study rooms and investigate them by themselves and on their own terms. It is a fact that no serious scientific research can be conducted without substantial and extensive collaboration.
The internet facilitated a significant change in work processes, something we have been able to experience vividly in the last two years. Since it was intended from the start as a tool to enable scientific exchange, it is all the more astonishing that collaborative work via the internet did not develop further from back-and-forth emailing of text manuscripts for such a long time. By now there are a variety of different systems and solutions: communication via Slack or Signal, co-writing via Google Docs or Overleaf, data co-creation in online database systems, Open Science Framework or Wikidata, as well as code co-development via GitHub or GitLab.
Streamlined and meaningful collaborative work on research questions is possible nowadays, not just with textual products. Especially in the case of analytical archaeology, where data analysis is a focal point, scientific scripting languages shine. There are several research tools and little minions that combine textuality with machine executability to facilitate a collaborative process of thought and analysis.
In recent years, we think, version controlled workflows, e.g. GIT-based, have become established in this field. But that is certainly not all, as there are a multitude of different solutions to this challenge! Quite often the difficulty lies in finding the best work-flow for certain people or groups. For this reason, in this session we would like to bring together those who work on collective projects, shared software development, reproducible research as well as collaborative writing and data acquisition based on different platforms, and let us and a broad community of researchers in on their workflows.
We invite you to address, but not be limited to, the following questions in a short lightning talk (max. 7 mins):
- Which technologies and workflows have proven effective, which are dead ends?
- How did you generate the Community? And did you keep the ball rolling to create a sustainable structure of collaboration?
- How can you make the best use of the possibilities of collaborative writing and analysis with the help of interlinked workplaces?
- Which tools and approaches are suitable for keeping a scattered team together and motivating it?
- What limits and problems arise in connection with the joint development of reproducible script-based analyses?
- How did you overcome challenges you faced when switching to a digital workflow?
After the presentations an open discussion led by the session chairs is intended to stimulate a further exchange of workflows. Both, this session and a workshop on scientific co-creation using Git and Github are organised by the CAA Special Interest Group for Scientific Scripting Languages in Archaeology in cooperation with the CAA SIG on Semantics and LOUD in Archaeology (Data-Dragon).
Presentations
FAIR Phytoliths Project: Working open-source for community benefit (Emma Karoune, Carla Lancelotti, Javier Ruiz-Pérez, Juan José García-Granero, Celine Kerfant and Marco Madella)
Preserving Syrian heritage sites via technology (Brittany Delany)
Poseidon: Practical challenges in establishing an aDNA data management system (Clemens Schmid and Stephan Schiffels)
Practically virtual: Experiences from the organisation of the CAA SIG Scientific Scripting Languages in Archaeology (Martin Hinz)
Collaborative writing: Using GitHub as a tool for collaborative writing and community building? (Florian Thiery and Sophie C. Schmidt)
Hundreds of lost villages! Use of mobile applications in detection and inventory of abandoned settlements from the former East Prussia (Anna Majewska)
Digital tools and methods for sharing knowledge and know-how about flint formations and collect samples between multidisciplinary researchers for prehistoric studies : the return of experience of PCRs “Réseau de lithothèques” and GDR SILEX (Vincent Delvigne, Christophe Tuffery and Paul Fernandes)
