Fishing for content:how standards are helping people create

a historic environment information landscape

Kate Fernie,

kmf2@york.ac.uk

HEIRNET

Fishing for content

• The information environment

• Finding resources

• User needs

• Standards, standards

• People matter

The information environment

• Rich and diverse information content• Broad range of information providers

Finding resources

• A user wants information about Westerwood, where there is a Roman fort and a stretch of the Antonine wall near Glasgow

• They could go to Google and find some information on the site … and a lot else besides! but this data is

not authoritative, may be out of date or irrelevant and is incomplete

Finding resources… alternately the user could use Canmore, the on-line database of

the RCAHMS

www.rcahms.gov.uk

Finding resources… or the user could have gone to the online catalogue of

SCRAN and searched for Westerwood

… and found pictures of the Antonine wall and aerial photographs of the fort

www.scran.ac.uk

Finding resources…

• Or they could have gone to the West of Scotland Archaeology Service SMR (www.wosas.org.uk)

• Or the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow University where the Romans in Scotland are listed (www.gla.ac.uk/museum)

• Or the Portable Antiquities scheme to find any metal detector finds (www.finds.org.uk)

• Or to the Archaeology Data Service (ads.ahds.ac.uk)• Or Cornucopia (www.cornucopia.org.uk)

HEIRNET Register http://britarch.ac.uk/heirnet/

The hunt for resources…

PAS NMRS WOSAS SCRAN Museum

Content providers shout loud to promote their web sites

User has to go to every service manually – and learn how the system works

but services offer mix of access and use functionality, have different authentication procedures and…

Using resources

• Users can end up tired, confused – and disappointed

• Users just want to find information

So can we find a better way of joining up services…

http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/heirport.html

Westerwood

Joined-up services

• Users go to HEIRPORT to find out information about Westerwood

• HEIRPORT does the work and serves up results from several information providers

• The results are authoritative and up-to-date

• Users can easily go to the information provider to find out more

ADS Canmore SCRANContent Providers co-operating(High Impact!)

End-user

HEIRPORT

Z39.50,Bath Profile,CIMI Profile,XML, RDF,Dublin Core Metadata,HTTP,HTML.

A single enquiry point

PAS Y ZX

(Blissfully unaware) = Happiness!

Joined up doing = interoperability

Standards

Interoperability = people

“to be interoperable, one should actively be engaged in the

ongoing process of ensuring that the systems, procedures and culture of an organisation are managed in such a way as to maximise opportunities for exchange and re-use of information, whether internally or externally.” Paul Miller

See: www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue24/interoperability/See: www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue24/interoperability/

People make it happen!

• Information providers choose to find ways of working together

• Deciding to adopt and implement common standards and

• Providing easier ways for users to access their resources

What is HEIRNET doing to help this process?

HEIRNETHistoric Environment Information Resources Network

HEIRNET is a consortium of organisations with an interest in historic environment information systems.

http://www.britarch.ac.uk/HEIRNET/

HEIRNET

HEIRNET aims to find ways of enabling access to Historic Environment Information Resources for conservation, research, learning and general interest.

http://www.britarch.ac.uk/HEIRNET/

• Developing a register of HEIRs• Experimenting with HEIRPORT• Offering technical advice• Evaluating user needs

In conclusion

• The information landscape offers rich and diverse content

• More and more services are becoming available

• Technology allows us to create joined-up services

• Standards and people make it possible!

Kate Fernie

Kmf2@york.ac.uk