Time Travel in your home town
Posted on 1 May 2001
A new generation on internet technology, which bridges the gap between specialist data and public access, has just been launched, providing rapid access to detailed information on Britain's most ancient landmarks.
The Archaeology Data Service (ADS), based at the University of York, has built a sophisticated and intuitive front-end to their online catalogue of sites and monuments, making the data immediately accessible to anyone. Britain's archaeological heritage is made visible simply by clicking on a map.
York archaeologist Tony Austin explained: "Archaeologists, like all specialists, often use obscure jargon to describe sites and monuments. So, though the public has a growing appetite to learn about the historic environment, they can be frustrated by the way that data is presented to them. The trick is to provide easy access to source material without dumbing down."
"By using a map to interrogate the database, we can describe and present data in terms with which everyone is familiar. What's more, the data already contains map positions, so we're able to unlock the existing potential of the data."
All sorts of information can be found in the online catalogue. The backbone to the ADS catalogue is drawn from national and local monuments records that describe monuments and the research that has been carried out in them. The catalogue also connects to digital excavation reports and archives, such as those contained in the online journal Internet Archaeology, or the Council for British Archaeology's Research Reports.
"Of course, this interface is not just for fun," said ADS Manager William Kilbride. "Map-based searching is an incredibly useful tool for researchers too, where the potential of geo-spatial data and 'Geographic Information Systems' (GIS) has long been recognised. Using the technologies developed here, researchers will be able to bring together different types of information from different sources, all pertaining to the same geographical location. This is already possible in conventional computing environments: but by developing tools to do this across the internet means that researchers will be released from the limitations of their desktop computers."
The apparent simplicity of the interface belies the technical sophistication which makes the system work. The last few years have seen rapid developments in internet technologies and also in tools for handling spatial data such as maps and locational data, known to researchers as GIS. The ADS's map-based interface represents an important fusion between these different technologies, heralding the development of 'Web-GIS' for UK higher and further education.
Notes to editors:
- The ADS's map-based interface offers two different access points - either through a traditional county map of Britain and Ireland, or a 'density map' which shows the number of records in different parts of the country. One click on either zooms down to a local map that is 30km by 30km in size. Users can select the size of the area to search on this local map, then simply click on the location that interests them - whether that is a town or village they live in, or a place that interests them. The map based interface is intuitive and provides rapid results.
- The Archaeology Data Service (ADS) is based at the University of York. It exists to collect, describe, catalogue, preserve, and provide user support for digital resources that are a product of archaeological research.
- The ADS digital catalogue is online at http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/
- Accept the copyright declaration, and the maps appear.
- The ADS catalogue is mounted on the ADS's Sun Ultra 2 Enterprise server 1200 with 256Mb of RAM, maintained by the ITService at the University of York. The system is connected to the Internet via a 100Mb link.
- Use of the ADS catalogue is provided free of charge to amateur and academic researchers, as well as for teaching and learning.
- Tony Austin is Computing Officer with the ADS. The map based interface was built by him with help from Jo Clarke.
- The ADS is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board and the Joint Information System Committee.
- The full text of this release with supporting details can be found at http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/press/1-2001.html