Not mine this time: UNSW unearths Android’s potential for archaeology
Researchers at the University of NSW are spearheading an effort to build new digital tools for archaeologist to help update a field where on-site data capture is often handwritten, or, sometimes, conducted using a dated PDA-based systems, and records storage is not infrequently paper-based.
The Federated Archaeological Information Management System (FAIMS) Project is led by Dr Shawn Ross, a senior lecturer at UNSW’s School of History and Philosophy, and is funded by the federal government’s the National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources (NeCTAR) program.
Ross said that FAIMS, which is the recipient of a $950,000 NeCTAR grant, is seeking to construct an open source software ecosystem for the capture, analysis and archiving of archaeological data.
I actually think that a lot of field data can be easily collected digitally, as I’ve demonstrated with my Calvary work. And at least here in the States, a lot of field recording for CRM is fairly straightforward filling out standard forms which can be easily done digitally. Trouble is integrating GIS and mapping data along with drawings and photographs and such, although the latter isn’t all that hard. And getting hardware that’s rugged enough. But it’s coming. . . . .
