Last week, ADS CATS (Curatorial and Technical Staff) gathered for our annual strategy week; a dedicated time to focus on archival workflows and how we preserve and share archaeological data. It was a productive week, allowing the (rapidly expanding) archives team to get together to assess our current practices and plan for the future. Here are some of the highlights from our discussions.
DPC Ram
We kicked off the week by completing the Digital Preservation Coalition’s Rapid Assessment Model (DPC RAM). We’ve evaluated our digital preservation capability using this model annually since 2021 and find it a useful way to identify our strengths and pinpoint where we can enhance our services. We re-visited many of the points that came up in our DPC RAM assessment throughout the week.
Sensitive Content
Like many others, over the past few years we have been thinking a lot about how we present sensitive content in our collection. We’re committed to making our data, often the only version of the ‘archaeological record’ for a site, accessible while being mindful of potentially sensitive materials.
Antiquarian or colonial practices and attitudes are present throughout archaeological collections and it’s important as a sector we are aware of how past attitudes and collecting bias shape the archaeological record. Archaeological data has the potential to contain sensitive content such as human remains, depictions of violence and offensive or discriminatory content and it’s important this content is disseminated with care and respect.
Archivists put together a plan for how we want to flag, categorise and present different types of sensitive content in our collection; both for data we receive in the future and also to apply retrospectively to our older collections. It’s our hope that future planned changes to our website will help users of ADS data make informed decisions about content they access and ensure we are presenting data ethically and responsibly.
To read about work done by ADS archivist Dr Solange Bohling on the ethical dissemination of human remains see Large digital cemetery archives: Good practice for depositors and archivists.
Our Main Focus: Cataloguing
Cataloguing was a major focus of the week; our team of digital archivists has recently grown to 10 strong and we brainstormed ways of enhancing our metadata and how we can ensure our cataloguing practices are consistent and well documented. We also explored different ways to present data and collections, thinking creatively about what else we can do with both our collection-level and object-level metadata to aid resource discovery and re-use of our data.
We heard more about the Ariadne portal, which provides access to archaeological datasets (including ADS data) that researchers can browse and access for use in their projects. We discussed how we can use resources created by the Ariadne project to enrich our own metadata and provide new search options for ADS data in the future.
Back to the Trench: Skipsea Field School
After a long day discussing metadata, archivists enjoyed a well-deserved break with a visit to the University of York Archaeology department’s field school in Skipsea. It had been a while since some of us had been in a trench and it was a fantastic opportunity to see what the students got up to and hear more about
what’s going on in the archaeology department. And of course, no trip to Skipsea would be complete without a visit to Mr Moo’s ice cream parlour!
A Deep Dive into OASIS
We were joined by our Deputy Director, Dr Tim Evans, for a presentation on OASIS; a system for reporting investigations into the historic environment. We heard about the history of OASIS, its role in commercial archaeology in the UK and the recent redevelopment of the system by the ADS (HERALD). It was great to hear more about how OASIS links to ADS collections, particularly the ADS library.
Digital Preservation Tools and Systems
We wrapped up the week by discussing our digital preservation infrastructure; including how we use current tools and how we can make our archiving procedures more efficient and robust. Archivists came up with some brilliant ideas for improving workflows, including suggestions for batch processing tools, addressing our IT needs and fostering more collaborative working practices.
Looking Ahead
Overall, CATS Week 2025 was incredibly productive and archivists had some great ideas that we’re excited to put into practice in the coming months. With the recent launch of the Heritage Science Data Service (HSDS), it’s an exciting time to be thinking about the future and we’re energized to improve our services and prepare for the ever-increasing number of archives being deposited.
