With the HERALD questionnaire being sent out to all sections of the community this week the OASIS team here at the ADS thought it would be timely to give you all a potted history of the OASIS system and try and dispel some popular myths.

The OASIS system first came into being in about 2000, but it’s genesis really dates from 1998 when a concordance exercise tried to ensure that the English heritage excavation Index  was as complete and comprehensive as possible, giving a clear national overview of  excavation work. After this concordance had been completed the OASIS form was produced to provide data to continuously update an on line index to the mass of archaeological grey literature that has been produced as a result of the advent of large-scale developer funded fieldwork and a similar increase in fieldwork undertaken by volunteers. So the OASIS system was all about the data contained within the fields of the form. Continue reading OASIS: A ‘back to basics’ reminder →

The OASIS survey is now available and will be until the 20th July.

Please complete the survey 

The survey has been put together by the Archaeology Data Service, as part of the HERALD project,  to help define and shape the future of the OASIS system.

Whether a current OASIS user, or not, we would appreciate your feedback and thoughts to help us redesign the OASIS system to best suit your various needs, while continuing to play a role in the recording of the historic environment. Continue reading OASIS Survey: your opinions please →

We are often asked if Community Groups ever use OASIS and whether if they don’t, then should they? Well, the simple answer is that they definately should, and can, and they definately do!

When we first launched OASIS and tried to establish its use primarily within the development control arena, focusing on use of the form by commercial contracting units. However, there was never any reason why other archaeologists, whether working in a community group or in an academic department shouldn’t use the form. Indeed, it is often this sort of work, lying outside the planning process, which is not routinely reported to the HER, so it becomes even more important to encourage the use of OASIS by those working in this part of the sector. Continue reading Community Groups: Do they ever use OASIS? →

The Grey Literature Library is one of the ADS’ most popular resources, and as shown by projects such as the Roman Rural Landscape, one that is of massive research value. The library is constantly growing, with most reports coming from the OASIS system. In 2013 alone, there were 3891 reports submitted. Feedback from all levels of the archaeological community makes it clear that the hosting of openly accessible digital grey literature is a boon. However, one of the questions we are most commonly asked is “why does it take so long for a report uploaded to OASIS to make its way into the library?”. This is perfectly understandable; people who have completed an OASIS record to share the results of their fieldwork want to make sure this effort is not in vain. Rest assured it isn’t, here’s a small insight into what’s going on underneath the workings of the library. Continue reading Why does it take so long for a report uploaded to OASIS to make its way into the library? →

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to talk to the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers (ALGAO) at their Annual General Meeting. After they had completed the business of the day in the morning I was there to entertain them in the afternoon slot with a session on the HERALD project and the redevelopment of the OASIS system.

I talked about how we had planned the OASIS system over fifteen years ago, how it had developed and how the data from OASIS was now being used in numerous ways that we had never envisioned when the original form was released in the late nineties. Continue reading HERALD at the ALGAO AGM →

Some time ago we undertook a small project with Wessex Archaeology looking at the possibility of using the OASIS system to deliver small (under 50) image archives associated with the project recorded in OASIS. The project was to look at the delivery ‘in principle’ of images and used rather old-fashioned technologies to affect the transfer.
With the launch of ADS-easy, our new on-line e-archiving system, we have been able to utilise the functionality of ADS-easy to facilitate the quick upload of these small image archives. Continue reading OASIS: new image upload facility →

Back in 2012 the ADS archived and released the English Heritage Geophysical Survey Database. It was originally created in 1995 to provide a publicly accessible index of all the geophysical surveys of archaeological sites undertaken by English Heritage. Shortly after its inception its remit was expanded to include information about all surveys carried out over scheduled monuments and protected for which a licence is required under Section 42 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas act 1979. A further pilot project in the late 1990s to record details of surveys in England carried out in the commercial and academic sectors added details of over a thousand new surveys to the database. However, it was not possible to continue this project and make the database a fully comprehensive record of English geophysical surveys. Nevertheless, by the end of 2011 the database contained records of more than 2,700 surveys stretching back to the late 1960s. Continue reading Where does all the (OASIS) data go? Part 2: OASIS enhances the geophysics survey database →

The guiding principle behind the development of the original OASIS system was to capture event data once and allow its use many times to feed into many recording systems. This principle holds true today, over a decade after the launch of OASIS. It has been demonstrated most recently with the inclusion of OASIS metadata from completed and signed off OASIS records within the Marine Environmental Data and Information Network, or MEDIN, portal. Continue reading Where does all the (OASIS) data go? Part 1: An OASIS in the sea…working with the Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN). →

One of the things that engaging with the OASIS system can do is provide a quick easy and cost free means of HERs linking from their records to the relevant reports. Some HERs currently put this to good use and you can see examples in the Heritage Gateway of HERs, like Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, providing a really rich resource to the user. So if you are not already doing it, how do you go about doing this linking? Continue reading Ask not what you can do for OASIS, but what OASIS can do for you! →

We all know that the historic environment sector has undergone a great degree of upheaval over the last few years as a result of the recession-busting moves by both central and local government and, perhaps even more importantly, the slump in building activity. It is therefore even more heartening to be able to announce an investment in OASIS to redevelop the system to better meet the needs of the historic environment community it endeavours to serve. Continue reading Historic Environment Research Archives, Links and Data (HERALD): a new beginning for OASIS →