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SectionB.7
SectionB.7

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[{TableOfContents title='B.8 Management of data standards - FISH'}]
[{TableOfContents title='B.7 Data standards for the Historic Environment'}]
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!!!B.8 Management of data standards - FISH
Management and development of data standards for the historic environment is co-ordinated through FISH, the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage (see [http://fishforum.weebly.com/]). All of the major heritage bodies in the UK, including ALGAO, are involved in the steering committee of the Forum, which meets twice a year.
!!!B.7 Data standards for the Historic Environment
!!B.7.1 What are data standards?
Data standards can be simply defined as an agreed statement of "what information should be recorded, in what manner, to achieve a particular objective". The objectives for historic environment managers are set out elsewhere in this manual. This section describes;
* the value that shared data standards add to historic environment recording,
* data standards that are in current use,
* how HER officers can get involved in shaping the future direction of data standards to ensure that they meet the needs of the profession.
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!!B.7.2 Why are data standards needed?
Collection and recording of historic environment information is an expensive, and in some cases unrepeatable, process. It is essential that the information contained within HERs can be readily retrieved and understood by anyone and increasingly important that data from different HERs can be compared. Data standards ensure that information is recorded in a consistent and retrievable way so that the maximum benefit for the users of data is obtained from the investment.
The benefits offered include:
* __Reliability__: As standard procedures are tried and tested, if they are sensibly applied they will work well.
* __Consistency__: Data standards promote consistency in recording of information, which ensures that records can be retrieved easily, so that all known relevant information is available when needed.
* __Expertise__: Historic environment data standards incorporate the accumulated expertise and experience of several decades. Their adoption builds this experience into an information system, reducing the risk associated with developing a system from scratch.
* __Compatibility__: No one organisation holds all the data relating to a particular site or area. There are usually other organisations with an interest who may have useful data. When recorded to common standards, data held in different databases can be shared and exchanged much more easily. This is increasingly important as new ways of accessing data remotely are developed.
* __Communication__: Data standards assist in communication of concepts involved in the historic environment both between HER staff and between HER staff and their software consultants and organisations within and beyond the sector.
* __Benchmarking__: Data standards perform a crucial role in providing an independent benchmark against which HER data quality can be assessed.
* __Staff skills__: Adoption of common data standards enable staff to become familiar with systems more quickly when changing jobs and enable employers to recruit staff with relevant skills. They also facilitate organisation of training through events such as conferences and seminars.
* __Information system development__: No information system lasts indefinitely. At some point data needs to be migrated from one system to its successor. Standards simplify the process of specification of new information systems and migration is greatly simplified if standards are consistent within the data.
!!B.7.3 MIDAS and INSCRIPTION
This section describes the purpose of the two central standards for historic environment recording. Further information about these standards is available online via the website of FISH (the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage) [http://fishforum.weebly.com/]
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[{Image src='fig9_new.png' width='750px' alt='Figure 9: The FISH web site http://fishforum.weebly.com/ is the starting point for finding out about data standards for the historic environment.'}]
''Figure 9: The FISH web site [http://fishforum.weebly.com/] is the starting point for finding out about data standards for the historic environment.''
[{Image src='fig5.jpg' alt='Figure 5: The logo for the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage.'}]
''Figure 5: The logo for the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage.''
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!!B.8.1 How to get involved
There are several ways in which HER officers can become involved in the work of FISH
!E-mail discussion list
The easiest way to get involved is to join the free open membership e-mail discussion list run by FISH (see the website for details of how to join). List members may ask questions, raise issues that require attention, seek advice and will receive news about data standards issues, conferences and meetings. The e-mail discussion list is also host to ‘e-conferences’ - specially focused discussion on particular standards related topics. These are announced in advance on the list.
!MIDAS
Developed from data standardisation work in the 1980s and early 1990s [''MIDAS''|Bibliography#Lee 1998|target='_blank'] was first published in 1998 by the Royal Commission on the Historic Monuments of England (RCHME). ''MIDAS'' is available as a free downloadable electronic document via links from the FISH website, or direct from the English Heritage website.
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!Candidate term submission
As HERs expand the scope of their content, there is a continuing need for the addition of new terms to the existing wordlists. HER officers can get directly involved in standards development by submitting candidate terms – suggested additions to one of the controlled vocabularies or thesauri listed in INSCRIPTION. The different vocabularies are maintained by a network of different working groups and standards bodies. Details of the appropriate contact for submission of candidate terms and information about special procedures for submitting terms will appear in the INSCRIPTION website. However in general candidate term submission will involve:-
*Identifying a term or an idea that is not covered by the existing list.
*Describing when the candidate term should be used (a ‘scope note’).
*Providing background information, such as examples of record where the candidate term would be appropriate, or published sources which use the term.
Development work in 2004 has extended MIDAS to cover GIS type data and watercraft and aircraft recording. A second full edition [''MIDAS Heritage: The UK Historic Environment Information Standard''|Bibliography#FISH 2012|target='_blank'] is in production. This second edition will cover a wider range of information types, supporting standardised recording of these by the HER community. Further development work will be reported online via the FISH website.
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!Peer review participation
FISH, as the co-ordinating body for the development of data standards, is particularly concerned to ensure that new data standards meet the needs of the historic environment sector. To do this newly developed standards will in most cases be circulated in draft form for peer review. This is an opportunity for HER staff to identify concerns, express support and to play a part in shaping an emerging standard. All peer reviews will be announced via the FISH email discussion list (and often via other email discussion lists). It is vital that HER staff participate in this process. Only by participation can effective and relevant data standards be developed.
%%image-caption
[{Image src='fig6.gif' alt='Figure 6: The logo of MIDAS, the national data standard for the content of historic environment records.'}]
''Figure 6: The logo of MIDAS, the national data standard for the content of historic environment records.''
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__Relevant links__
__''What is in MIDAS?''__
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[ http://fishforum.weebly.com/| http://fishforum.weebly.com/] the website for the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage.
MIDAS is a content standard in that it defines the individual facts or ‘units of information’ that should be included in a standardised record of, for example, a monument or archaeological event. It is also an open data standard, in that although information schemes are described the exact structure in which data is to be recorded is not defined, so that MIDAS can be applied to a range of information systems. To promote consistency and standardisation within the HER sector, MIDAS has been used as the basis for development of HER Level 1 Benchmark 3.2. Compliance at a basic level with MIDAS is therefore a professional requirement for all HERs. HER staff should, however, familiarise themselves with the full MIDAS standard, which includes a much wider range of information.
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From this page you can:
*Consult current versions of the FISH [MIDAS|http://fishforum.weebly.com/midas-heritage-standard.html] standard and [FISH Terminology|http://fishforum.weebly.com/download-fish-terminology.html]
*Participate in discussion via our [email discussion list|http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa.exe?SUBED1=fish&A=1] run by JISCmail.
*View [recent discussion|http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/fish.html] and [download files|http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/files/FISH/] from the forum archives.
*Find out more about the [contributors|http://fishforum.weebly.com/fish-contributors.html] that direct the work of the forum.
*View our [Terms of Reference|http://fishforum.weebly.com/fish-terms-of-reference.html]
*View [what's new from FISH|http://fishforum.weebly.com/news-and-events.html]
__''Who should use MIDAS?''__
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See also [ADS Guides to Good Practice|http://guides.archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/]
MIDAS is intended for a wider audience than just the HER community and is recommended reading for anyone involved in inventory projects. Worked examples in the manual cover, for example, its application to academic research databases and voluntary sector thematic surveys. The same requirement for standards exists for these other sectors if the maximum value is to be obtained from their efforts. This is of course particularly important if the intention exists to deposit the results of these surveys with the local HERs.
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%%panel-box
!Panel 4: Tools for indexing and retrieval: 1. Wordlists
In addition to the data standard itself, MIDAS includes a manual to assist those managing and maintaining an inventory of the historic environment. HER staff should not only be familiar with MIDAS themselves but should also recommend its use to local societies working in their area.
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Westshire HER designed a database and transferred its records from the original card index. The card index had built up over a number of years and was maintained by several different members of staff. As part of the computerization the HER officer decided to standardise the terminology used to index site types in the database.
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[{Image src='fig7.gif' alt='Figure 7: The logo for the INSCRIPTION terminology standard web pages.'}]
''Figure 7: The logo for the INSCRIPTION terminology standard web pages.''
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As each site was recorded the site type was checked against the HER's wordlist. If the site type did not appear on the wordlist it was added and the list amended. Where a site type already existed on the list the HER Officer checked the consistency of the spelling and removed any abbreviations prior to indexing the type in the __MONUMENT TYPE__ field within the new database record.
!INSCRIPTION
Effective searching of HERs relies on the quality of indexing. Good indexing ensures effective retrieval of records relevant to a search; poor indexing means that records will be overlooked.
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Below is a sample of the monument types that had been recorded on the HER card index.
Most HER information systems support indexing using standardised terminologies built into the actual software. These include simple lists, such as types of legal protection for a monument, more complex hierarchical lists such as the ALGAO list of Event Types or full indexing thesauri such as the English Heritage Thesaurus of Monument Types (see panels [4|http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/ifp/Wiki.jsp?page=SectionB.8#section-SectionB.8-Panel4ToolsForIndexingAndRetrieval1.Wordlists] and [5|http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/ifp/Wiki.jsp?page=SectionB.8#section-SectionB.8-Panel5ToolsForIndexingAndRetrieval2.Thesauri]).
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|Altar|Tomb Barrow
|Barrow|Round Cemetery
|Disc Barrow|Tumulus
|Gravestone|Graveyard
|Headstone|L. Barrow
|Long Barrow|Mausoleum
|R.C. Cemetery|Round-Barrow
|Tomb|Tombstone
INSCRIPTION, provided by the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage is the definitive source for information about all the available national standards. It is a collection of wordlists and thesauri developed by various heritage bodies that are recommended for use in conjunction with ''MIDAS'' units of information.
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The HER Officer rewrote the wordlist taking the decision to use rules to ensure that the wordlist isconsistent. These were:
*Natural word order
*No abbreviations
*No punctuation
*Include Preferred and Non-Preferred terms
The revised wordlist that was developed for the computerization appears below. Preferred terms appear in upper case, Non-Preferred in mixed case.
''MIDAS'' and INSCRIPTION have been developed to work together. For each case where ''MIDAS'' recommends the use of a controlled terminology, a suitable indexing terminology has been developed by one or more of the partners in the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage, and details included in INSCRIPTION.
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|ALTAR TOMB| |
|BARROW|use for| Tumulus
|CEMETERY|use for| Graveyard, R.C. Cemetery
|DISC BARROW| |
|GRAVESTONE|use for|Headstone
|LONG BARROW|use for|L.Barrow
|MAUSOLEUM| |
|TOMB|use for|Tombstone
|ROUND BARROW|use for|Barrow, Round
Find out more about INSCRIPTION, and how the controlled terminologies recorded there can be used by visiting [http://fishforum.weebly.com/].
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The new wordlist included all the old terms but only those which were Preferred could be used to index in the new database. Any Non-Preferred terms were included as a guide to which term to use for indexing.
The computer records were indexed using the new wordlist and as a result information retrieval was improved. A request from a user for all information about Barrows could now be answered by a relatively simple search of the database, rather than following a long trawl through the card index.
%%image-caption
[{Image src='fig8.png' width='750px' alt='Figure 8: A sample screenshot from the INSCRIPTION web page.'}]
''Figure 8: A sample screenshot from the INSCRIPTION web page.''
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%%panel-box
!Panel 5: Tools for Indexing and retrieval: 2. Thesauri
!!B.7.4 The FISH Interoperability Toolkit
Interoperability is the ability to reuse data created in one software application in another. It is essential if efficient sharing of data between HERs and their users is to become a reality. Interoperability relies on data standards that are understood and shared within the HER community such as ''MIDAS'' and INSCRIPTION, plus technical standards to support the creation of data files that different software packages will be able to process.
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Like a wordlist, a thesaurus is used to standardise terminology and help the user to choose terms to enter into database fields. However, unlike a wordlist, a thesaurus:
*allows terms, related by a similar subject, to be grouped together into hierarchies and crossreferenced to other groups of terms which may be relevant to the subject.
*provides the user with a single Preferred term to use where there is a choice of terms with the same or similar meaning e.g. __BARROW__ use for Tumulus.
*through the use of hierarchies, allows terms to be selected at a general or specific level, depending on the level of indexing required.
*is a dynamic tool, which can be developed by the addition, amendment and deletion of terms,
relationships or hierarchies as dictated by individual needs.
To provide HER managers and their IT advisors with the technical tools needed to make interoperability possible the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage have developed a ‘toolkit’ of protocols and formats aimed at HERs and their technical advisors. It is based upon ''MIDAS'' and incorporates the HER benchmark Level 1 standard. Online validation of data against INSCRIPTION controlled terminologies is supported.
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__Example__
Westshire HER acquired the HBSMR Software from exeGesIS SDM Ltd and migrated all their records
from the old database. A similar search to that carried out using terms from the wordlist can now be done using the thesaurus built into the software.
Whereas ''MIDAS'' and INSCRIPTION are aimed at HER staff, the Toolkit is aimed at IT specialists and software developers. HER staff should familiarise themselves with the functions that the Toolkit supports, but are advised to contact their IT support staff for discussion of how the Toolkit might be implemented in their systems.
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This allows the user to either search for a specific term, e.g. __ROUND BARROW__ or to carry out a search using the "Broad Term" of __BARROW__ and asking for all the records indexed with its "Narrow Terms". This search would retrieve any records indexed with any of the terms listed below, but would only require one search instead of twenty!
*BARROW
**BANK BARROW
**CHAMBERED BARROW
***CHAMBERED LONG BARROW
***CHAMBERED ROUND BARROW
**D SHAPED BARROW
**LONG BARROW
***CHAMBERED LONG BARROW
***OVAL BARROW
**POND BARROW
**RING BARROW
**ROUND BARROW
***BELL BARROW
***BELL DISC BARROW
***BOWL BARROW
***CHAMBERED ROUND BARROW
***DISC BARROW
***PLATFORM BARROW
***SAUCER BARROW
**SQUARE BARROW
Using a thesaurus also allows the indexer the flexibility of indexing at either the general level (where the only information known is that a __BARROW__ exists) or the more specific level (where investigation shows the monument to be a __CHAMBERED ROUND BARROW__).
/%
Further information on the FISH Interoperability Toolkit can be accessed online at [http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/fishtoolkit/].
This page (revision-23) was last changed on 31-Mar-2015 17:23 by Alison BennettTop