Informing the Future of the Past Glossary Test#
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
A#
ACAO#
Association of County Archaeological OfficersADAO#
Association of District Archaeological OfficersAdoption of the HER#
Refers to the adoption by a local authority of a HER as the information resource on which planning decisions concerning the archaeological environment will be basedAddress matching#
A geocoding process which matches the street address of a property to its location. This usually involves the matching of two database flies, the first containing the address of interest, the second the list of addresses and their co-ordinatesADS#
Archaeology Data Service: A trusted digital repository for data created as a product of research within the discipline broadly defined as Archaeology and the Historic Environment.AGI#
Association for Geographical Information.AHDS#
Arts and Humanities Data Service: funded by the academic community to collect, catalogue and preserve digital data and distribute these for use in teaching and research. Service is no longer operational.AIfA#
Associate member of the Institute for Archaeologists.AIP#
Archaeological Investigations Project: an English Heritage funded project which monitors archaeological fieldwork generated through planning advice as a result of PPG 16.ALGAO UK#
Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers (UK)AM107#
A Scheduled Monument reporting form.AN32#
A recording form for information about scheduled monuments developed by English Heritage in the early 1980s.AMIE#
A computer database developed for the RCHME's (now English Heritage) to hold text-based information about monuments, archives and events. It holds the data on the National Record of the Historic Environment, Excavation Index and archive catalogues. This replaced NewHIS.ANSI#
American National Standards Institute.Anti-virus software#
Software that is designed to identify the presence of computer viruses and which provides facilities for their safe removal from a computer system. This software incorporates an index to currently known viruses, and as new versions are rapidly introduced, must be regularly updated.AONB#
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.ArcGIS#
GIS software supplied by Esri.Archaeological Objects Thesaurus#
A thesaurus that is maintained by the mda as part of INSCRIPTION to provide indexing terminology for archaeological objects.Archaeology Scotland#
Formerly the Council for Scottish Archaeology, Archaeology Scotland is a national charity, helping people from all walks of life to get more involved with archaeology through learning, promotion and support for Scotland's unique historic environment. Archaeology Scotland coordinates Scottish Archaeology Month each September and publishes Discovery and Excavation Scotland, an annual summary of fieldwork undertaken across the country each year. See their website
for more details.
Archive#
‘The documents created or received and accumulated by a person or organisation in the course of the conduct of affairs and preserved because of their long-term value’ (International Council on Archives).Archwilio#
The website that gives on-line access to the Historic Environment Records of the Welsh Archaeological Trusts. The system has been developed through a partnership of the four Welsh Archaeological Trusts. The word Archwilio is Welsh and translates as to explore, examine or audit.ArcView#
GIS software supplied by Esri.ARENA#
Archaeological Records of Europe Network Access: a project to search for archaeological sites and monuments from six European countries: UK, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Romania and Poland. The UK is represented in the project by the ADS.ARIA#
Association of Regional and Island Archaeologists. ARIA represented the most senior archaeologists employed by or for local planning authorities in Scotland , but in 2006 merged with colleagues from England and Wales to form ALGAO UK.ASCII#
American Standard Code for Information Interchange text or delimited text for structured data.ASLIB#
Association for Information Management: promotes best practice in management of information resources.ASPIRE#
Archaeological Standard Protocol for the Integrated Reporting of Events (Scotland). ASPIRE is a protocol specifying the data structure, data type and required fields for reporting archaeological information to the SMRs and RCAHMS. See the website for more details.
ATF#
Archaeology Training ForumAttribute#
A particular item of text, whether numeric or alphabetic, that is used to control the entry of terms into a unit of information.Authority list#
A list of terms, whether numeric or alphabetic, that is used to control the entry of terms into a unit of information.AutoCAD#
Drawing software often used with GIS.| Back to the top |
B#
Backing-up data#
The process by which copies are made of computer data and placed in safe storage to provide a facility to restore information in the event of system failures or other losses (such as theft of computers).BAR#
British Archaeological Reports.BAR#
Buildings at Risk. In England this is now part of HaR.Bath Profile#
An International Z39.50 Specification for Library Applications and Resource DiscoveryBECTA#
British Education Communications and Training Agency.BestValue#
A national Government initiative which sets out a duty for local authorities 'to deliver services to clear standards, covering both cost and quality, by the most effective, economic and efficient means available' (IDEA 2000).BGS#
British Geological SurveyBIAB#
British and Irish Archaeological Bibliography: an annual indexed list of archaeological publications for Great Britain and Ireland maintained by the CBA, with funding from national heritage agencies and others.BIM#
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of places. BIM software is used to design, construct, operate and maintain diverse physical infrastructures, from services (water, wastewater, electricity, gas, refuse and communication utilities) to roads, bridges and ports, from houses, apartments, schools and shops to offices, factories, warehouses and prisons. More information can be found on National BIM Standard website.
Broader term#
A term that represents a parent to a term or other terms. The broader term is super-ordinate to its subordinate narrow term. One term may have many narrower terms and, in turn, each narrow term may itself have narrower terms.BTCV#
British Trust for Conservation Volunteers.Building assessment#
A professional assessment of a built structure by an architectural historian, archaeologist or other specialist.Buffer#
A zone of user-specified distance around a point, line or area feature. Buffers are commonly used as a means of identifying the proximity of features (for example, finding all archaeological monuments within a 1 kilometre corridor of a proposed motorway).BVPI#
Best Value Performance Indicator.| Back to the top |
C#
CAD#
Computer Aided Design: software programme for the design, drafting and presentation of graphics. Originally designed for manufacturing drawing, now also widely used for mapping.Cadastre#
A dataset containing information related to landownership and rights. This usually takes she form of maps and descriptions of uniquely identifiable land parcels. For each parcel, legal information such as ownership, easements and mortgages are recorded.Cadw#
Cadw (Welsh for ‘to keep’) is the historic environment division within the Welsh Assembly Government with responsibility for protecting, conserving and promoting an appreciation of the historic environment of Wales.Candidate term#
A new term that has been proposed for inclusion in a thesaurus or wordlist.CANMAP#
A map enabled query system for Canmore.Canmore#
Canmore is the window into the RCAHMS database. It brings together the results of the survey and collections material into one place and combines location information, site details and images on more than 300,000 archaeological, architectural, maritime and industrial sites throughout Scotland. Through MyCanmore users can add their own information and images to the national collection.
Card-index system#
A topical set of ordered cards maintained to provide an index to a collection: for example a card index to a library might be ordered by author's name.CARN (Wales)#
Core Archaeological Record Index. CARN is being developed as the public entry point to the Extended National Database for Wales, a national information resource for archaeology and architecture compiled by archaeological organisations across Wales.CBA#
Council for British Archaeology.CCN#
Countryside Character Network.CD/CD-ROM/CD-RW#
Compact Disc/Compact Disc Read-Only Memory/Compact Disk – Rewritable.Cell#
The basic element within a grid or raster dataset.Centroid#
The centre point of a polygon, often used to attach attribute information to an area such as a census ward. These may be mathematically derived or user defined.CHNTO#
Cultural Heritage National Training Organisation, formerly the MTI.CIDOC#
Comitte International pour la Documentation, Conseil International des Musees: the Documentation Committee of the International Council of Museums.CIMI#
Centre for Industrial and Medical InformaticsCIS#
Countryside Information SystemClass#
A grouping of terms representing concepts within a general subject area. The terms within a class need not be hierarchically related.Codes of Practice#
Guidance notes issued by trade associations, professional associations and the like, regarding the conduct of their members.Coflein#
Coflein is the online databse for the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW) – the national collection of information about the historic environment of Wales. The name is derived from the Welsh cof (memory) and lein (line)Collecting policy#
A policy document which defines the physical material which it is within scope of the HER to collect, this should also include a policy for appropriate disposal of inappropriate material. This document is separate to the recording policy (see below).Compound term#
A term that is made up of two or more concepts. These are usually divided up into separate terms for each concept except where this affects the meaning or where its use is very well established.Conservation area#
An area of historical and architectural character whose boundaries have been designated in local plans. Local planning authorities have special planning powers covering these areas which aim to preserve and enhance their character.Conservation plan#
A plan produced by a local authority which identifies a conservation area and sets out plans for preserving and enhancing it. A Conservation Plan provides a single approach to understanding and managing the cultural significance of a place. It explains why a site is significant and how that significance will be retained in any future use, alteration, development or repair. The same approach can be used for historic gardens, landscapes, buildings, archaeological sites, collections or even a ship and is particularly relevant when a site has more than one type of heritage.Consultation#
Refers to requests for information and professional advice made by planning authorities, developers, Government agencies and curators.Co-operation Statement#
A 1998 statement on behalf of the RCHME, ALGAO and English Heritage setting out the current position relating to SMRs and a shared vision for their future development (RCHME, ALGAO and English Heritage 1998).Co-ordinate#
Numbers representing the position of a point relative to an origin. Cartesian co-ordinates express the location in two or three dimensions as the perpendicular distances from two or three orthogonal axes.Copyright#
Legal rights associated with the originators of material.CORINE#
Land cover data.COSLA#
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. COSLA is the representative voice of Scottish local government and also acts as the employer’s association on behalf of all Scottish Councils.CPA#
Continuous Performance AssessmentCPD#
Continuous Professional DevelopmentCREE#
Contextual Resource Evaluation Environment consortium.CRM#
Cultural Resource Management.CRM#
Conceptual Reference Model.CSA#
Council for Scottish Archaeology. The CSA is a voluntary membership organisation that works to secure the archaeological heritage of Scotland for its people through education, promotion and support. Now known as Archaeology ScotlandCUCAP#
Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photographs maintained by the Landscape Modelling Unit (formerly Cambridge University Committee on Aerial Photography): a body which has been involved in undertaking aerial-photographic surveys for archaeological and environmental research and management and which holds an important collection of air photographs.CyMAL#
Museums Archives and Libraries Wales.| Back to the top |
D#
DAC#
Diocesan Advisory CommitteeDatabase Right#
Legal rights associated with the originators of computer databases.Data capture#
The process of capturing information into a computer system. This may involve direct input from a keyboard, scanning, digitising or transfers of digital data from external sources.Data dictionary#
A reference work that sets out the data fields or units of information incorporated into a computer system or card index. A data dictionary specifies the information that it is appropriate to record in each field and any wordlists or thesauri to be used.Data migration#
The planned movement of data to new formats and more recent versions of software.Data model#
A generalised, user-defined view of data representing the real world and entitles therein. For example, the concepts of monuments and events, and their relationship is a model of 'real world' entitles expressed through a particular organisation of data.Data standards#
Data standards set out what information it is important to record about a particular subject and how this should be carried out. The aim is to promote consistency in the way in which information is recorded to enable its retrieval.Data transfer#
Transfer of digital data between one computer system and another.DC#
Development Control.DCLG#
Department for Communities and Local Government.DCMS#
Department for Culture, Media and SportDDA#
Disabilities Discrimination Act: 1995 Act of Parliament setting out equal rights of the disabled.DDE#
Dynamic Data Exchange: a protocol incorporated into the Windows operating system that allows one application to exchange data or to trigger an action in another application.DEFRA#
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. DEFRA was created in June 2001 from the then Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and from the environmental and countryside business areas of the then Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR).DEM#
Digital Elevation Model, or terrain model: a data model used to represent a topographic surface, often based on a grid with height value for each cell, or on a set of irregular triangles (later known as a TIN model).DETR#
Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions.Digital archiving#
Long-term preservation and future use of static digital data.Digitising#
The process of converting or encoding existing maps from an analogue form (paper) into digital information, usually in the form of Cartesian co-ordinates. This may be via a digitising table or a tablet with a handheld cursor, or via a scanner.Diocesan archaeologist#
Church of England archaeological adviser.Disaster plan#
A plan which helps staff to react in the event of a disaster and to cope with the aftermath. The process identifies precautions to reduce the possibility of a disaster, procedures to meet immediate requirements in the event of a disaster and contingency plans for coping with the aftermath.DOB#
CBA's Defence of Britain project.DoE#
Department of the Environment.DOI#
Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) are persistent identifiers used to consistently identify an object such as an electronic document. DOIs have associated metadata which may describe a location, such as a URL, where the object can be found or the creator or publisher of the resource. Even though the metadata about the object may change, the DOI for a document remains fixed over the lifetime of the document.DPA#
Data Protection Act: 1998 Act of Parliament setting out the obligations of the holders of personal data to the subjects of that data.Dublin Core#
A standard content-description model widely used on the internet.DVD/DVD-ROM#
Digital Video or Digital Versatile Disc/Digital Video or Digital Versatile Disc – Read Only Memory.DXF#
Digital exchange Format: a proprietary exchange format owned by Autodesk, originally for the transfer of data between CAD systems. Due to its simplicity, it is now widely used in the transfer of vector data between GIS, despite a number of limitations.| Back to the top |
E#
EAB#
Environmental Archaeology Bibliography.EAC#
Europae Archaeologiae ConsiliumEEA#
European Economic Area: includes all member states of the European Union plus some countries with associated status.EEC#
European Economic Community.e-Gov metadata standard#
A list of the elements and refinements that will be used by the public sector to create metadata for information resources. It also gives guidance on the purpose and use of each element.EH#
See English HeritageEIR#
Environmental Information Regulations, 2004.ELC#
European Landscape ConventionELS#
Entry Level Agri-Environment SchemeEMA#
Event-Monument-Archive model, see EMS.EMS Events-monuments-source data model#
A logical data model which divides information about the historic environment into site investigation (event), site interpretation (monument) and reference sources. (Formerly known as EMA – Event-Monument-Archive)Emulation#
A software interface between the operating system and the data together with the program needed to read it.END#
Extended National Database for WalesENGAGE#
National Association for Gallery Education.English Heritage#
(The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission): the statutory body which achieves, enables and promotes conservation of the historic environment in England.English Nature#
The statutory body which achieves, enables and promotes nature conservation in England.Environmental record#
Records of the natural environment.Environmental Stewardship#
Includes Entry-level Scheme (ELS) and Higher Level Scheme (HLS) in England, Tir Cynnal and Tir Gofal (in Wales) and Rural Stewardship Scheme in Scotland. Environmental Stewardship schemes are agri-environment schemes which provide funding to farmers and other land managers who deliver effective environmental management on their land.ERDAS Imagine#
Imaging software product used with GIS.ER Mapper#
Imaging software product used with GIS.ESA#
Environmentally Sensitive Area (designated by MAFF).ESRI#
GIS and mapping software supplier which produces the Arc suit of products.ETRS 89#
European Terrestrial Reference Framework.Excavation Index#
English Heritage's record of archaeological interventions in England maintained.exeGesIS SDM Ltd#
A commercial company which specialises in desktop mapping and text database solutions for conservation, environmental and local government organisations including the HER application HBSMR.Extensive Urban Survey#
English Heritage programme leading to reports on historic towns within an area and the enhancement of the HER.EU#
European Union.| Back to the top |
F#
FAME#
Federation of Archaeological Managers and EmployersFirewall#
A protective security screen to control access to locally held resources from unauthorised outside users.FISH#
Forum on Information Standards in Heritage (formerly FISHEN): a working party established to decide on terminology and develop wordlists and thesauri to be used in association with the MIDAS units of information.Flatfile#
A computer record system based on a single data table in which a record consists of a row of data fields.FLO#
Finds Liaison Officer of the portable Antiquities Scheme.FOI#
Freedom of Information Act, 2000.Forward plan#
A management plan which takes stock of the current situation and sets out plans for the future.FMW#
Field Monument WardenFree Text Search#
A query made where there is no control of the terminology that is searched upon: for example a search on 'house' would find any instance where the word is used regardless of its context.Freedom of access to information on the environment#
1990 EC directive (90/313/EEC) concerning public access to information on the environment, implemented in Great Britain through the 1992 Environmental Information Regulations (SI 1447) by the DETR. Under these regulations environmental information relates to the state of any' water or air, flora or fauna, soil, natural or other land. The 'state' includes physical, chemical and biological conditions in the past, present and future. The 'land' includes all land surfaces, buildings, land covered by water and underground strata.FTP#
File Transfer Protocol: a way of transferring digital data between source and destination systems.FWAG#
Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group.| Back to the top |
G#
Gazetteer#
A list of place names with their associated location, normally given as a grid reference. Gazetteers are published by the OS and other mapmakers and are used as an aid to finding the location of a place on a map sheet. In archaeology, gazetteers of site names and their locations are often included in journals and other publications. Gazetteers have a specific use in GIS, described separately.Also
In a GIS system, a gazetteer is a list of spatial entities, such as properties, or streets, held with their co-ordinates. Gazetteers are used in GIS for rapidly displaying a particular area on screen and also for searches. The gazetteer often forms the core of larger GIS-based applications, such as the prototype National Land Information Service.
GEM#
Group for Education in Museums.Geocode#
The element in a database used to identify the location of a particular record, for example, a postcode.Geodetic datum#
A set of parameters defining co-ordinates for all parts of the earth. For example, WGS 84 is the World Geodetic System for 1984. Varying datums are used to produce better local ‘fit’ of a spheroid (a ‘squashed’ sphere) to the actual shape of the earth – the geoid.GeoMedia#
GIS Software produced by Intergraph.GEMINI#
Geo-spatial metadata interoperability initiative.GiGateway#
Metadata Standard to replace NGDF.Also
A free web service aimed at increasing awareness of and access to geospatial information in the UK.
GIS#
Geographic Information System.GML#
Geography Markup LanguageGPS#
Global Positioning System: a position-finding system which uses radio receivers to pick up signals from four or more special satellites and compute WGS co-ordinates for the receiver.Grandfather, father, son backup system#
A method for storing previous generations of data that are continuously updated, sometimes know as GFSGrouping term#
A broader term used to gather a group of terms together but not to be used in recording.GUI#
Graphical User Interface: a method of interaction with a computer which uses pictorial buttons (icons) and command lists controlled by a mouse.| Back to the top |
H#
HaR#
Heritage at RiskHBR#
Historic Buildings Records: a name used for local-authority records providing an information-management tool for both listed buildings and other buildings of local and regional historical interest.HBSMR#
A software package for HERs that implements the MIDAS data standard which was jointly developed by the RCHME (now English Heritage) and exeGesIS SDM Ltd in partnership with ALGAO. An earlier version was called SMR.HEAVS#
Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland. The Council provides independent strategic advice to Scottish Ministers on issues affecting the historic environment.HECAS#
Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland.HEIRNET#
Historic Environment Information Resources Network: a consortium of UK bodies hosted by the CBA seeking to co-ordinate inter-operability between information systems relating to the historic environment.HEIRS#
Historic Environment Information Resources: organisations with information systems relating to archaeology and the historic environment.HELM#
Historic Environment – Local Management/ HELM provides accessible information, training and guidance to decision makers in local authorities, regional agencies and national organisations whose actions affect the historic environment. Working with key partners, HELM aims to provide the tools to manage change in the historic environment with increased skill and confidence. English Heritage promotes the need for properly resourced and actively consulted historic environment departments, conservation officers, archaeologists and historic environment records. More than 40% of local authorities have now appointed historic environment champions to provide leadership on heritage issues.HER#
Historic Environment Record: a name used for records which provide an information-management tool for both archaeology and historic buildings.HER Forum#
Historic Environment Records Forum, co-ordinated by English Heritage and ALGAO (and formerly named SMR Forum), is a discussion forum for HER professionals. Discussions are held through an e-mail discussion list and twice-yearly meetings. Its Newsletter HER News is now part of the Heritage Gateway.HER News#
Former newsletter of the HER Forum, published twice a year by English Heritage now part of the Heritage Gateway.HeritageData.org#
National cultural heritage thesauri and vocabularies have acted as standards for use by both national organizations and local authority Historic Environment Records but until now have lacked the persistent Linked Open Data (LOD) URIs that would allow them to act as vocabulary hubs for the Web of Data. Through the SENESCHAL project key vocabularies from the England, Scotland and Wales have been published as linked open Data with persistent URIs. For more information visit the Heritage Data Linked Data Vocabularies for Cultural Heritage website.
Heritage Gateway#
English Heritage co-ordinates a partnership project with ALGAO and the IHBC to maintain a portal to local and national historic environment resources including the National Heritage List for England (NHLE), the National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) and local authority Historic Environment Records (HERs) by facilitating distributed searches to provide a rich and diverse experience to users wishing to explore England’s archaeological and architectural heritage.HES#
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is to be created in 2015 by bringing together Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. HES will be the new lead public body for the Historic Environment in Scotland.Hierarchical wordlist#
A wordlist containing a hierarchy but no other form of relationship.Hierarchy#
An arrangement of terms showing broader and narrower relationships between the terms.Historic buildings#
Buildings which are of national, regional and local historic interest, including listed buildings.Historic Environment Strategy for Scotland#
Our Place in Time – The Historic Environment Strategy for Scotland (2014) is a high level framework which sets out a 10 year vision for the historic environment and is owned, not by Government, but by the people of Scotland. It identifies a set of strategic priorities which will help to align and prioritise sector activity towards a common goal. It is therefore owned, not by Government, but by the people of Scotland. The key outcome of the Strategy is to ensure that the cultural, social, environmental and economic value of Scotland’s heritage makes a strong contribution to the wellbeing of the nation and its people.
Historic Scotland#
Historic Scotland is an Agency within the Scottish Executive Education Department and is directly responsible to Scottish Ministers for safeguarding the nation’s built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment. See also HESHLA#
Historic Landuse Assessment: an analysis of past and present land use in ScotlandHLAMAP#
HLAMAP is a web-based presentation of HLA data for Scotland that allows the user to view the data by Historic Land-use Type, Period or Category as well as by Relict Period and to print out a report of any selected area.
HLC#
Historic landscape characterisation: English Heritage programme to inform landscape-conservation strategies in the context of planning and agricultural policies. It is aimed at ascertaining and presenting the historic character of the present day landscape, in a form which accurately represents the complexity of the evidence.HLF#
Heritage Lottery Fund.HLS#
Higher Level Agri-Environment Scheme.Homograph#
Homographs are terms that have the same spelling but different meanings. The meanings are usually differentiated from each other by using a qualifier within round brackets after the term, for example Bank (Financial) and Bank (Earthwork).HPR#
Heritage Protection Review.HWM#
High Water Mark.Hypertext#
Document files prepared in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) for, use on the World Wide Web. These documents incorporate text with links to images, digital data and other documents.| Back to the top |
I#
lcomos#
International Council on Monuments and Sites: the international body responsible for preparing reports on sites proposed for inclusion on the World Heritage list for consideration by the World Heritage Committee.IfA#
Institute for Archaeologists: is the professional organisation for archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It promotes professional standards and ethics for conserving, managing, understanding and promoting enjoyment of heritage.IFP#
Informing the Future of the Past.IGGI#
Inter Governmental Group on Geographic Information.IHBC#
Institute of Historic Building Conservation. IHBC is the professional institute which represents conservation professionals in the public and private sectors in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The Institute exists to establish the highest standards of conservation practice to support the effective protection and enhancement of the historic environment.liP#
Investors in People: the national standard for investing in all employees. It was drawn up after research into the UK's most successful organisations found common factors in their success: good communication, effective planning, and valuing every member of staff.ILFA#
Inspiring Learning For All: an MLA produced framework that enables the ways in which museums, archives and libraries engage users in learning to be examined and evaluated.Images of England#
Images of England is an EH, HLF funded project to put a photograph of every Listed Building on the internetImagine#
GIS software product.INSCRIPTION#
The national heritage reference dataset, a collection of wordlists and thesauri developed by various heritage bodies, both national and regional, that are recommended for use in conjunction with MIDAS.INSPIRE#
The INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe) Directive (2007) mandates all European Union member states to share environmentally related datasets so that they can be easily accessed by other public organisations within their own country and in surrounding European countries. Key to delivering INSPIRE is the establishment of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs). SDIs embrace the policies, human resources and related activities needed to acquire, process distribute, use maintain and preserve spatial data.
Intensive urban surveys#
English Heritage programme leading directly to the creation of UADS.Internet#
A global communications network made up of millions of computers. Access to the World Wide Web and electronic mail or 'email' are normally considered as the most important internet services.Intranet#
Closed computer networks that are established by organisations to serve the computing needs of their staff.IRIS#
Association for Industrial Archaeology's 'Index Record for Industrial Sites'.ISBN#
International Standard Book Number.ISO#
International Standards Organisation.ISP#
Internet Service Provider: an organisation that offers services including access to the World Wide Web and email.IT#
Information technology.ITN#
Integrated Transport Network.| Back to the top |
L#
LaMIS#
Land Management Information Service.LAN#
Local Area Network: a computer network maintained by an organisation to connect computers within a building or a single site.Landform Profile#
OS vector dataset.LandLine#
OS vector dataset.Latitude/longitude#
A spatial reference system for the earth's surface. Latitude is an angular measurement N or S of the equator, longitude is an angular measurement E or W of the meridian at Greenwich, UK.LB Online#
LB Online is a version of LBS accessible to Local Authorities and Statutory Amenity Societies via the internet.LBS#
English Heritage's Listed Building System: a computer database of the List of Buildings of special architectural or historical interest.Also
Listed Building System. The LBS is the EH database for managing information on Listed Buildings.
LCA#
Landscape Character Assessment. (See also HLC above)LCT#
Landscape Character TypesLead Role#
Refers to the lead role in respect of HERs in England for national Government currently held by English Heritage.LGA#
Local Government Association. The LGA promotes the interests of English and Welsh local authorities. It aims to put local councils at the heart of the drive to improve public services and to work with government to ensure that the policy, legislative and financial context in which they operate supports that objective.LGMB#
Local Government Management Board.LGR#
Local Government Reorganisation.LHI#
Local Heritage Initiative: a national grant scheme funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Nationwide Building Society to help people care for their local landscape, landmarks and traditions. The national scheme followed Countryside Agency pilot projects, which ranged from lime-kilns to local histories, wildlife sites to walls and way marks.Licensing#
A form of agreement between two parties in which one party is permitted to carry out some action by another. For example, an OS licence permits the licence-holder to use or copy OS maps within specified conditions.Linked Data#
Linked Data is about using the Web to connect related data that wasn't previously linked, or using the Web to lower the barriers to linking data currently linked using other methods. Linked Data describes best practice for exposing, sharing, and connecting pieces of data, information, and knowledge on the Semantic Web using URIs and RDF. For more information see the Linked Data website.
Listed buildings#
Buildings of special architectural or historical interest included in the Lists published by the DCMS.Listing#
The process of identifying buildings of architectural or historical interest and publishing them on the Listed Buildings list.LPA#
Local Planning Authority.LSC#
Learning and Skills Council. The LSC is responsible for funding and planning education and training for over 16-year-olds in England| Back to the top |
M#
Macaulay#
Institute which researches the interactions between society and land use.MAFF#
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.MAGIC#
Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside: this brings together spatial information form a number of key environmental schemes and designations from six government organisations. The MAGIC partners are: DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), English Heritage, Natural England, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Department for Communities and Local Government..MapInfo#
GIS software used produced by the MapInfo Corporation.Map projection#
A mathematical model used to convert three-dimensional reality into two dimensions for representation on a map, or within a two dimensional GIS database. All map projections have particular strengths: some preserve shape, others preserve distance, area and direction. All projections have limitations of which users should be aware.Map scale#
The measure of reduction between the representation and the reality, be it a map or a spatial database. Scale is usually represented as a representative fraction of distance (for example 1:50,000, one unit of distance on the map representing 50,000 units in reality). The nominal scale of a spatial dataset has considerable influence over the possible application of the dataset. For example, it would not be sensible to compare data captured at a nominal scale of 1:625,000 with data captured at 1:1,250.MapXtreme#
GIS software package.MARS#
Monuments at Risk Survey: funded by English Heritage and run by Bournemouth University.MasterMap#
The OS large scale digital mapping product.mda#
A UK-wide organisation which supports the development and application of cultural information-management standards for museums and similar organisations (formerly the Museums Documentation Association).MEDIN#
The Marine Environment Data and Information Network (MEDIN) is a partnership of public and private sector UK organisations set up to promote good governance of marine survey data. Marine data is expensive to collect and provides a unique snapshot in time and location of the richness and condition of Scotland’s coasts and seas. MEDIN encourages the consistent application of standards to improve discovery of, access to and re-use of geographical data across the marine industry through a series of Accredited Data Archive Centres (DACs).
MetaGenie#
GiGateway metadata product.MGC#
Museums and Galleries Commission: the national body with responsibility for promoting standards in museums. The MGC was replaced by MLAC and then renamed Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries in April 2000.MIDAS#
Monument Inventory Data Standard, a data standard for inventories of monuments. It was agreed by representatives from organisations directly involved in the recording of England's monuments working together as the Data Standards Working Party, now FISH. MIDAS is a 'content' standard.MIfA#
Member of the Institute for Archaeologists.Mitigation#
A recommendation made by a conservation professional to mitigate any adverse impacts which may result from a development proposal.MLA#
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council: established to replace the former MGC on 1 April 2000 and immediately renamed Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, The name Resource has since been dropped in favour of MLA. MLA is the strategic body working with and for museums, archives and libraries, tapping the potential for collaboration between them. The organisation replaces the Museums and Galleries Commission (MGC) and the Library and Information Commission (LIC) and now includes archives within its portfolio.MOD#
Ministry of Defence.Modem#
An input-output device which is used to transmit and receive digital signals between computers across the internet.MONARCH#
A computer database developed for the RCHME (now English Heritage) to hold text-based information about monuments, archives and events. This was replaced by NewHIS, and now by AMIE.Monument record#
A record in a card index or computer database which describes and indexes an interpretation of the archaeological or architectural features represented on a site.MPP#
Monuments Protection Programme: an English Heritage programme of site evaluation with the aim of adding to the schedule of nationally important Scheduled Monuments.MSC#
Manpower Services Commission: a government agency which funded programmes with the aim of giving work experience to people who had been unemployed for long periods of time. Many local government organisations ran MSC-funded schemes to capture information into SMRs.MTI#
Museums Training Institute, later CHNTO.Multimedia#
A term used to describe materials available on the internet which incorporate text, images, video clips and sound clips.| Back to the top |
N#
NAR#
National Archaeological Record: based on the card index developed by the OS's Archaeology Division, formerly maintained by the RCHME and later incorporated into the NRHE.Narrower term#
A term that represents a specific sub-set of the concepts represented by another term. A narrower term can have more than one broader term.National Archaeology Day#
Annual events organised by the CBA's Young Archaeologists Club to offer their members an opportunity to participate in activities organised in partnerships with museums, SMRS, archaeology units and others.National curriculum#
The curriculum taught in schools to children between the ages of 5 and 16 co-ordinated nationally by the Department of Education.National Heritage Datasets#
A series of computer-based records maintained by English Heritage, including: National Record of the Historic Environment and the National Heritage List for England.Natural England#
Natural England brings together English Nature, the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service.NCAP#
NCAP is the National Collection of Aerial Photography. It is one of the largest collections of aerial imagery in the world, containing tens of millions of aerial images featuring historic events and places around the world. It is the role of NCAP to collect and secure the future of these records, both digital and physical, to preserve them for generations to come, and to make them as accessible and available as possible. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, our operational and development costs are funded through commercial enterprise. For more information see the NCAP website.
Negative events#
Archaeological investigations, such as watching briefs and trial trenches, that find no evidence for human activity. These are described and recorded as negative events. They are considered as important in evaluating the potential for human activity in the area or the effectiveness of a particular field technique under certain conditions.NewHIS#
A computer database developed for English Heritage to hold text-based information about monuments, archives and events. This replaced MONARCH, but has been superseded by AMIE.NGDF#
The National Geospatial Data Framework: a forum for discussion about common spatial descriptions within key geographic databases. The NGDF has produced the UK Standard Geographic Base (UKSGB) and also a metadata standard suitable for use with spatial information.NGR#
National Grid Reference: a spatial referencing system for the British Isles developed by the OS. A National Grid Reference locates a point north and east of a point of origin that lies close to the Isles of Scilly.NHLE#
National Heritage List for England: A list combining historic environment designations together comprising: listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, protected wrecks and World Heritage Sites.NHPP#
National Heritage Protection Plan (England).NISO#
National Information Standards Organisation.NLAP#
National Library of Air Photographs: a collection of vertical and oblique aerial photographs providing complete national coverage of England. Maintained by the English Heritage Archive.NMGW#
National Museums and Galleries of Wales.NMP#
National Mapping Programme: an English Heritage project to map the archaeological resource known from aerial photography and to provide a more reliable framework for classifying and dating sites.NMRE#
National Monuments Record (England) was a directorate within English Heritage established by the RCHME. The NMREs collections including aerial photographs, ground photographs of buildings and archaeological monuments, plans, sketches and drawings are now curated by The English Heritage Archive. The NMRs databases of monuments and events is now know as The National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE).NMRS#
National Monuments Record for Scotland referred to the record, collections and public service of RCAHMS. Canmore provides online public access to the information held in RCAHMS sites and Collections.NMRW#
National Monuments Record (Wales)Node#
A basic spatial entity within the vector data model which represents the beginning or end of segment.NOF#
New Opportunities Fund: one of the agencies established by the Government to distribute funds from the National Lottery.Non-preferred term#
A term that cannot be selected for indexing or retrieval, it is treated as synonymous with another term, the preferred term.NOS#
National Occupational Standards, form the basis of the Government's strategy for vocational qualifications and training.NoSAS#
North of Scotland Archaeological Service.Noun phrase#
A phrase which acts in the same way as a noun. Terms in wordlists consist of nouns and/or noun phrases.NPPF#
National Planning Policy Framework. The NPPF is supported by Planning Practice Guidance.
NPPG#
National Planning Policy Guideline (Scotland)NRHE#
National Record of the Historic Environment, a database of monuments and recording events in England maintained by English Heritage and available online via the PastScape Website.| Back to the top |
O#
OASIS#
On-line Access to the Index of Archaeological Interventions: a partnership project between English Heritage and the ADS funded by the Research Support Libraries Programme.OCR#
Optical Character Recognition.ODBC#
Open Database Connectivity: a set of protocols that allows a database application held on a client machine to interact with a different database application held on a server across a network. For example, using ODBC an Access database on a work station can query and exchange data with an Oracle'database on a network server.ODPM#
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, see DCLG.OGAR#
Online Guide to Archaeological Research: maintained by the CBA.OLE#
Object Linking and Embedding: a protocol that is incorporated into the Windows operating system. It allows programs to communicate with each other and is used to link or embed objects creating a compound document, for example an Access form might contain a Word document, an Excel spreadsheet or a Maplnfo workspace. Linking means that data is retrieved from its original file. Embedding means that data from the original file is copied into the compound document.One Scotland, One Geography#
One Scotland – One Geography; a geographic information strategy for Scotland (2005) sets out a proposed approach to the more systematic and effective use of geographic information in the development and delivery of policy and services to the benefit of the people of Scotland.
OS#
Ordnance Survey.OS Archaeology Division#
The division of the Ordnance Survey, established by O G S Crawford in the 1930s, which identified and recorded archaeological sites and monuments for inclusion on Ordnance Survey maps.OS card index#
Card index of archaeological sites and monuments formerly maintained by the OS Archaeology Division.OSGB36#
OS map projection.OSGM02#
National Geoid Model.OSTN02#
National Grid Transformation.OUCA#
Oxford University Committee for Archaeology| Back to the top |
P#
PaG#
See Registered Parks and Gardens also used as short hand for the Parks and Gardens Registration System.PAI#
Positional Accuracy Improvement Programme (OS)PAN#
Planning Advice Note (Scotland)Passwords#
These are codewords, normally made up of a mixture of letters and numbers, that are used to limit entry to computers, networks and other systems to authorised persons.Pastmap#
PastMap brings together map-based information from many different sources, providing a single point of access to information about the archaeological and architectural sites and landscapes of Scotland. Hosted by RCAHMS in partnership with Historic Scotland and local government archaeological curators, PastMap includes information about World Heritage Sites, Scheduled Monuments, Listed buildings, Gardens and Designed Landscapes, The Battlefields Register, Conservation Areas, most Local Authority Historic Environment Records and Canmore. For more information visit the Pastmap website.
PastScape#
Online resource developed by English Heritage which provides an easy-to-use way to find information about many of England’s ancient and historical sites, buildings and monuments. The information within PastScape is taken directly from the National Record of the Historic Environment. These records contain descriptions of any interesting archaeological details, pictures (where available) and links to maps and aerial photographs on other websites.PC#
Personal Computer: a desktop computer which incorporates a monitor, keyboard, central processing unit and memory storage space used to run applications software.PDP#
Personal Development PlanPIfA#
Practitioner member of the Institute for Archaeologists.Pilot project#
A project which is designed to test the effectiveness or potential of a particular approach.Pixel#
A picture element of a raster image as displayed on a screen or raster plot.PLANARCH#
Planning and Archaeology in North West Europe, European funded project.Planning advice#
Professional conservation advice about the implications of proposed developments on the cultural heritage.Planning Practice Guidance#
A series of guidance notes produced by government to support the implementation of the NPPF. The Planning Practice Guidance covers a range of topics from advertisements to waste and water supply and includes specific guidance on 'Conserving and Enhancing the Historic Environment'.
Point#
A spatial entity that represents the simplest geographical element. Represented in the vector data model as a single x, y co-ordinate and in the raster, as a single cell.Polygon#
A representation of an enclosed region defined by a segment or a series of segments that makes up its boundary. Polygons may have attributes describing the region they represent, such as the period(s) for a historic town.Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS)#
Established by the DCMS with the British Museum to promote the recording of archaeological objects found by metal-detector users and others.PPG#
Planning Policy Guidance Note: a series of guidance notes issued by the DoE identifying issues to be taken into consideration by local planning authorities. (England)PPG 15#
Planning Policy Guidance Note 15: Planning and the Historic Environment, now replaced by the NPPF.PPG 16#
Planning Policy Guidance Note 16: Archaeology and Planning, now replaced by the NPPF.PPS5#
Planning Policy Statement 5: Planning for the Historic Environment, this replaced PPGs 15 and 16 and has now been replaced itself by the NPPF.Preferred term#
A term which can be selected for retrieval and can be used for indexing.PRN#
Primary Reference Number to SMR records.Protected Wreck#
These are wreck sites in UK waters which have been identified and designated for protection by the DCMS.Public Enquiry#
A process in which evidence may be presented by members of the public and other parties to an official body for review and for their recommendations. The location of new developments (such as roads or airports) is an example of a subject which may go to public enquiry.Public Record Office#
The national organisation responsible for curating archive collections that include national government papers.| Back to the top |
R#
RAF#
Royal Air Force: the RAF has been engaged in aerial photography and other remote-sensing techniques since its inception. In the ten years after World War II, the RAF undertook routine aerial-survey programmes to produce vertical photographs for use by the OS in mapmaking.RAID#
Redundant Array of Independent Disks.Raster#
A data structure composed of a grid of cells. Groups of cells represent geographical features; the value in the cell represents the attribute of the feature.RCHME#
Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England: the national body established by Royal Warrant in 1908 to compile a record of ancient and historical monuments in England and make recommendations concerning their preservation. In 1999, the RCHME was merged with English Heritage.RCAHMS#
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The mission of RCAHMS is to help people to value and enjoy their surroundings, to provide a world-class record of the historic and built environment to local, national and international audiences, as well as advancing understanding of the human influence on Scotland’s places from earliest times to the present day. We achieve this through strategic field investigation, research and our dynamic national collection, which together provide a unique, authoritative and internationally important resource for the study and management of the historic and built environment. See also HESRCAHMW#
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.RDA#
Regional Development Agency.Recording policy#
A policy document which defines the breadth and scope of the information recorded in the HER. This document is separate to the collecting policy (see above).Recording-practice guidelines#
Desk manuals for use in HERs, English Heritage and the NMRs that are based around national data standards but which aim to provide practical guidance on how to record in the local situation. They may include guidelines on sources, monument categories, adding and editing records, etc.Recording standards#
Agreed standards for recording information within a computer system or card index. See Data standards and Data dictionary.Record map#
This refers to the maps (most commonly at 1:10,000 scale) used to record the location of sites or monuments in HERs/SMRs prior to the introduction of GIS.Records management#
The function of managing records to meet operational business needs, accountability requirements and community expectations.Registered Battlefields#
A register of battlefields of special historical interest, to draw attention to the importance of these sites. For English battlefields it has been compiled by English Heritage.Registered Parks and Gardens#
A register of parks and gardens of special historical interest, to draw attention to the importance of these sites. For parks and gardens in England it has been compiled by English Heritage. Parks and Gardens dating from 1939 or earlier are included in the register and the gardens are graded (I, II* or II) to indicate their interest.Related term#
A preferred term linked to another preferred term conceptually but not hierarchically, for example 'Stable' and 'Tack Shed'. Although both terms are to do with horses there is not a hierarchical relationship but the conceptual link is so close that anybody looking for 'Tack Sheds' might also want to look for 'Stables'.Relational database#
A database which structures data in the form of tables. Each table contains information relevant to a particular feature, and is linked to other tables by a common value. For example, two attribute tables could be lined to a spatial data table via a geocode, such as a postcode, or a unique identifier.Remote sensing#
The science of acquiring information about the earth using instruments which are remote to the earth's surface, usually from aircraft or satellites (but geophysical information is also relevant). Can provide the ability for the rapid acquisition of data for large areas.Research frameworks#
Research Frameworks are an agreed set of research topics developed through the collaboration of experts in the field. They help to co-ordinate and prioritise research across the sector.Resolution#
The resolution of a digital dataset expresses the size of the smallest object which can be depicted. The term is most commonly associated with the raster data model where the resolution of a raster or grid is equal to the size of the cell in the real world.Resource#
Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries: established as MLAC in April 2000 and later launched with a new name. This national body replaces the former MGC and takes on national responsibilities for libraries and archives. a second name change has since occurred and the organisation is now known as MLA.RHSBE#
Register of Historic Sites and Buildings of England, the new protection register proposed in HPR.RIGS#
Regionally Important Geological Sites.RNIB#
Royal National Institute for the BlindRNID#
Royal National Institute for the DeafROW#
Rights of Way, footpaths and other routes along which members of the public have the right to pass.RR(A)A#
Race Relations Amendment Act, 2000.RSLP#
Reasearch Support Libraries Programme: a national initiative, funded by the four higher education funding bodies to bring together both forms of access to library information, with specific reference to support for research.RSM#
Record of Scheduled Monuments. The RSM is the EH database for managing information on Scheduled Monuments. An RSM number identifies a scheduled monument within that system.RSS#
Regional Spatial Strategy.Rubber sheeting#
A process which adjusts the relative positions of features within a dataset in a non~linear, or non-uniform way. It is used to transform the co-ordinates of maps with different scales, orientation or co-ordinate systems.| Back to the top |
S#
SAM#
Scheduled Ancient Monument: Scotland and Wales (for England see SM).Scanning#
A data-capture technique which digitises information from paper or film hard copy into digital raster data. The process is rapid, but the resulting raster dataset only has colour, grey-scale or black-and white attributes associated with it and may not have the intelligence necessary for GIS analysis. Some GIS have tools for converting raster to vector data, but these always require some human intervention.SCAPE#
A Scottish charity that seeks to research, conserve and promote the archaeology of Scotland's coast. SCAPE is especially interested in remains that are threatened by coastal erosion. The charity has developed SCHARP to record sites threatened by erosion. For more information see the SCAPE website
SCAUM#
Standing Conference of Archaeological Unit Managers.SCHARP#
Thousands of archaeological sites are threatened with destruction through coastal erosion. In response SCAPE developed Scotland’s Coastal Heritage at Risk Project (SHARP) to involve more people in actively recording threatened sites. For more details visit the project website.
Scheduling#
The process of identifying, assessing, reviewing and recommending monuments to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport for the purpose of inclusion in the Schedule of Monuments. Scheduling of monuments in England is currently incorporated in the Monuments Protection Programme.SCONUL#
Society of College, National and University LibrariesScope note#
A definition of a term for the purposes of the terminology list. It may, or may not, also include guidance upon its use.Scotland's Places#
ScotlandsPlaces is a website using geographic location to search across different national datasets from RCAHMS, The national Record of Scotland and the national Library of Scotland. Users may search by place name or a coordinate across these collections or they can use the mapping in the website to both define and refine their search. The results pages provide the data relevant to the search conducted, from each of the project partners.Through TranscribeScotlandsPlaces members of the public help create transcriptions of various resources in the website. These resources are images of historic archives which contain handwritten information about the people and places in Scottish history.
Visit the ScotlandsPlaces website for more details.
SCRAN#
Scran is an online learning service with over 390,000 images and media from museums, galleries, and archives. Its charitable purpose is "the advancement of education by enabling public access to Scottish cultural resources and related material.” For learning, there are Pathfinders for instant use; and tools such as Curriculum Navigator, Albums, Stuff, Create, Multicreate, Offline Slieshow and Slides let you discover, store, design, assemble and share your own learning resources. For more information see the SCRAN website.
SDA#
Sex Discrimination Act, 1975.SDD#
Scottish Development DepartmentSDI#
A Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) is the technology, policies, human resources and related activities necessary to acquire, process, distribute, use, maintain and preserve spatial data.SEA#
Strategic Environment AssessmentSecondary sources#
Published and unpublished works that are based on the interpretation of primary research materials such as finds, aerial photographs, geophysical survey data, etc. Some secondary sources are based on interpretation of both primary data and re-interpretation of other secondary sources.Segment#
One of the basic spatial entitles and a basis for spatial models. Formed from a set of ordered co-ordinates (vertics).SENESCHAL#
A one year AHRC funded Knowledge Exchange project based on enhanced vocabulary services that aims to make it significantly easier for vocabulary providers (English Heritage, RCAHMS and RCAHMW) to make their vocabularies available as Linked Data and for users to index their data with uniquely identified (machine readable) controlled terminology that is semantically enriched and compatible with Linked Data. For more information see the project page available on the HeritageData.org website.
SHED#
Scotland’s Historic Environment Data (SHED) Strategy is a partnership to help protect, promote and enhance Scotland’s historic environment through coordinated activity to improve the quality, systems and processes for SHED. The partnership includes government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and academic institutions, and will support the public’s involvement in the care and enjoyment of the historic environment through the improved and more efficient provision of information. See the SHED page on the SMR Forum website for more details.
Signpost#
Cross-references to places where other information can be found.Simple wordlist#
A list of terms that do not have any relationships built into the wordlist and do not have multiple elements attached to the same concept.SLA#
Service Level Agreement: an agreement between a client and a contractor that sets out agreed service levels, for example minimum response time, the number of hours of telephone support, replacement equipment, etc.SM#
Scheduled Monument (England), formerly Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM): a monument included in the Schedule of Monuments and protected under the terms of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. For Scotland and Wales see SAM.SMaR#
Scheduled Monuments at Risk in England, now part of HaR.SMR#
Sites and Monuments Record, now know as HERs particularly in England, some individual records still use the title SMR.SMR Assessment Report#
Report commissioned by ALGAO from David Baker, with funding from the RCHME, giving an assessment of the condition of SMRs in England in 1998 (Baker 1999a). David Baker produced Similar reports for Scotland and Wales.SMR Forum (Scotland)#
A forum formed in order to implement the recommendations of the Baker Report (1999) in Scotland’s 18 SMRs.Spatial analysis#
This is the process of applying analytical techniques to geographically referenced datasets to extract or generate new geographical information. Spatial analysis may be used to model complex geographical interactions and is useful for investigating site suitability and predicting future events. Overall, analytical techniques may be complex, but are usually made up of a combination of simpler techniques applied in an appropriate order.SPECTRUM#
The UK museum documentation standard published by the mda. This standard is integral to MGC registration for museums and is being implemented throughout the UK and worldwide in both manual and computerised systems.SPP#
Scottish Planning Policy: guidance issued by the Scottish Executive.SRP#
Scotland's Rural Past (October 2006 to September 2011) was a five year initiative, run by the RCAHMS with partnership funding. SRP worked with local communities to research, record and promote Scotland's vanishing historic rural settlements and landscapes. Over 60 community-led projects improved our understanding of Scotland's rural heritage, from Shetland to the Scottish Borders. For more information see the project website.
SSSI#
Sites of Special Scientific Interest.Statutory instrument#
Any designation to which the Statutory Instruments Act 1946 applies.Strategic plan#
A high-level planning document which sets out an organisation's overall aims and objectives for the next three to five years.SUP#
Scotland’s Urban Past (SUP) is a five-year HLF funded project commencing in Autumn 2014. SUP encourages and supports communities across the country to investigate, record, engage with, and celebrate the heritage of our towns and cities.SUP will be one of the first major projects to be launched by Historic Environment Scotland, the new lead body for recording, collecting and promoting Scotland’s historic environment.More details can be found on the RCHAMS website.
Superfile package#
English Heritage-supported text-file system for SMRs based on the AN32 recording form.SURE#
The Specialist User Recording Environment (SURE) enables partners in national, local and third sector organisations across Scotland to enter information directly through web distributed forms into the RCAHMS database and published online on Canmore.SWAD#
Scottish Wetland Archaeological Database.Synonym#
A term having a different form or spelling but the same or nearly the same meaning as another term, for example, Slaughter House and Abattoir or Dovecote and Dovecot.| Back to the top |
T#
TAN#
Technical Advice Note (Scotland): guidance produced by Historic Scotland. Also Technical Advice Notes (Wales) which supplement "Planning Guidance (Wales): Planning Policy".TDR#
A Trusted Digital Repository (TDR) provides reliable, long-term access to managed digital resources both now and in the future.Technology preservation#
The maintenance of hardware, operating systems and applications used to create specific data.Term list#
Another phrase for a wordlist.Terminology control#
The overall concept of the use of terms to control the recording and retrieval of any given unit of information.Tir Gofal#
Tir Gofal is an agri-environment scheme which provided funding to farmers and other land managers to deliver effective environmental management on their land in Wales. The scheme is now closed to new applicants but ran between 1999 and 2009.Thematic map#
A map which communicates a single theme or subject. For example, a map depicting the number of fieldwork projects within different administrative areas, or the number of sites within areas would be thematic maps. These contrast with general-purpose topographic mapping which depicts features such as roads, rivers, landmarks and elevation.Thesaurus#
A list of concepts or terms that normally shows equivalence, hierarchical and associative relationships. A thesaurus is a flexible indexing and retrieval tool.Thesaurus of Building Materials#
A thesaurus maintained by English Heritage as part of INSCRIPTION to provide an index to materials used in the construction of buildings and other structures such as public monuments, garden ornaments, street furniture, etc.Thesaurus of Monument Types#
A thesaurus maintained by English Heritage as part of INSCRIPTION to provide an index to monuments, buildings and other built structures by character and function.TOAD#
Database system developed by Oxford Arch Digital.TOID#
Topographic Identifier in MasterMap.Topography#
The natural and artificial features of the landscape.Topology#
The relationships in spatial terms between connected or adjacent geographical objects. Topology is used to apply intelligence to data held in vector data models. For example, topological information for an arc might include the polygon to its left and right and the nodes to which it is connected.TORC#
Training Online Resource Centre.TPO#
Tree Preservation Order.Treasure Act#
The 1996 Act that defines which finds or objects should be reported to local coroners as Treasure.Trojan horse#
A type of program that is moved insidiously on to a computer system to be triggered at sometime by certain pre-defined actions, usually with disastrous consequences.| Back to the top |
U#
U3A#
University of the Third AgeUAD#
Urban Archaeological Database.UDP#
Urban Development Plan (Wales).UKSGB#
UK Standard Geographic Base.UNESCO#
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation: a specialised agency of the UN which works to preserve our cultural heritage, bringing together those who can help all nations set the course towards co-operation, development and peace.Unit of information#
Units of 'reformation are the fundamental facts of interest contained within an information system whether computerised or manual.URL#
Universal Resource Locator: an address used to identify resources on the World Wide Web.User declaration forms#
These are forms that set out the role of the SMR and its commitment to conservation and preservation of the historic environment| Back to the top |
V#
Vector Data#
A data model based on the representation of geographical objects by Cartesian co-ordinates, commonly used to represent linear features. Each feature is represented by a series of co-ordinates which define its shape, and which can have linked information. More sophisticated vector data models include topology.Version 1 SMR systems#
Text flies based on a paper report form used by English Heritage to record visits to Scheduled Monuments by FMWs (known as AM107 and its predecessors the AM12 and AM7).Viruses#
A computer virus is a self-replicating programme, which may or may not be harmful. Viruses are inadvertently spread from computer to computer on floppy discs, email attachments and from the internet. Once introduced on to a computer they may simply display a message on screen but some cause damage to data files.| Back to the top |
W#
Walsh Committee#
The 1968 Committee of Enquiry into the arrangements for the Protection of Field Monuments by County Planning Authorities.Walsh report#
The report prepared by the Walsh Committee and published in 1969.WAN#
Wide Area Network: a computer network for a series of buildings which may be widely separated across the country.WAT#
The Welsh Archaeological Trusts. The four Welsh Archaeological Trusts, were established in the mid 1970s to respond to the rapidly increasing demands of rescue archaeology and to provide a uniform local archaeology service across the whole of Wales. Based on the county areas created in 1974 the Trusts now provide a broad range of archaeological and heritage services - including the maintenance of Historic Environment Records and the provision of archaeological management and planning advice, educational services, field survey, excavation and heritage interpretation. The four Trusts are independent limited companies with charitable status, employing professional archaeological staff.Web server#
A web server is a computer that provides access to HTML documents and other web-enabled materials stored on its hard disc or memory. This may simply be a personal computer with appropriate communications software and a connection to the internet, or it may be a higher specification machine maintained by an ISP or a large organisation.Website#
A linked series of HTML documents that is available on the internet at a location identified by a URL is referred to as a website. A web page is a single HTML document.Web space#
Space on the web server that may be used for file storage and for a website. Websites have an address or URL which locates a hypertext file on the World Wide Web.WG#
Welsh Government.WGS84#
World Geodetic System map projection.WHS#
World Heritage Site: A site which is identified on the list of cultural and natural properties protected under the UNESCO Convention on World Heritage agreed by the World Heritage Committee.WI#
Womens Institute.Wordlist#
A standard list of terminology used to control information recorded in a specific field in a database.Worms#
A destructive program that replicates itself throughout a single computer or across a network, both wired and wireless.WoSAS#
The West of Scotland Archaeology Service was established in 1997 by Minute of Agreement between 12 Councils of the former Strathclyde regional council. The purpose of the Service is to maintain and update the Historic Environment Record (HER) - the complete record of all known archaeological sites, finds, fieldwork and research for the West of Scotland. Staff from the Service also provide professional advice to landowners, public utilities, private developers, farmers and other land managers to promote the implementation of national and international policies for the preservation of archaeological remains. In addition, we provide free information and advice to researchers, local societies and members of the public. For more information see the WoSAS website.
WSI#
Written Scheme of Investigation.www#
World Wide Web| Back to the top |
X#
XML#
Extensible Markup languageXML UK#
United Kingdom Forum for Structured Information Standards| Back to the top |
Y#
YAC#
Young Archaeologists Club.| Back to the top |
Z#
Z39.50#
A communications protocol designed to enable communication between computer systems.| Back to the top |