Opening the ARK: Uncovering the socio-technical evolution of an archaeological database
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Transcript of Opening the ARK: Uncovering the socio-technical evolution of an archaeological database
Opening the ARK: Uncovering the socio-technical
evolution of an archaeological database
Jessica Ogden @jessogden
L - P : Archaeology
31st March 2015 CAA 2015, Siena, Italy
Process and Transformation
31st March 2015 CAA 2015, Siena, Italy
1. the archaeological process
2. the development process
‘Technical Code’ and the Blackbox
31st March 2015 CAA 2015, Siena, Italy
“When an instrument...assumes the status of an accepted means of producing valid phenomena, then it can be said to have become a ‘black box’…
…this is not simply a matter of [hardware configuration], but also involves the creation of a consensus of how the hardware should be understood.”
The ‘Blackbox’
Golinski, J., 1998. Making Natural Knowledge: Constructivism and the History of Science, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
‘Technical Code’ and the Blackbox
31st March 2015 CAA 2015, Siena, Italy
• “technical artefacts are embodiments of the design values that were embedded at the stage of technological design and development” (Pinch and Biker 1984)
• Proposed by Feenberg (1995) to identify (social) values - explored by examining the technological design, use-cases, and policies which dictate the use of technologies
Social Construction of Technologies (SCOT)
Pinch, T.J. & Bijker, W.E., 1984. The social construction of facts and artefacts: Or how the sociology of science and the sociology of technology might benefit each other. Social studies of science, pp.399–441.
‘Technical Code’
Feenberg, A., 1995. Alternative Modernity: The Technical Turn in Philosophy and Social Theory, London: University of California Press.
Some Questions.
31st March 2015 CAA 2015, Siena, Italy
• Have archaeological databases been ‘blackboxed’?
• Are we overlooking the influence of software developers in the c reat ion o f a rchaeo log ica l representations?
• What might a ‘technical code’ approach reveal about the soc io - technica l deve lopment and evo lut ion of archaeological database software?
• What are the consequences of this critical engagement for archaeological practice?
The Archaeological Recording Kit
31st March 2015 CAA 2015, Siena, Italy
• Using ARK to track the evolution of an archaeological DBMS
• Understanding the socio-technical constraints which have influenced its development
Proposing a Case Study
ARK Background
31st March 2015 CAA 2015, Siena, Italy
• Multivocality
• Reflexivity
Post-processual Theory Aims
• Ted Nelson’s Docuverse/Transclusion
• Hyperlinks, Eternal Revision
Hypertextuality
Flexibility Open
Web-based Spatial
Eve, S. & Hunt, G., 2007. ARK: A Development Framework for Archaeological Recording. In The
Past. Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. Berlin, Germany.
Mapping Aims to Functionality
31st March 2015 CAA 2015, Siena, Italy
Ethernet icon by Márcio Duarte from the Noun Project
Mapping Aims to Functionality
31st March 2015 CAA 2015, Siena, Italy
Ethernet icon by Márcio Duarte from the Noun Project
Mapping Aims to Functionality
31st March 2015 CAA 2015, Siena, Italy
Share icon by Anand Nair from the Noun Project
Looking Forward
31st March 2015 CAA 2015, Siena, Italy
Future Development…
• Hybrid interfaces
• The ‘Tyranny of the Table’ (?)
More on this see Sebastian Heath’s presentation at the #mobilearc conference: http://bit.ly/heathmobilearc
APITransclusion revisited
Share icon by Anand Nair from the Noun Project
Looking Forward
31st March 2015 CAA 2015, Siena, Italy
Future Development…
• Hybrid interfaces
• The ‘Tyranny of the Table’ (?)
More on this see Sebastian Heath’s presentation at the #mobilearc conference: http://bit.ly/heathmobilearc
APITransclusion revisited
Share icon by Anand Nair from the Noun Project
• From a ‘media container’ towards a wider machine-readable interaction with ARK
• Development continues to highlight questions around sustainability of dynamic technologies/data
Critical Engagement
Thanks!
31st March 2015 CAA 2015, Siena, Italy
Jessica Ogden @jessogden
ARK @ARK_db
ark.lparchaeology.com