What's in StORe for us?
The Source to Output Repositories project

Dan Hull

Dan Hull
Council for British Archaeology

The StORe Project is a JISC-funded programme, seeking to enable the repositories of published reports and papers ('outputs') to interact directly with the source data from which they are derived. Its broad intentions are similar to those of LEAP project (see ADS Newsletter Issue 19, Collection Highlights) with the interesting angle that archaeology was just one of seven different disciplines taking part. As a first stage in this project, users in the disciplines of archaeology, astronomy, biochemistry, the biosciences, chemistry, physics and the social sciences were surveyed to investigate their attitudes towards both source to output linkage, as well as online resources as a whole. The results suggest some interesting contrasts developing between each of these subject areas, and place archaeology in an encouraging light. Users of archaeological resources seem, on the whole, to be well-informed about the data repositories at their disposal, and are optimistic about the greater levels of functionality offered by emerging technology.

StORe

The results from each of the disciplines surveyed can be found on the StORe website: http://jiscstore.jot.com. Some of the more significant conclusions from the archaeology component can be summarised as follows.

In total, 721 questionnaires were sent to archaeologists throughout the UK, 680 of whom were HE staff, postgraduates or research associates, and 41 were non-HE, based in local government departments, commercial companies and the national Portable Antiquities Scheme. 65 responses were received, representing 9%, 72% were HE, and 28% of whom were from the non-HE sectors. Sixteen in-depth interviews were then carried out to further contextualise the issues raised by the questionnaire.

At the time of the survey in March 2006, 65% of archaeologists responding had already either deposited with the Archaeology Data Service, or were 'intending to do so soon'. A further 14% had or intended to deposit with another source data repository. It seems that archaeologists are also comparatively aware of the importance of metadata in constructing and depositing their project archives. 66% of researchers in archaeology stated that they decide on and assign metadata themselves. This is no doubt due, at least in part, to the advocacy role played by ADS staff. By contrast, use of output repositories is rarer among archaeologists than in other disciplines, with 42% stating that they have never placed a publication in an online repository, in comparison to 80% in the survey constituency as a whole. When respondents were asked whether linkage between source and output repositories would be a significant advantage to their work, respondents from archaeology showed themselves to be more enthusiastic about such functionality than the overall survey constituency: 65% of archaeologists indicated significant advantage, as opposed to just 47% within the survey constituency as a whole. This provides evidence not only that the StORe Project aims concur well with archaeologists' needs, but that the outcomes of the LEAP Project are in-tune with real demands made by researchers. The interviews revealed that archaeologists are enthusiastic about such linkage because of the increased convenience and speed of research, the greater accessibility to data archives if they are signposted directly from publications, and the more immediate scrutiny which can be brought to bear on researchers conclusions. For the authors themselves, they cited the enhanced impact of their research, and the fact that their publications could be made more readable if they could refer to, rather than include, detailed research data.

Since the completion of the survey phase of the StORe Project in 2006, pilot middleware has been constructed to test the viability of source to output linkage. Over the coming months, the final stage in the project will be to evaluate the lessons of the StORe Project, primarily so that recommendations can be made to JISC for future development work.

Archaeology Results All Disciplines
Significant advantage to my work 42 64.6% 175 46.4%
Useful but not of major significance 19 29.2% 151 40.1%
Interesting but not particularly useful 3 4.6% 29 7.7%
Of no interest to me 0 0% 8 2.1%
Not sure at this point 0 0% 5 1.3%
Other 1 1.5% 9 2.4%

Table showing attitudes towards output to source linkage

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